Virginia emergency physician earns national ACEP teaching award

An overnight Norfolk emergency physician, known for her bedside manner, ability to stay cool under multiple critical patients, and mentorship of students and residents, has been recognized by the American College of Emergency Physicians with a teaching award.

Kirsten Pennell, MD, a nocturnist at the Level 1 trauma center Sentara Norfolk General Hospital, received an ACEP Teaching Award.

Kirsten Pennell, MD, a nocturnist at the Level 1 trauma center Sentara Norfolk General Hospital, was honored by ACEP as an outstanding educator in emergency medicine. Awards are given based on high teacher ratings and endorsement of peers, residents, and students. Sentara Norfolk is an academic hospital serving the adjacent Eastern Virginia Medical School.

Pennell says that, while she appreciates the honor, she feels she’s simply doing a job she loves. She offers four important lessons she instills in residents.

Students and residents on Dr. Pennell:

• A great role model; an incredibly hard worker who treats all patients well, even with the workload of Norfolk night shifts.

• I worked several night shifts with her during my first semester of intern year and learned so much. Even while managing the entire department, she was an excellent teacher and always available for frequent questions while really encouraging me to manage difficult patients independently as appropriate. I really appreciated her staying late to help me manage a sick patient and teach even after her shift was long over. 

• One of our strongest physicians…always providing strong leadership on busy Norfolk nights. Will always learn a lot from working with her and she will always provide great support.

• Great attending, never seems too overwhelmed, even on disgustingly busy overnight shifts and always takes time to try to teach even if very brief lesson. Great attitude, joy to work with. 

1. Look at each patient with a fresh perspective. “As an emergency physician, you’ll see the same patients over and over again, sometimes daily,” she says. “It’s important to not get fatigued as they will eventually have something wrong with them that could be missed if you just assume it’s the same old thing again.”

2. Do not judge substance abusers too harshly — especially alcoholics.  “Alcoholism is a disease, like diabetes. When diabetics come in uncontrolled due to dietary issues or medicine noncompliance, we do not judge them as harshly as alcoholics or other substance abusers.”

3. Always remember why you wanted to be in medicine. “Compassion is hard to maintain sometimes after grueling shifts and overwhelming numbers of patients in an understaffed ED. It is often the patient’s worst day of their life, they are in pain, and they are scared and/or alone. A little compassion goes a long way.”

4. Never let your ego get in the way of asking for help.

Writes Bruce Lo, MD, FACEP, a past VACEP president and Pennell’s colleague who nominated her for the ACEP award:

Dr. Pennell's bedside manner is exceptional, and she is always patient and compassionate with her patients. Despite being extremely busy, her patient satisfaction scores also remain in the top quartile within our group…what is amazing is she always comes to work with a smile and regardless of how challenging it is, she is always ready to go — not only to take care of patients, but also to teach the residents and medical students.

Pennell has been the sole attending overnight physician for almost 15 years at Sentara Norfolk’s ED, accompanied by a resident. She said she’s most rewarded when seeing a resident progress from intern to third-year, developing confidence along the way.

And, she says, teaching is a two-way street: “They keep my perspective fresh, make me continue to challenge myself to be better — and remember why I always wanted to be a doctor.”

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ACEP’s 2023 Teaching Award Winners 

National Emergency Medicine Excellence in Bedside Teaching Award

• Cynthia Hernandez, MD - Nebraska chapter

• Rosanne Naunheim, MD, FACEP - Missouri chapter

• Kirsten Pennell, MD - Virginia chapter

• Lisa Rapoport, MD - California chapter

• Christopher Russell, MD, FACEP - Massachusetts chapter

National Emergency Medicine Faculty Teaching Award

• James Ahn, MD, FACEP - Illinois chapter

• Roderick Fontenette, MD, FACEP – Government Services chapter

• Tarlan Hedayati, MD, FACEP - Illinois chapter

• Sara Krzyzaniak, MD, FACEP – California chapter

• Catherine Marco, MD, FACEP - Pennsylvania chapter

• Nicole McCoin, MD, FACEP - Louisiana chapter

• Kaushal Shah, MD, FACEP – New York chapter

• Craig Smollin, MD - California chapter

National Emergency Medicine Junior Faculty Teaching Award

• Leen Alblaihed, MD, MBBS, MHA, FACEP - Maryland chapter

• Lauren Page Black, MD - Florida chapter

• Guy Carmelli, MD, FACEP - Massachusetts chapter

• Nida Degesys, MD, FACEP - California chapter

• Daniel Eraso, MD - Florida chapter

• Moises Gallegos, MD - California chapter

• Shayne Gue, MD, FACEP - Florida chapter

• Matthew Heimann, MD, FACEP - Alabama chapter

• Kyle Martin, DO, FACEP – Rhode Island chapter

• Kelly Mayo, MD - Massachusetts chapter