Inflammatory Diseases and Fever
Learning Objectives
- Identifying and stabilizing dermatologic emergencies
- Approach to the patient with autoimmune disease
- Understand management of musculoskeletal back pain, bursitis and spinal imaging
This course provides healthcare professionals with a structured approach to recognizing and managing a range of dermatologic, autoimmune, and musculoskeletal emergencies. Participants will learn to identify and stabilize life-threatening dermatologic conditions, ensuring timely intervention. The course also explores the assessment and management of autoimmune diseases in the acute setting, focusing on early recognition and treatment strategies. Additionally, learners will develop an evidence-based approach to musculoskeletal back pain, bursitis, and spinal imaging, enhancing diagnostic accuracy and patient care. Through case-based discussions and practical applications, this course equips clinicians with the knowledge and skills to manage these complex conditions effectively in emergency settings.
Sharon Chekijian, MD, MPH
Dr. Chekijian joined the Yale School of Medicine faculty in 2007 where she works full-time as an Associate Professor in the Department of Emergency Medicine. She is faculty member in the Section of Global Health and International Emergency Medicine as well as in the Section of Administration. She has served as the inaugural Medical Director of patient experience since 2011. She is also the Medical Director of the Physician Assistant and Nurse Practitioner group in the Department of Emergency Medicine. Dr. Chekijian is a seasoned educator and is the founding Medical Director of the APP residency program which admitted its 1st cohort in 2015. She completed the Yale Medical Education Fellowship in 2014. Her research interests lie in global emergency medicine and include emergency care systems' development in low and middle-income countries, unintentional injury prevention in low and middle-income countries, as well as stroke and cardiac care in low and middle-income countries. Dr. Chekijian has led and participated in projects in the Republic of Armenia, Uganda, and Iraq. She has consulted for the World Bank and the US Department of State. She is an active member of the Stroke Initiative Advisory Task-Force for Armenia (SIATA). Dr. Chekijian was awarded a Fulbright in 2020 for her work to improve emergency care in Armenia by the establishment of a new emergency medicine residency program in cooperation with the National Institutes of Health of Armenia and supported from a research standpoint by the School of Public Health at the American University of Armenia. She is deeply committed to patient experience, communication and humanism in medicine. Dr. Chekijian co-produced a film that addresses human rights as it relates to the Armenian Genocide of 1915 under the working title “The Hidden Map” that premiered at the Toronto Pomegranate Film Festival in 2019.
Dr. Raffi Tachdjian, MPH
Raffi Tachdjian, MD, MPH, is Associate Clinical Professor of Medicine and Pediatrics in the Division of Allergy and Clinical Immunology at the David Geffen School of Medicine at the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA). Dr. Tachdjian received his medical degree from Morehouse School of Medicine in Atlanta, Georgia, followed by an internship and residency in Pediatrics at Harvard Medical School’s Massachusetts General Hospital in Boston, with a fellowship in adult and pediatric Allergy & Immunology at the David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA. Dr. Tachdjian’s research focuses on immune dysfunction, asthma and allergic inflammation, and he has served as primary or co-investigator of 35 NIH and other grant-funded research studies. He was voted one of UCLA Health System’s Best Doctors and was selected to receive the Editors’ Choice Award by The Journal of Allergy and Clinical Immunology. He has also authored or co-authored over 35 peer reviewed articles in JAMA, New England Journal of Medicine, and the Lancet among others. Dr. Tachdjian completed an internship at the Centers of Disease Control & Prevention, where he led the outbreak investigations and epidemiologic studies on Pertussis (whooping cough). His team is credited with helping to understand the waning immunity of the pertussis vaccine, which led to current booster dosing in adolescents and adults. Board certified in Adult and Pediatric Allergy and Immunology, Dr. Tachdjian serves as Director of Clinical Trials in clinics in Santa Monica and Culver City, CA. He also attends and oversees teaching of Allergy/Immunology Fellows and rotating residents in the UCLA outpatient clinics.
Dr. Armine Hakobyan
Armine Hakobyan, MD, is an associate professor and head of the department of allergy and immunology at Heratsi University Hospital Complex in Yerevan, Armenia.
Dr. Hovannes Hovannisyan
Hovhannes Hovhannisyan is a dermatologist at the Medical Scientific Center of Dermatology and STI of the Ministry of Health in Armenia. He is the Director of the National Center of Burns and Dermatology.
Dr. Valentina Vardanyan
Valentina Vardanyan, MD, PhD is a rheumatologist at the Mikayelyan University Hospital
Dr. Alison Hayward
Alison Hayward, MD, MPH is an associate professor of emergency medicine at Brown University. She is the coordinator for Global Emergency Medicine Education.
Oriane Longerstaey, MD
Dr. Longerstaey is currently a fellow in the division of Global Emergency Medicine at Brown University in Providence, RI. After obtaining her medical doctorate from the Keck School of Medicine of the University of Southern California, she graduated from her residency in emergency medicine at Carolinas Medical Center in Charlotte, NC. Her research interests lie in global emergency medicine and capacity building of emergency systems. She has particular expertise in graduate medical education with ongoing residency education projects in Tanzania and Armenia. She has also worked in Rwanda to build a curriculum for mass casualty incidents response for physicians, nurses and paramedics.
