
Welcome From The Program Director
As a founding member of this residency program, it is a source of pride to have helped train and guide residents and to see our program serve a community-based hospital which now serves a yearly census of 85,000 patients.
Guiding younger professionals through the later stages of their educational journey is both exciting and rewarding. Our faculty is focused on assisting residents and medical students make those transitions which will make them successful independent practitioners of emergency medicine. I have always appreciated the ethic of workers who tirelessly roll up their sleeves and get the job done. I believe that you learn best by doing, by taking care of patients and their problems. Bedside teaching is an essential part of the equation here with dedicated didactic time meant to augment some of the more granular elements. Our curriculum model continues to evolve as we incorporate more problem-based learning, simulation cases and procedure labs to our conference time.
Steven Nazario, MD, FAAEM, FACEP
Program Director
World-class Emergency Medicine Education
Our Emergency Medicine Program provides residents access to the full spectrum of emergency care cases from the area’s busiest emergency department with a census over 85,000.
Program Leadership

Steven Nazario, MD, FACEP, FAAEM
Program Director

Andrew Little, DO, FACEP
Associate Program Director and Director of Research

Mary McLean, MD
Assistant Program Director

Kevin Tomecsek, MD
Clerkship Director

Drew Jones, MD
Ultrasound Program Director

Kristina G. Jacomino, MD
Assistant Ultrasound Director

Loice Swisher, MD
Director of Wellbeing

Yasmany Cartaya, MD
Core Faculty - Simulation
Current Residents

Casey McGillicuddy, MD
PGY -3

David Chang, DO
PGY- 3

James Leal, DO
PGY - 3

Miltiadis Kerdemelidis, MD
PGY - 3

Quoc Vinh Tran, DO
PGY - 3

Vladislav Mordach, DO
PGY - 3

Shannon Caliri, DO
PGY - 2

Eli Johnson, DO
PGY - 2

Stefania Markou, DO
PGY - 2

Jessica Rose, DO
PGY - 2

Tyler Littmann, DO
PGY - 2

Melissa Sayegh, DO
PGY- 2

Kiran Akbani, DO
PGY- 1

Courtney Albury, DO
PGY- 1

Taylor DuFour, MD
PGY- 1

Rebecca Heffner, DO
PGY- 1

Regan Schwartz II, MD
PGY- 1

Sindhuja Tatagari, DO
PGY- 1
Curriculum
- Longitudinal
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Longitudinal Didactic Series -
- PoWER (professionalism, wellness, ethics and Resilience),
- Evidence Based Medicine
- Patient Safety and Quality Improvement
- Resident as Teacher, EM Ultrasound, Radiology
- EM Critical Care, Simulation,
- Pediatric EM
- EM Administration
- Emergency Medicine - Integrated Adult and Pediatric Emergency Medicine
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While the emergency medicine aspects of specialty fields are learned in the emergency department, short blocks of additional training add depth to the emergency physician’s training. We are committed to a quality program, and each rotation has been carefully selected to offer the maximal educational benefit to our residents.
- Journal Club
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Keeping up to date with the current emergency medicine literature is vital for the practice of excellent emergency medicine. The goal of the Journal Club is to promote reviewing of key and current medical literature, develop critical appraisal skills and discuss clinical applications using evidence-based medicine. During these events, residents will present the articles and facilitate an interactive and engaging discussion on the presented topic. In addition to the academic value it also provides an opportunity for medical students, residents and attendings physicians to interact in a relaxed setting away from the framework of medicine, patients, and academic rounds.
- Purpose of the Didactic
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The purpose of the didactic curriculum is to provide the residents with the foundational knowledge, skills, and attitudes for emergency medicine. These tools will shape residents to successfully practice the full scope of emergency medicine in a high-quality, evidence-based, compassionate and confident manner. Our didactic curriculum centers around our weekly conferences which are held every Thursday morning and is protected time for all residents in the Emergency Department and in many off-service rotations. We emphasize interactive didactics in addition to traditional lectures and utilize different modalities to promote variety and retention of concepts. Components of our curriculum include interactive small groups, high-fidelity simulation labs, pharmacy lectures, case conferences and evidence-based reviews. Both Faculty and Residents will be responsible for conferences. Presentation of lectures will enhance residents' educational and academic experience as well as the teaching experience. All residents will have case presentations and Trauma case presentations. PGY-2 and PGY-3 will present core content lectures. In addition, PGY-2 residents will present a PICU case and PGY-1 will have a “down the blog” presentation.
We are continuously evaluating our conference offerings and searching to improve the quality and educational value of each session. Residents will rate each conference element at the end of the academic year and provide suggestions for improvement, which are used to shape the next year’s conference offerings. - Clerkship
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Click Here to visit our clerkship website to learn more about rotation experiences with the AdventHealth Orlando Emergency Medicine Residency Program.
- Electives
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- Research
- Medical Education
- Sports Medicine
- PEM
- Emergency Ultrasound
- Orthopedics
- Oral Maxillofacial Surgery
- Ophthalmology
Published Work
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Andrew Little, DO and Quoc Vinh Tran, DO
Cost-Effective Training Models in Point-of-Care Ultrasound for Medical Students in Emergency Medicine: An Evaluation of Current Resources
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Collaborative Study
An Emergency Department Clinical Algorithm to Increase Early Palliative Care Consultation: Pilot Project
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Andrew Little, DO and Drew Jones, MD
Physician preferences associated with powered intraosseous access systems: Safety features, reliability, and ease of us
Emergency Medicine Training Videos

Research
As one of the key components in ACGME program requirements, research activity is an essential part of training. In the era of evidence-based medicine, we strongly believe at AdventHealth Orlando that residents should develop critical thinking skills to evaluate the publications and apply new knowledge in their clinical practice. Our program has a well-developed infrastructure and fostering culture to support residents who are interested in pursuing basic research, clinical research, or quality improvement/patient safety projects. By promoting research and scholarly activities, our ultimate goal is to train the next generation of physicians with strengths in both clinical and academic medicine.

Bedside Ultrasound Fellowship
The Beside Ultrasound Fellowship is a 1-year fellowship based AdventHealth East Orlando, a community-based urban program with a wide breadth of pathology and high acuity. During the year, the fellows gain a mastery of Ultrasonography principles and techniques for image acquisition and clinical implementation through dedicated scan shifts with faculty and weekly quality assurance (QA). This includes exposure to advanced topics such as advanced echocardiography, transesophageal echography, and regional anesthesia. In addition, the fellows hone their ability to educate through regular didactics for medical students, residents, and allied health professionals. Finally, fellows learn how to run a program including billing and credentialing, quality assurance, hardware purchasing and maintenance. With this specialized training, fellows are well positioned to obtain a position in ultrasound leadership in academic, community, or hybrid practice.
Life of a Resident





Application Process
Join Our Resident Team
Applications must be submitted through the Electronic Residency Application System (ERAS). The deadline for completed application is December 1st. Incomplete applications will not be reviewed. Applicants who meet all eligibility requirements will be granted an interview. Interviews are held from November through late January.

Program Coordinator
Suzette Persaud, Residency Coordinator
7727 Lake Underhill Road, Orlando, FL 32822