Brian Wessman, MD
My prior knowledge of Saint Louis was the existence of our “arch”. I visited the city for the first time during my emergency medicine residency interview trail in 2008. I was lucky enough to match to Washington University Emergency Medicine… and after coming here for residency training… I have never left (completed EM residency, CCM fellowship, and then joined our WUEM faculty group).
I was born in Decatur, Georgia but have limited memories of that region of the country. I grew up in the suburbs of Washington, DC and consider that my childhood “home”. I am still an avid NBA Bullets/Wizards team fan. My father had a background from the Navy in nuclear engineering (worked for the US government), and my mother was a college accountant teacher. While I had an interest in sports and medicine growing up, I did not have any formal mentors or family examples. I dabbled as a high school athletic trainer before starting my college pathway (long/convoluted/spanning four institutions). After realizing that skateboarding/snowboarding was not going to be a profitable career pathway, I ended up at the College of William & Mary (Williamsburg, VA). I was lucky to have professors that understood the importance of growing a student’s educational desire and not just teaching to pass an exam. I subsequently attended medical school at the Medical College of Virginia in Richmond.
Emergency Medicine seemed like a natural fit due to its acuity, high pace, and lifestyle. However, I realized during my initial ICU rotations (Pediatric and Adult) that I really loved the care paradigm in that clinical domain. However, at that time, emergency medicine was not an accepted pathway into critical care medicine (CCM) training. Luckily, I had some early career mentors that told me to not let that minor barrier of “no board certification” get in the way. And subsequently… an amazing opportunity to grow in CCM was born. After completing my two-year multidisciplinary CCM fellowship, I was part of the initial group to take the first grandfathering CCM board certification examination (16 physicians). Washington University provided a fertile ground for training growth, and after partnering with the Department of Anesthesiology, we have subsequently been lucky to grow one of largest EM/CCM clinical/training/academic footprints in the country.
As one of the pioneers for EM/CCM, I have had lots of opportunities at the regional and national levels. I am an active member in ACEP, SCCM, and SOCCA (all focusing on the integration and dissemination of critical care medicine). I have been involved in multiple taskforces that have looked as critical care medicine as a practice paradigm and not as a hospital location. I have a research interest in end-of-life care and improving family communication. I have been lucky enough to receive support through sponsorship and mentorship in many of these national roles.
Much of me providing mentorship occurs through my role as Program Director for our large multidisciplinary CCM Fellowship program (with trainees from Surgery, EM, Medicine, and Anesthesiology). Additionally, I have helped to shape the local careers of our EM/CCM Faculty group. I work hard with clinical roles both in the ED and the ICU and expect similar of my trainees/faculty. I will typically respond to your email in a timely fashion (typically at night after the late-night sports game has ended). I almost always prefer picking up the phone and chatting (over texting or insta-messaging).
On a personal note, my wife and I have called St. Louis our home for almost 20 years. We are now avid Blues fans. My wife is a WashU Pediatric Hospitalist (she also attended W&M and MCV). We have four amazing children. My oldest (Dakin, 10) was born with a rare genetic condition (distal 18q- deletion). He is deaf/blind with mobility issues but gets great joy out of all things music. My son (Ryker, 8) graduated to black diamond snowboarding runs this year, loves playing soccer, and is always reading. My daughter (Nollie, 6) loves all things living (wants to be a veterinarian), is a talented artist, and takes care of our family pet turtle (Bowser). My youngest (Saxon, 4) loves watching all sports, listening to the Beastie Boys, and recently discovered the joys of Lego building. As one can imagine, we have an active home without much quiet time. I look forward to welcoming you to the WashU EM family and the STL (go visit the arch).