Christopher Holthaus, MD

Christopher Holthaus, MD

Congratulations and welcome to an amazing cauldron of activity with so many opportunities! Hundreds have found what they wanted while spending time here and we cannot wait for you to feel the same!

Areas of Interest: Sepsis, Critical Illness in the ED

Beginning years:

Most of my extended family (growing up hometown) is in Cincinnati but have lived mostly in St. Louis since ‘92. I did undergrad at St. Louis University (‘92-96) then med school there too (‘96-00) w the Navy paying for 3 years. I then completed 1 year of preliminary Internal Medicine at SLU before paying 3 years back to the Navy as a Flight Surgeon with Marine Harriers in Cherry Point, NC (2001-2004). I did EM residency at WashU (’04-08) and was a chief resident. I have stayed at WashU as staff since ’08 and am currently an Associate Professor (2022).

WashU EM Career:

My first 3 years at WashU I was the assistant research director helping to build and manage a productive research infrastructure (nothing even close to what Stacy House has built!). I also spent time doing resuscitation research in the ED using various noninvasive cardiac output/stroke volume devices (in collaboration with a prior mentee and current faculty member Dr. Enyo Ablordeppey) and co-led a multi-center sepsis QI research collaboration amongst other sepsis-based research topics. I experienced burn out several years into my career with all those yes’s/admin/many committees/research/growing family (3 kids) and wife working full time so had to scale/regulate for sanity.

I switched to regularly scheduled night shifts since 2011 and refocused balance amongst family/admin/research/teaching responsibilities. I purposefully did not aggressively pursue national meetings/involvement mid-career in lieu of spending more time at home/with family during the kid’s formative years. I watched contemporaneous colleagues and those after me in residency pass me in rank due to this decision but I felt like we would never get that kid time back again which fundamentally was of greater importance to me as a father/parent.

Over the past 4+ years as kids have gotten older (high school/college), I have gotten back into leadership/admin and have been more actively promoting/supporting sepsis QI and care initiatives (ED and inpatient). I currently serve as the Sepsis Committee Director for both the BJH ED and Barnes-Jewish Hospital as well as a sepsis-consulting member with the BJC clinical excellence group for the past several years. I spent a decade running the WashU EM Critical Care Scholar Track (now led by a previous mentee Dr. Stephanie Charshafian). I try to attend most of the Tuesday resident conferences to show support & engagement for education and have been given several resident teaching awards over the years (Golden Scalpel ’17, Golden Stethoscope ’19).

Philosophies:

Balance (hard work, relaxation, family, meaning, morale, teams), being punctual and a person of their word/trust. Finding the fire in the belly in oneself and others (and growing it). My DiSC profile (Conscientiousness) is pretty accurate in that I gravitate toward ensuring accuracy, attention to quality, and challenging assumptions. It is also true that at times I can be overly critical, overanalyze, reserved, and quiet. Things that get me upset/angered/frustrated are when an agreed upon plan is not followed or no explanation is offered for deviation or if xx process/design has significant perceived flaws/downsides. In general, I would consider myself an early adopter when it comes to technology or ”good ideas at the time” (i.e. Sepsis EGDT/continuous Scv02, REBOA, DRAUP, Femoral Nerve Blocks, Resuscitative TEE, etc) which has been a mixed journey of fun/excitement/frustrations. For the majority of things, I feel there is always a way to make things happen.

What can I do to help you find what you are looking for?

My mentor/mentee leadership style/expectation is respect for you ultimately being the best judge of determining what the best fit is for you. That said, I have also followed others advice that I never thought of or considered until it was brought up which later turned out to be good ideas/experiences. I foresee me listening to what you want/need and us figuring out what/how to make that happen by any means possible within the confines of life/time/rules/regulations. I can wear whatever hat is needed: supportive, devil’s advocate, or share stories from myself or others that may or may not be related to what you are facing/considering.

I think it is valuable to soul search and take the time for important decisions. I also believe in meeting deadlines, completing things if promised, and that it is ok to say no if the balance meter is off. I am always willing to talk outside of scheduled appointments and am cool with a couple minute quick phone call here and there if it will help get things started or just answer things quicker with less formality.