In September, the 25th Annual North Dakota Statewide Trauma Conference took place in Bismarck, where healthcare professionals and medical students attended to advance their education on trauma care for patients.

Trenton Bohan, a medical student at the University of North Dakota (UND) School of Medicine & Health Sciences Northwest Campus (Minot), who is doing his third- and fourth-year rotations at Trinity Health, was there to do more than advance his education. Trenton participated in the Emergency Medicine Poster Contest, where he presented a case on an unresponsive patient.

UND medical students were tasked with taking their most interesting trauma case and presenting it online, giving other students from across the state the opportunity to learn from it. They also had to create a poster to accompany the presentation and all were displayed at the trauma conference.

Mentored by Scott Knutson, MD, Chief of Staff, and Jake Naidu, DO, both of Trinity Health, Trenton’s case won the Emergency Medicine Poster Contest. This is a remarkable accomplishment, as Trenton’s findings, education and case results stood out among presentations from students across North Dakota.

In this case, Trenton faced many unknowns with an unresponsive patient and no background to use as a starting point. Trenton had to fully evaluate them while collaborating with Dr. Knutson and Dr. Naidu. This included a lab investigation and a CT scan, which helped lead the group to a solution.

Trenton noted that this patient was complicated for multiple reasons, but the thorough examination avoided the risk of missing additional diagnoses and guided them to why the patient was unresponsive.

“Trent Bohan and the faculty he worked with were Dr. Naidu from Interventional Radiology and Dr. Knutson from Emergency Medicine. It was fun to see these departments working together for medical education,” said Jon Solberg, MD, FACEP, FAWM, Chair of the Department of Emergency Medicine at the UND School of Medicine & Health Sciences.

Together, this group showcased teamwork while taking the opportunity to further educate their peers by being thorough and finding success in the uniqueness of their case.