Alexander Sasha Dubrovsky

Emergency Department

I love working with children and their families because they keep me young and fun!

Hospital information

Academic appointments

–          Associate Professor, McGill University

 

–          Associate Investigator, Research Institute – McGill University Health Center

Awards and distinctions

The Paige and Bernard Kaplan Award for Excellence in Clinical Teaching,  awarded by the cohort of pediatric residents in recognition of clinical excellence and commitment to teaching.

Top Pediatric Abstract, Canadian Association of Emergency Physicians, 2014.

Team/Organization Champion Award-HealthCareCAN and the Canadian Patient Safety Institute (Honorable mention), 2016

Les Grands Prix santé et sécurité du travail: catégorie innovation (Finaliste Organismes Publics), Commission des normes, de l’équité, de la santé et de la sécurité du travail (CNESST), 2016

Education

University

McGill University, BSc (Physiology) and MSc (Physiology/Neuroscience)

Medical Degree

McGill University, MDCM (2004)

Residency

Pediatric at the Montreal Children’s Hospital

Fellowship(s)

Pediatric Emergency medicine at the Montreal Children’s Hospital

Fun fact about me

I have 3 boys, each of which love wrestling with daddy and enjoy hearing about daddy’s work (i.e. broken bones) way too much!

Research

Research interests

1.      Patient safety / Quality Improvement with focus on improving communication between patients, families, and health care providers, patient engagement and teaming of frontline providers (“We Should Talk”) as well teaching frontline teams to partner with patients in LEAN-based quality improvement projects/programs

2.      Point of care ultrasound (POCUS) with focus on clinical utility in children with respiratory distress and wheeze, as well as for     fracture management.

3.      Concussion with focus on the management of post-traumatic headaches with occipital nerve blocks of the scalp and other ED-based interventions.

Selected publications

Chapter

Alexander Sasha Dubrovsky. Pediatric Point-of-Care Ultrasound (P-POCUS). In: Strange and Schafermeyer’s Pediatric Emergency Medicine, Fourth Edition, American College of Emergency Medicine, McGraw-Hill Education 2015: 71-76.

Review Article

Dubrovsky AS.  Nerve Blocks in Pediatric and Adolescent Headache Disorders.  Current Pain and Headache Reports. 2017 Nov 9;21(12):50.

Peer reviewed

Patient Safety / Quality Improvement

 

Barbarian M, Bishop A, Alfaro P, Biron A, Brody DA, Cunningham-Allard G, Dubrovsky AS.  Patient-Reported Experience in the Pediatric Emergency Department: What Matters Most?  Journal of Patient Safety. 2018 [Epub ahead of print]

 

Usher S & Dubrovsky AS. Team-based improvement work, physician engagement and the development of transformative capacities in healthcare organizations.  Organizational behavioral in healthcare (special issue) 2018 (accepted)

 

Bhatt M, Johnson D, Taljaard M, Chan J, Barrowman N, Farion K, Ali S, Beno S, Dixon A, McTimoney M, Dubrovsky AS, Roback M, for the Sedation Safety Study Group of Pediatric Emergency Research Canada.   Association of Preprocedural Fasting With Outcomes of Emergency Department Sedation in Children. JAMA Pediatrics. 2018 [Epub ahead of print]

Bhatt M, Johnson DW, Chan J, Taljaard M, Barrowman N, Farion KJ, Ali S, Beno S, Dixon A, McTimoney CM, Dubrovsky AS, Sourial N, Roback MG; Sedation Safety Study Group of Pediatric Emergency Research Canada (PERC). Risk Factors for Adverse Events in Emergency Department Procedural Sedation for Children.  JAMA Pediatrics. 2017; 171(10):957-964.

Dubrovsky AS, Bishop A*, Biron A, Cunningham-Allard G, DeCivita F, FIma A, Korah N, Marchionni C, Proulx MC, Toman P, Tsirgiotis S, Zavalkoff S. “We Should Talk” – Moving knowledge into action by learning to engage patients, families and healthcare staff to communicate for patient safety.  Journal for Healthcare Management Forum 2016; 29 (4), 141-145.

Korah N, Zavalkoff S, Dubrovsky AS. Crib of Horrors – One Hospital’s Approach to promoting a culture of Safety. Pediatrics 2015;136(1):4-5.

 

Bhatt M. Roback M, Joubert G, Farion K, Ali S, Beno S, Dixon A,  McTimoney M, Dubrovsky AS, Johnson D.  Development of a multi-centre surveillance system for sedation safety in the pediatric emergency.  BMJ Open 2015;5:e008223.

 

Dubrovsky AS. The art of listening: case of an infant with bony lesion.  Pediatric and Child Health February 2011;16 (2): 78, 119.

 

Point of care ultrasound (POCUS)

 

Poonai N, Myslik F, Joubert G, Fan J, Misir A, Istasy V, Columbus M, Soegtrop R, Goldfarb A, Thompson D, Dubrovsky AS.  Point-of-care Ultrasound for Non-angulated Distal Forearm Fractures in Children: Test Performance Characteristics and Patient-centered Outcomes.  Academic Emergency Medicine 2017; 24:607–616.

 

Dankoff S*, Li P, Shapiro A, Varshney T, Dubrovsky AS.  Point of care lung ultrasound of children with acute asthma exacerbations in the pediatric emergency department.  American Journal of Emergency Medicine 2016; 24 (5), 615-622.

 

Varshney T*, Mok E, Li P, Shapiro A, Dubrovsky AS.  Point of care lung ultrasound in young children with respiratory tract infections and wheeze. Emergency Medicine Journal 2016; 33 (9), 603-610.

 

Dubrovsky AS, Kempinska A*, Bank I, Mok E.  Accuracy of ultrasound for determining successful re-alignement of pediatric forearm fractures. Annals Emergency Medicine 2015; 65(3):260-265 (podcast available).

 

Kempinska A*, Bhanji F, Larouche S, Dubrovsky AS. A novel simulation-based program for ultrasound-guided fracture reductions: program evaluation. American Journal Emergency Medicine 2015; 32(12): 1547-5449.

 

Concussion / Post-traumatic headaches

 

Gravel J, Boutis K, Tang K, Beauchamp MH, Freedman S, Dubrovsky AS, Gagnon I, Momoli F, Zemek R for the PERC 5P study group.  Association Between Ondansetron Use and Symptom Persistence in Children with Concussions: a 5P substudy.  Canadian Journal of Emergency Medicine 2018 (accepted)

 

Beauchamp MH, Aglipay M, Yeates K, Désiré N, Keightley M, Anderson V, Brooks Barrowman N, Gravel J, Boutis K, Gagnon I, Dubrovsky AS, Zemek R for the 5P PERC Concussion-Neuropsyc Team. Predictors of neuropsychological outcome after paediatric concussion. Neuropsychology 2018 (in press)

 

Bresee N*, Aglipay M, Dubrovsky AS, Ledoux AA, Momoli F, Gravel J, Freedman SB, Barlow K, Richer L, Barrowman NJ, Zemek R; Pediatric Emergency Research Canada (PERC) 5P concussion team. No association between metoclopramide treatment in ED and reduced risk of post-concussion headache.  American Journal of Emergency Medicine. 2018 Apr 7. pii: S0735-6757(18)30282-1. doi: 10.1016/j.ajem.2018.04.007. [Epub ahead of print]

 

Zemek R, Barrowman N, Freedman S, Gravel J, Gagnon I, McGahern C, Aglipay M,  Sangha G, Boutis K, Beer D, Craig W, Burns E, Farion K, Mikrogianakis A, Barlow K, Dubrovsky AS,  Meeuwisse W,  Gioia G, Meehan III WP, Beauchamp M, Kamil Y, Grool A, Hoshizaki B, Anderson P, Brooks B, Yeates KO, Vassilyadi M, Klassen T, Keightley M,Richer L, DeMatteo C, Osmond M; for the Pediatric Emergency Research Canada (PERC) Concussion Team, Clinical Risk Score for Persistent Postconcussion Symptoms Among Children With Acute Concussion in the ED.  JAMA 2016; 315(10): 1014-10125.

 

Pinchefsky E*, Dubrovsky AS, Friedman D, Shevell M.  Management of Pediatric Post-traumatic headache: part 2 (review article). Pediatric Neurology 2015; 52 (3), 270-280.

 

Dubrovsky AS, Friedman D, Kocilowicz H.  Pediatric post-traumatic headaches and occipital nerve blocks: a case series and patient satisfaction survey. Headache 2014; 54: 878-887.

 

Pediatric emergency medicine

 

Burstein B*, Dubrovsky AS, Greene AW*, Quach C. Emergency department and inpatient management of febrile infants under six weeks of age: National survey on the perceived utility of respiratory virus testing. Hospital Pediatrics 2016; 6 (4), 226-233.

 

Dubrovsky AS, Mok E, Lau SY, Alhumaiden M*.  Point tenderness at one of five locations and limited elbow extension identifies significant injury in children with acute elbow trauma: a study of diagnostic accuracy. American Journal Emergency Medicine 2015; 33(2): 229-233.

 

Patoka C*, Farooq K*, Dubrovsky AS, Brody D, Bank I, Bhanji F. Pediatric resuscitation training – instruction all at once or spaced over time?  Resuscitation 2015; 88, 6-11

 

Gravel J, Fitzpatrick E, Gouin S, Millar K, Curtis S, Joubert G, Boutis K, Guimont C, Goldman RD, Dubrovsky AS, Porter R, Beer D, Doan Q, Osmond MH.  Performance of the Canadian Triage and Acuity Scale for children: a multicenter database study.  Annals of Emergency Medicine. 2013 Jan;61(1):27-32.e3.

 

Dubrovsky AS, Foster BJ, Jednak R, Mok E, and McGillivray D.  Visibility of the urethral meatus and risk of urinary tract infections in uncircumcised boys.  Canadian Medical Association Journal October 16, 2012; 184 (15): e796-803.