LSU Health Shreveport (LSUHS) has been selected as the newest site of the DoD National Disaster Medical System (NDMS) Pilot Program. A Congressionally authorized program led by the National Center for Disaster Medicine and Public Health (NCDMPH) in an effort to enhance interoperability and expand capability and capacity within the National Disaster Medical System. LSUHS is one of only eight strategically located pilot sites in the United States and one of the two sites in the southern U.S.

The selection of LSUHS was based on numerous factors including strategic location, proximity to Barksdale Air Force Base and serving as a regional academic medical center. Also contributing to the LSU Health Shreveport’s selection as a Pilot site is the institution’s robust research, technology and educational capabilities, along with expert faculty and staff, established partnerships throughout the community and state, and strong motivation and community support.

The NDMS Pilot Program will be conducted over five years and will address the requirements of a large-scale combat operation (LSCO) or catastrophic event. To achieve this goal, LSU Health Shreveport will be focused on establishing new partnerships while strengthening existing partnerships with public and private organizations to include healthcare providers, all of which will be in coordination with the National Center for Disaster Medicine and Public Health which is the Office of Primary Responsibility for the program.

The inaugural planning meeting occurred April 14-16 with community stakeholders and leadership of the Uniformed Services University, National Center for Disaster Medicine and Public Health, Administration for Strategic Preparedness and Response, Veterans Health Administration Office of Emergency Management.

 “LSU Health Shreveport is honored to have been selected as a site for the NDMS Pilot Program. We take this privilege and responsibility seriously and will work tirelessly to prepare and execute a disaster response which delivers an optimal outcome for those injured in a war or natural disaster,” John Vanchiere, MD, PHD.

LSU Health Shreveport is also a member of the National Center’s Joint Disaster Medicine and Public Health Ecosystem, a national resource comprised of leading organizations across the U.S. that have demonstrated excellence in disaster medicine and public health. LSUHS was one of the first Ecosystem partners and the only partner in Louisiana.

More information about the NCDMPH and the NDMS Pilot Program can be found at ncdmph.usuhs.edu/ndms-pilot.

Today, 152 LSU Health Shreveport School of Medicine students learned where they will go to complete their residency training during the annual Match Day celebration. Each year, on the third Friday in March at 12 p.m. ET, all fourth-year medical students throughout the United States discover where they have “matched” to for their residency training. For applicants, Match Day signals the transition from undergraduate to graduate medical education.

LSU Health Shreveport is proud to announce that 96.1% of the School of Medicine’s applicants matched through the National Resident Matching Program® (NMRP®) proving that LSUHS remains a strong competitor at the national level.

Of the 2025 class, 44% have matched in primary care residencies comprised of Internal Medicine, OB/GYN, Pediatrics, Family Medicine and Medicine-Pediatrics.

22% will be staying at LSU Health Shreveport for their residency with a total of 46% of the 2025 graduates staying in Louisiana. 76% of those staying in Louisiana for a residency will be doing so at an LSU medical school. Retaining students in Louisiana for their residency is critical for addressing Louisiana’s projected physician shortfall. According to the American Medical Association, Louisiana is projected to have the third-worst physician-shortage ratio in the U.S. by 2030, with an undersupply of 100 doctors for every 100,000 people.

The five-year match rate for the LSUHS School of Medicine is 98.24%.

LSU Health Shreveport medical students matched to highly competitive residencies and will train in prestigious programs around the country including Stanford, University of Alabama-Birmingham, UT Southwestern, Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center, Baylor, University of Tennessee/Memphis and several others. The LSU Health Shreveport Class of 2025 will receive their Doctor of Medicine degrees on Saturday, May 10.

“We are pleased that so many of our students achieved the milestone of matching allowing them to progress in their goal of becoming practicing physicians. I offer these students my heartfelt congratulations. I also want to express deep appreciation to our faculty and staff who invested in these future physicians as their guidance and support are essential to student success.” stated David Guzick, MD, PhD, Chancellor & Dean of the LSUHS School of Medicine.

Match Day also reveals the number of newly minted physicians coming into the Shreveport-Bossier area to begin their post graduate training. The LSU Health Shreveport School of Medicine successfully filled all 138 residency positions. This new group of trainees (residents and fellows) will be warmly welcomed to Shreveport in July, where they will train at Ochsner LSU Health Shreveport - Academic Medical Center, St. Mary Medical Center, Monroe Medical Center, and Rapides Medical Center along with other partner hospitals.

View the livestream recording of the Match Day event at www.lsuhs.edu/matchday.

Shreveport, La. – The Liaison Committee on Medical Education (LCME), the official accrediting body for MD programs in the United States, has granted full accreditation to the LSU Health Shreveport School of Medicine. The next accreditation review will occur in academic year 2029-2030.

Accreditation by the LCME is a rigorous, multi-year process that evaluates medical schools based on comprehensive standards in areas such as curriculum quality, faculty qualifications, student support services, and institutional infrastructure. Full accreditation ensures that students receive a high-quality education that prepares them for a successful residency match and career in medicine.

“Receiving full accreditation from LCME is a testament to the dedication of our faculty, staff and students,” shared David Guzick, MD, PhD, Chancellor of LSU Health Shreveport and Dean of the School of Medicine. “I offer special thanks to Kelly Pagidas, MD, Senior Associate Dean for Medical Education and Administration, for her tireless efforts and passion in providing an exemplary educational experience for our students.”

This accreditation milestone reaffirms LSU Health Shreveport’s commitment to excellence in medical education and strengthens its ability to attract top-tier students and faculty. It also assures current and prospective students that their education meets the highest national standards.

“Preparing for an LCME site visit is a process that requires countless hours of planning and teamwork at every level. The substantive changes made to our curriculum coupled with the opening of the new Center for Medical Education and bolstered student services resulted in dramatically improved scores in every measured aspect of student satisfaction. While we are very pleased with our continued accreditation, our goal has never been to meet the LCME standards, but to exceed them,” stated Guzick.  

For more information about LSU Health Shreveport and all the institution’s program accreditations, visit www.lsuhs.edu/about/accreditations. A full list of LCME-accredited programs in the U.S. can be found at lcme.org/directory/accredited-u-s-programs/.

LSU Health Shreveport Otolaryngology-Head and Neck Surgery residents earned top honors at The Triological Society’s 2025 Combined Sections Meeting recently held in Orlando, Fla., winning first place in the Resident Bowl that was held at the annual meeting. Dr. Mallory Peters, Dr. Joel Badders and Dr. Mark Landry made up the resident trivia team that represented LSUHS in the competition.

The Resident Bowl, a signature event of the Triological Society’s annual meeting, is a quiz bowl style game that showcases the clinical knowledge, quick thinking, and teamwork of otolaryngology (ENT) residents from programs across the country. Twelve teams from across the country to include representation from prestigious universities participated in this year’s Resident Bowl. This victory highlights the exceptional training and dedication of LSU Health Shreveport's residents and faculty in advancing excellence in the field of Otolaryngology.

The Triological Society is one of the most respected and prestigious organizations in Otolaryngology, and its annual meeting serves as a platform for innovation, education, and collaboration within the specialty. Otolaryngology-Head and Neck Surgery faculty members and residents, as well as several LSU Health Shreveport medical students, attended this year’s meeting and had the opportunity to present their clinical and research posters as a part of the scientific program.

On Wednesday, January 22, LSU Health Shreveport hosted North Louisiana Area Health Education’s (AHEC) “Day with Doctors” program for 50 high school students from Caddo and Bossier parishes that have a 3.0 GPA and above and have expressed an interest in pursuing a medical career. Hosting the program at LSU Health Shreveport allows participants to experience the medical field firsthand by touring the campus and learning suturing, clinical skills, splinting, intubation, and more. LSUHS faculty, staff, and medical students volunteered to help teach these skills to the participants, providing an opportunity to give advice about applying to medical school in the future.

The purpose and mission of the North Louisiana AHEC program is to improve health status, increase access to care, and ensure that the future and current health care workforce is properly trained for medically underserved communities. This is done through community-based training, recruitment and retention of healthcare professionals and workers, developing and implementing continuing education programs to meet the needs of healthcare professionals in rural and underserved areas and to plan and respond to community health needs through population-based health system development and public education. “Day with the Doc­tors” is jointly sponsored by North Louisiana AHEC, Central Louisiana AHEC and the AHEC program office at LSU Health Shreveport.

LSU Health Shreveport has named Ashley Krukowski as the Executive Director of Sponsored Programs and will lead the newly established Office of Sponsored Programs, where she will play a critical role in supporting the research goals and ambitions for the institution and facilitate how the office manages grant awards funded by external sources. Prior to coming to LSU Health Shreveport, Ashley served as the Associate Vice President for Research Administration at the University of Oklahoma Health Sciences Center. She was previously a Grant and Contract Officer and Assistant Director of the Grants Team at the Medical College of Georgia at Augusta University. Ashley earned her Bachelor of Arts in Leadership in the Public Sector from North Carolina State University and completed her Master of Public Administration degree at Valdosta State University in Georgia. She completed the New Leadership Development program at the University of Oklahoma in 2022 and is credentialed by the Research Administrators Certification Council as a Certified Research Administrator. She participates in a variety of professional organizations, such as the Federal Demonstration Partnership and the Society for Research Administrators International.

Krista Queen, PhD, has been named as the Executive Director of Regulatory Affairs. The Office of Regulatory Affairs encompasses research compliance, research integrity, export controls and data sharing, post approval monitoring, and administrative oversight of the institutional assurance committees. With this role, Dr. Queen also serves as the Responsible Official for the Federal Select Agent Program and the Research Integrity Officer for the institution. She received her Bachelor of Science in Biological Sciences from LSU Shreveport. She completed her PhD in Microbiology and Immunology and her Postdoctoral Fellowship at LSU Health Shreveport. Dr. Queen went on to be an ORISE Fellow for five years with the Pathogen Discovery and Detection Team in the Gastroenteritis and Respiratory Viruses Lab Branch of the National Center for Immunization and Respiratory Diseases (NCIRD)/Division of Viral Diseases (DVD) at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. She then went on to be a Microbiologist with the Genomics and Discovery Team in the Respiratory Viruses Branch of DVD/NCIRD at the CDC before returning to LSUHS in 2021 to join the Center of Excellence for Emerging Viral Threats as the Director of Viral Genomics and Surveillance.

LSU Health Shreveport is pleased to announce Wendy K. Bernstein, MD, MBA, as the new Chair of the Department of Anesthesiology. Dr. Bernstein comes to Shreveport from the Boston University Chobanian and Avedisian School of Medicine, where she was a Clinical Professor of Anesthesiology, Vice Chair of Academic Affairs, and Director of Faculty Development.

In addition to being a dedicated educator and seasoned clinician, Dr. Bernstein brings extensive leadership and team building experience. Highlights of her distinguished career in academic medicine include serving as a Professor and Vice Chair of Education at the University of Rochester, where she developed new training opportunities for residents and fellows, including the creation of a new Acute Pain Fellowship and a rural residency tract for the anesthesiology residency program. She also served as the Division Chief for Cardiac Anesthesia and Program Director for the Cardiac Anesthesia Fellowship Program at the University of Maryland for 18 years, where she played a pivotal role in expanding the cardiac service line and increased the fellowship program from 2 to 3 fellows. Dr. Bernstein demonstrated her expertise in multidisciplinary simulation and team training, for which she is nationally recognized, at the University of Maryland through the creation of simulation program. She is a Fellow of the American Society of Anesthesiologists (FASA) and a Fellow of the American Medical Women's Association (FAMWA).

She has made numerous contributions to anesthesiology, reflected by the publication of more than 60 peer-reviewed articles, 19 book chapters, and 54 invited presentations at national and international conferences. Dr. Bernstein has also served in leadership roles for national organizations, including two terms on the Board of Directors for American Medical Women’s Association, an American Board of Anesthesiology examiner for the APPLIED Exam, and several terms on the Editorial Board for the American Society of Anesthesiologists Computer Based Education Program.