the founders
Arboretum Teaching Collective was founded in 2024 by three physicians and teachers. We have all been fortunate to have access to education and training in a country where EM is robust and longstanding. Throughout our teaching experiences internationally, we've recognized scores of intelligent, dedicated, and talented physicians and educators who are limited only by the nascent state of EM in their country and scarcity of resources and opportunities. Our hope is that by decreasing some of those barriers, and providing the support and mentorship normally afforded to residents and fellows from the global north, we can help create a synergistic community of educators, with the longterm goal of improving emergency care worldwide.
Dr. Ryan Ernst is an Assistant Professor of emergency medicine (EM) from the United States. Shaped by his training in Seattle and Detroit, he has enjoyed teaching and mentoring residents, while additionally focusing on supporting education in EM nascent countries. He has previously directed the Access and Innovation in Medical Education Fellowship at UCLA, as well as the Global EM Education Fellowship at UCSF Fresno. He previously served as the Director of Education for EM:RAP GO. Most recently, he serves as the Section Chief of Global EM at the University of Utah, working in the ED at U of Utah as well as in Shiprock, NM.
Dr. Sara Crager is an emergency physician and intensivist. She went to medical school at Yale, completed Emergency Medicine residency at UCLA, then Critical Care fellowship at Stanford. She is currently faculty at UCLA in the Departments of Emergency Medicine and Anesthesia Critical Care. She splits clinical time between the CT-ICU/SICU at UCLA and the MICU at Antelope Valley Hospital. She likes teaching, hates celery, hasn't quite figured out social media.
Dr. Rolando Valenzuela is the Chair of the ACEP International Section and Director of Global Emergency Medicine at University of Miami/Jackson Memorial Hospital. He studied Global Emergency Medicine at LAC USC and Tropical Medicine at the Gorgas Institute in Lima, Peru. He is a Chilean Fulbright Scholar, and is focused on the development of Emergency Medicine, trauma and EMS capacity building throughout Latin America & the Caribbean.