13. Interview with Ann Arens, MD

Dr. Ann Arens is an emergency physician and medical toxicologist at Oschner Health in New Orleans, Louisiana. Prior to that she worked at Hennepin County Medical Center in Minneapolis, Minnesota. She is the scientific content chair of the biggest annual toxicology conference, the North American Congress of Clinical Toxicology, which is taking place in Montreal this week! She has authored many research publications, most recently being a co-author on the 2023 American Heart association update on the management of patient with cardiac arrest or life threatening toxicity due to poisoning. This free document which I’ve linked below is one of the best summaries I’ve seen on this topic. It’s a great reference for any nurse or physician working in the emergency department or intensive care unit as well as for pharmacists and toxicologists consulting on these patients. 

Dr. Arens and I became friends from the moment we met, back when she was a fellow in medical toxicology at UCSF, the program I had just graduated from. Since then, we’ve acquired husbands, kids, and that double specialty life of emergency medicine and medical toxicology. I love her kindness, brutal honesty and sense of humor which you’ll hear in this conversation. We talk all things work, motherhood, advice that helps us when we feel stuck, lessons from RuPaul and so much more! 

American Heart Association 2023 Update on the Management of Patients With Cardiac Arrest or Life-Threatening Toxicity Due to Poisoning:

https://www.ahajournals.org/doi/epdf/10.1161/CIR.0000000000001161

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Music courtesy of Zach Effron, MD