Richard Mark Levitan is an American emergency medicine physician and businessperson. He is a clinical professor of medicine at
Dartmouth College
Dartmouth College ( ) is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in Hanover, New Hampshire, United States. Established in 1769 by Eleazar Wheelock, Dartmouth is one of the nine colonial colleges chartered before the America ...
and a practicing physician at the Littleton Regional Hospital. He also runs a company that creates materials and runs events to teach emergency
airway management
Airway management includes a set of maneuvers and medical procedures performed to prevent and relieve an airway obstruction. This ensures an open pathway for gas exchange between a patient's lungs and the atmosphere. This is accomplished by either ...
.
Early life and education
Levitan was born to Minna Osinoff and Milton Levitan in
New York City
New York, often called New York City (NYC), is the most populous city in the United States, located at the southern tip of New York State on one of the world's largest natural harbors. The city comprises five boroughs, each coextensive w ...
.
He graduated from
Horace Mann School and
Williams College
Williams College is a Private college, private liberal arts colleges in the United States, liberal arts college in Williamstown, Massachusetts, United States. It was established as a men's college in 1793 with funds from the estate of Ephraim ...
,
then completed a medical degree at
New York University School of Medicine in 1994.
He completed an internship and residency at
Bellevue Hospital under .
He is board certified by the
American Board of Emergency Medicine.
Career and research
After his residency, Levitan practiced in
Philadelphia
Philadelphia ( ), colloquially referred to as Philly, is the List of municipalities in Pennsylvania, most populous city in the U.S. state of Pennsylvania and the List of United States cities by population, sixth-most populous city in the Unit ...
where he taught how to in perform
intubations.
In 1994, he invented an
imaging system for teaching intubation,
which his ''Airway Cam'' company now promotes.
Levitan's clinical interests includes emergency medicine.
As of 2020, he has worked as an emergency medicine doctor for 30 years.
He is a practicing physician at the Littleton Regional Hospital in
Littleton, New Hampshire.
Levitan is a clinical professor of medicine at
Dartmouth College
Dartmouth College ( ) is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in Hanover, New Hampshire, United States. Established in 1769 by Eleazar Wheelock, Dartmouth is one of the nine colonial colleges chartered before the America ...
's
Geisel School of Medicine.
COVID-19
In April 2020, Levitan volunteered for 10 days to help treat patients with
COVID-19
Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is a contagious disease caused by the coronavirus SARS-CoV-2. In January 2020, the disease spread worldwide, resulting in the COVID-19 pandemic.
The symptoms of COVID‑19 can vary but often include fever ...
at the emergency room of
Bellevue Hospital in New York City.
He observed many patients with pneumonia and
hypoxia (low oxygen levels in blood) who did not have typical symptoms of breathing problems such as chest discomfort or painful breathing. Levitan suggested in a
New York Times
''The New York Times'' (''NYT'') is an American daily newspaper based in New York City. ''The New York Times'' covers domestic, national, and international news, and publishes opinion pieces, investigative reports, and reviews. As one of ...
op-ed
An op-ed, short for "opposite the editorial page," is a type of written prose commonly found in newspapers, magazines, and online publications. They usually represent a writer's strong and focused opinion on an issue of relevance to a targeted a ...
that the widespread use of
pulse oximeters could lead to earlier detection of serious breathing complications, and to better outcomes for patients with these complications.
Although the op-ed was covered in the news,
other doctors cautioned that early detection might lead to
overtreatment, and that the role of early detection of hypoxia in treating COVID-19 still needed to be studied.
Levitan's hypothesis was supported by a
prospective study appearing some months later in
Academic Emergency Medicine, for which Levitan was invited to write an accompanying piece of commentary.
Selected works
*
*
References
External links
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Levitan, Richard M.
Year of birth missing (living people)
Physicians from New York (state)
Living people
21st-century American physicians
American emergency physicians
New York University Grossman School of Medicine alumni
Geisel School of Medicine faculty
21st-century American businesspeople
Businesspeople from New York City
Horace Mann School alumni
Williams College alumni