Miren Schinco, MD
Associate Professor, Department of Surgery
UF College of Medicine - Jacksonville
Trauma surgeon sets benchmarks for excellence in patient care and medical education
Driving her three children to school each weekday morning is a very special time for Miren Schinco. It's mom time. The rest of the day, and often night, the trauma surgeon spends her time caring for the sickest, most severely injured patients who are brought to the trauma center and intensive care unit at Shands Jacksonville. When she is not taking care of patients, her administrative duties involve playing a key role in the efforts to raise acute critical care to the highest quality at the University of Florida Health Science Center Jacksonville.
Miren A. Schinco, M.D., an associate professor in the department of surgery, division of acute care surgery, is program director of the Surgical Critical Care Fellowship. She considers the creation of the fellowship her greatest accomplishment—next to her children. Schinco said she is passionate about training the next generation of physicians so "the future of American health care is as bright as it can possibly be."
A trauma surgeon and surgical intensivist, Schinco was chief of the division of trauma and critical care for six years before accepting the challenge to coordinate a multidisciplinary critical care service at Shands Jacksonville. Establishing standards for all critical care services will ensure that resources are used as efficiently and effectively as possible, she said. A typical day finds her in the center of the action making on-the-spot decisions and directing the medical team as trauma patients arrive at the trauma center. Occasionally, she is called to the helipad or flies on board TraumaOne to accident scenes for life-threatening situations. Of the 4,500 trauma patients taken to Shands Jacksonville each year, 2,300 are admitted—a third of them to the ICU, Schinco said. On average, 85 percent of trauma cases are vehicle accidents and 15 percent are stab or gunshot wounds.
Raising the bar in acute care
An exemplary model for residents and fellows, Schinco has influenced significant improvements to critical care in her 12 years at UFCOM-J. Other accomplishments include:
- Developed a Neurologic Critical Care Unit
- As chief of the division of trauma and critical care (now acute care surgery), established an emergency surgery team
- Appointed to the seven-member Critical Care Committee for the American Association for the Surgery of Trauma
- Received one of 16 Surgical Education Research Fellowships from the Association for Surgical Education
- Participated in the Master Educator in Medical Education Program at the University of Florida College of Medicine
- Served on the Advisory Board of Lifequest, the regional organ recovery service
- Named Outstanding Physician Champion by the Organ Procurement Organization
- Received numerous honors, including Florida Hospital Association's Hospital Hero and UF's Exemplary Teacher and Excellence in Teaching awards
- Presented invited lectures throughout the U.S. on trauma-related topics
- Served on the UF Faculty Senate
Always a doctor
Growing up in Philadelphia where her parents owned and operated an Italian restaurant, Schinco recalled always wanting to be a physician, but a pediatrician, definitely not a surgeon. Fluent in Italian from spending summers in Italy, she was awarded a Bachelor of Arts in Italian Literature from the University of Pennsylvania. She received her medical degree from the Medical College of Pennsylvania where experiences in student rotations in pediatrics and surgery changed her mind regarding her future specialty. The surgery chief resident's decisiveness and confidence impressed her. "I want to be like that, take charge and get the job done," she decided. Schinco completed a Residency in General Surgery and Fellowship in Surgical Research at the Medical College of Pennsylvania. After finishing a Fellowship in Surgical Critical Care at the University of Connecticut, Hartford Hospital, she looked for jobs throughout New England, until an ad for the college of medicine in Jacksonville caught her eye. "Once I came here, there was no question. This was the best place for me," she recalled.
Trauma surgery: ultimate challenge
In her third year of residency,, Schinco decided that trauma surgery, a male-dominated field, was what she wanted to do. "My first love is trauma/critical care," she said. "I like to take care of really sick people and help our team make miracles happen." She said she would like to see more women enter the field of trauma because most have an instinct for nurturing. Known for having an exceptional bedside manner, Schinco acknowledged that interaction with patients' families is an important element of critical care. "The families are just devastated, completely unprepared. They need so much compassion," she said.
Despite the routine heartbreak of her work, like the recent death of a 13-year-old ATV accident victim, Schinco tends to remember what she calls the "feel good" stories. Injured children near the ages of hers are the worst.
"Dr. Schinco is a gifted surgeon --who is a gift to us all. She embodies the perfect combination of compassion, competence and commitment," said Joseph J. Tepas III, M.D., a professor and chief of the division of pediatric surgery, who recruited Schinco to Jacksonville in 1998. "Her intense dedication to the well being of her patients and their families sets a benchmark for excellence that enhances her already extraordinary skills as an educator and role model."
Sharing the knowledge
Of all her awards, Schinco is most proud of the golden apples on her lapel that represent her teaching triumphs at UF. She said the need for good people to receive the best training to provide acute critical care bolsters her support of the college of medicine's residents and its 6-year-old Surgical Critical Care Fellowship. She educates surgical residents and medical students at the bedside during daily ICU rounds and through various presentations and study programs.
Schinco started an after-school program for ninth graders at Darnell Cookman Middle/High School, a magnet school for the medical arts. "They come twice a month and observe different aspects of the work we accomplish at the hospital," she said. "It's tremendously rewarding."
Top priority: family
An unassuming woman with a keen sense of humor, Schinco skillfully balances her professional and personal lives. "I have my career, I have my family and not a lot of other personal stuff," she said. Husband Chuck Schaffer's profession as a herpetologist allows him freedom to be available for their children during her long hours at the hospital. Son Rick, 17, a junior at Stanton College Preparatory School, shares his father's interest in rare tortoises. Daughter Lauren, 13, a seventh grader at Darnell Cookman, aspires to be a trauma surgeon like her mother. Son Max, 9, in fourth grade at Jacksonville Beach Elementary School, is still seeking his path.
UF—special from the start
Following her fellowship in Connecticut, the decision to come to Florida was heavily influenced by her introductions to the surgical faculty and campus leaders. "I enjoyed my interactions from the very beginning," she said. "The most amazing people work here. They are incredibly dedicated to what they do, so entrenched in taking care of patients and making things better."
The respect is mutual.
Her nomination by Trauma Surgical ICU staff and administrators for the Hospital Hero Award read, in part: "Dr Schinco's unfaltering commitment is seen daily when she talks with patients and their families and educates all staff who provide patient care. Her inner strength, patience and great surgical care have truly helped unite and improve Shands Jacksonville's commitment to trauma and surgical patients in Jacksonville, Florida."
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