Emergency Medicine Residency Greenville - Faculty
Leadership
Dr. Bitner has a background in clinical operations, quality, instructional systems design, adult learning strategies, prehospital system design, as well as disaster planning/response. Dr. Bitner has served in multiple operational roles, including service line direction and departmental chairman in academic and community medical centers as well as providing medical oversight for fire-based EMS services, private EMS services, police-based EMS services, police departments, as well as a multi-jurisdictional 911-communication center.
Dr. Bitner graduated Phi Beta Kappa, Summa Cum Laude from Hampden-Sydney College. He graduated Alpha Omega Alpha from the University of Miami School Of Medicine. He received his residency training in Emergency Medicine at Emory University, where he served as Chief Resident. Following residency he was awarded the SAEM/Medtronic-Physio-Control EMS Research.
Fellowship, which he completed with the Section of Prehospital and Disaster Medicine at Emory University. He went on to complete his Masters of Medical Education at a joint program between Cincinnati Children’s Hospital and the University of Cincinnati’s College of Education.
Dr. Bitner has been involved in emergency medicine, serving on and/or chairing committees at the local, state and national level throughout his career. He has designed comprehensive pre-hospital hypothermia programs for victims of sudden cardiac arrest in several metropolitan areas as well as developed and designed Tactical Emergency Medical Services (TEMS) Programs for multi-jurisdictional Special Weapons and Tactics (SWAT) Teams. He has directed undergraduate, graduate, and postgraduate medical education programs in prehospital and disaster medicine. His strategic planning and operations portfolio also includes providing medical oversight for professional world-class cycling events, internationally recognized marathons, and national special security events.
He has served on peer-review panels for Annals of Emergency Medicine, Public Health, the American Journal of Emergency Medicine and has lectured nationally and internationally on Emergency Medicine topics, at sites including Columbia, Republic of Georgia, Mozambique, and Rwanda.
Megan Cifuni grew up in South Carolina and attended Clemson University where she earned a degree in Microbiology. After college, she taught high school biology for a brief period of time before entering medical school. Dr. Cifuni completed residency in Emergency Medicine at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. She then practiced for several years in Raleigh, NC where she taught UNC EM residents at their community practice sites. In 2015, she and her family moved to Greenville, SC where they have been since.
Dr. Cifuni’s current professional interests include resident education and physician wellness and resiliency. Outside of work, she enjoys running around with her 3 kids and exploring Greenville with her husband.
Dr. Pfennig-Bass is a graduate of Marquette University and the Indiana University School of Medicine and currently serves as the Program Director of Prisma Health Emergency Medicine Residency slated to begin in July of 2017. She is involved at the University of South Carolina School of Medicine Greenville as a Career Counselor and as the Osler College Mentor. Following her Chief Residency at Indiana University, Dr. Pfennig completed the ACEP Teaching Fellowship and then obtained her Masters of Health Professions Education from Vanderbilt University. Prior to the transition to Greenville from Nashville, Tennessee, Dr. Pfennig was the Director of Undergraduate Medical Education and EM physician in the Department of Emergency Medicine at Vanderbilt University.
Dr. Pfennig’s academic interests include student and resident education, curriculum development and instructional design, obstetrical emergencies, and electrolyte-related emergencies. Outside of the hospital, Cami is a certified group fitness instructor and teaches a variety of classes at the Caine Halter YMCA and the LifeCenter. In addition, Cami is an endurance athlete having completed four Ironman triathlons including the World Championship Ironman in Kona in 2014. Cami and her husband David got engaged at the 2013 Boston Marathon and both continue to enjoy fitness activities, athletic events, exploring Greenville’s dining options, and traveling to visit family and friends.
Faculty
Dr. Baird was raised in southeast Tennessee before attending DePauw University (central Indiana), where he majored in Geology. He attended medical school at Dartmouth Medical School and completed his Emergency Medicine residency at the University of Virginia where he served as chief resident. He completed a fellowship in Sports Medicine at the University of Arizona while acting as a clinical instructor of Emergency Medicine. Before moving to Greenville, he worked as a community Emergency Physician for a couple of years in central Virginia while his wife, Sara, finished her residency.
As a high school and college athlete, Matt developed a deep passion for sports, and has been fortunate to find a way to combine that with his love for medicine and service. Since 2011, he has served Prisma Health in a dual role: as a part-time Emergency Medicine attending, and as a Sports Medicine Physician under the Steadman Hawkins Clinic of the Carolinas. He is the team physician for several local high schools, and assists with coverage for North Greenville University, the Greenville Drive, and multiple regional, national, and international athletic events throughout the year. His academic interests include acute management of musculoskeletal injuries, concussion management, mass event coverage, and graduate medical education.
He and Sara have a young daughter and a baby on the way. They enjoy anything and everything sports/outdoors, travel and food.
Dr. Eicken was raised in Florida. He attended Emory University as an undergraduate majoring in Neuroscience and Behavioral Biology. He graduated from the Vanderbilt University School of Medicine prior to completing his Emergency Medicine residency training at the Harvard Affiliated Emergency Medicine Residency program (Massachusetts General Hospital and Brigham and Women’s Hospital) where he was a Chief Resident during his final year of residency. John then completed an Emergency Ultrasound Fellowship at the Brigham and Women’s Hospital and earned a Masters degree in Education focused on Technology, Innovation, and Education from the Harvard University Graduate School of Education. His academic interests are focused on resident and medical student education with a focus on point-of-care ultrasound.
