Bryan Obika is a fourth-year medical student from Waxhaw, NC who is pursuing anesthesiology. Bryan was initially drawn to quality improvement after spending a summer at the Granville and Vance County Public Health Departments where he learned about the various health disparities its residents faced partly due to a lack of access to nutritious food options in an abundance of food deserts. Bryan created an electronic brochure for the health departments’ patients that compiled all the food banks between both counties, and from this experience, he became eager to learn more about how he can improve health systems on a grander scale. This year, Bryan is working with Dr. Greg Balfanz on an initiative within the Anesthesiology department to reduce the number of cases that utilize nitrous oxide for mask inductions, in hopes of improving both environmental impact and patient safety.
CLQS Project
Say N 2 the O When It Comes to Nitrous Oxide: Reducing Nitrous Oxide Emissions at UNC Children’s Hospital
Mentor
Greg Balfanz, MD, Associate Professor in the Department of Anesthesiology and Vice-Chair of Patient Safety and Quality Improvement
