Himal Press 
Dr Shilpakar (right) attending the conference in Texas, US.
KATHMANDU: Dr Olita Shilpakar, an Assistant Professor at the Maharajgunj Medical Campus and a consultant emergency physician at Tribhuvan University Teaching Hospital, has been honored with the prestigious Global Emergency Medicine Academy Award.
The award was given away by the Academy for Women in Academic Emergency Medicine during the Society for Academic Emergency Medicine 2023 Conference organized in Austin, Texas from May 16-19.
The recognition celebrates Dr Shilpakar’s outstanding contributions to the development of emergency medicine in Nepal and her dedication to education, service, research, and advocacy in the field.
As one of the first female emergency physicians in Nepal to be trained with a Doctorate degree in Emergency Medicine, Dr. Shilpakar is a trailblazer in her field. She serves on the executive board of the Nepalese Society of Emergency Physicians (NSEP) and is a Fellow of the Royal College of Physicians of Edinburgh.
In her daily work, Dr. Shilpakar plays a crucial role in the training and supervision of doctorate residents, postgraduate residents, medical officers, interns, junior interns, paramedics, foreign elective medical students, and nurses. She actively collaborates with national and international organizations, including the World Health Organization Nepal office, the Department of Health Services, and the Ministry of Health and Population of Nepal, to advance emergency medicine in the country.
Dr. Shilpakar has been instrumental in various initiatives, such as developing the first-ever national document on Standard Treatment Protocol (STP) of Emergency Health Services. Additionally, she organizes workshops and training sessions on Basic Life Support, First Aid, Basic Emergency Medical Technician courses, and Prehospital care.
Her commitment to research is evident through her involvement in supervising randomized controlled trials conducted by OUCRU-NP (Oxford University Clinical Research Unit-Nepal). Dr. Shilpakar strongly believes in addressing gender discrimination in medicine and promoting equal opportunities for women in Emergency Medicine. Her goal is to encourage more females to pursue emergency medicine and enhance the quality of emergency care in Nepal.
She is the first-ever Nepalese emergency physician to receive the recognition.
