Clare Atzema

MD, M.Sc., FRCPC
Scientist
clare.atzema@ices.on.ca
Sunnybrook Health Sciences Centre
Phone: 416-480-6100 ext. 683784

Research Assistant:

Tilley Creary
Phone: 416-480-6048
Email: tilley.creary@sunnybrook.ca

Dr. Atzema’s research focuses on the quality of care provided to patients with cardiovascular illness when they are in the emergency department. She uses linked Ontario databases to examine the relationship between early care in the emergency department and outcomes in patients with cardiac illnesses such as heart attacks, atrial fibrillation, and high blood pressure. Her specific areas of interest are the following:

  • Describing atrial fibrillation as it presents in the emergency setting, as well as determining predictors of poor outcomes following an emergency visit
  • Determining how follow-up care after an emergency visit for a cardiovascular disease affects longer-term outcomes in these patients
  • Hypertension as it presents in the ED

Education

  • BA, 1996, psychology, Simon Fraser University, Canada
  • MD, 2000, University of British Columbia, Canada
  • M.Sc., 2006, clinical epidemiology, U of T, Canada
  • FRCPC, 2007, emergency medicine, U of T, Canada

Appointments and Affiliations

  • Scientist, Evaluative Clinical Sciences, Tory Trauma Research Program, Sunnybrook Research Institute
  • Staff emergency physician, Sunnybrook Health Sciences Centre
  • Associate professor, department of medicine – division of emergency medicine, U of T
  • Senior scientist, Institute for Clinical Evaluative Sciences
  • New investigator, Heart and Stroke Foundation of Canada

Research Foci

  • Cardiovascular medicine in the emergency department setting
  • Emergency medicine
  • Health care delivery
  • Health services research

Publications

Affiliated Labs & Programs

Selected Publications

  1. Atzema CL, Austin PC, Miller E, Chong AC, Yun L, Dorian P. A population-based description of atrial fibrillation in the emergency department, 2002–2010. Ann Emerg Med. 2013 Dec;62(6):570–77.

  2. Atzema CL, Austin PC, Chong AC, Dorian P. Factors associated with 90-day death following emergency department discharge for atrial fibrillation. Ann Emerg Med. 2013 May;61(5):539–48.

  3. Atzema CL, Dorian P, Ivers NM, Chong AS, Austin PC. Evaluating early repeat emergency department use in patients with atrial fibrillation: A population-based analysis. Am Heart J. 2013 Jun;165(6):939–48.

  4. Atzema CL, Lam K, Young C, Kester-Greene N. Patients with atrial fibrillation and an alternative primary diagnosis in the emergency department: A description of their characteristics and outcomes. Acad Emerg Med. 2013 Feb;20(2):193–9.

  5. Barbera LC, Atzema CL, Sutradhar R, Seow H, Howell D, Husain A, Sussman J, Earle C, Liu Y, Dudgeon DJ. Do patient reported symptoms predict for emergency department visits? A population based analysis. Ann Emerg Med. 2013 Apr;61(4):427–37.

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