Dr. Paul Robert Thomas Atkinson

Clinical Academic Department Head

Department of Emergency Medicine

Saint John Area

BSc (Hons), MB BCh BAO, MA (Cantab), FRCEM, FRCPC

Dr. Paul Atkinson is a Professor in Emergency Medicine at Dalhousie University and recently appointed Clinical-Academic Head in Emergency Medicine, Saint John Area, New Brunswick, and Assistant Dean, Research at Dalhousie Medicine New Brunswick. He is also deputy editor for the Canadian Journal of Emergency Medicine; and was Chief Medical Officer at WorkSafeNB from 2016 to 2020. He is past chair of the Canadian Association of Emergency Physicians research committee, as well as the NB Trauma Program research sub-committee.

His international training began at the Queen’s University of Belfast, followed by postgraduate programs in internal medicine in Belfast and emergency medicine in Cambridge, UK. He completed a fellowship at the Royal North Shore Hospital in Sydney, Australia. He relocated to Saint John, N.B. from Cambridge in late 2009.

He has over 80 peer-reviewed publications, as well as being the lead editor on two textbooks, Emergency Medicine an Illustrated Colour Text, 2010; and Point of Care Ultrasound in Emergency Medicine and Resuscitation, 2019.

Awards include the inaugural “Best in Class” undergraduate teaching award from Dalhousie University in 2012, and the national Grant Innes Award for Emergency Medicine research in 2014, and the Ian Stiell Researcher of the Year Award from the Canadian Association of Emergency Physicians, 2019.

Paul is married to Julie, and together they have three young adult offspring, Jordyn, Lucy and Jack. Paul enjoys cycling and hiking in the wide-open spaces of New Brunswick and is looking forward to the challenge of leading the emergency medicine team in the Saint John zone.

  • BSc (Hons), Queen’s University, Belfast, 1992
  • MB BCh BAO (Hon), Queen’s University, Belfast, 1995
  • Pre-registration House Officer (Intern), Queen’s University, Belfast, 1995-1996
  • Internal Medicine Program, Belfast, Northern Ireland, 1996-1999
  • MRCP (UK), Royal College of Physicians (UK), 1998
  • Emergency Medicine, Cambridge, East of England, 1999-2003
  • Trauma/Pediatric EM, Sydney, Australia, 2001-2002
  • FRCEM (FFAEM), Royal College of Emergency Medicine, 2003
  • CCST (Emergency Med), General Medical Council (UK), 2003
  • MA (Cantab), University of Cambridge, 2010
  • FRCPC, Royal College of Physicians and Surgeons of Canada, 2015

  • Professor in Emergency Medicine at Dalhousie University
  • Assistant Dean, Research at Dalhousie Medicine New Brunswick (beginning July 2020)
  • Co-director of the CanPoCUS.ca Point of Care Ultrasound Course
  • Deputy Editor,Canadian Journal of Emergency Medicine
  • Chair, New Brunswick Emergency Medicine Research Committee (Dalhousie University Dept of Emergency Medicine)

  • Milne F, Leech-Porter K, Atkinson P, et al. Combatting Sedentary Lifestyles: Can Exercise Prescription in the Emergency Department Lead to Behavioral Change in Patients? Cureus. 2020 Feb 21;12(2):e7071. doi: 10.7759/cureus.7071. PMID: 32226672; PMCID: PMC7089621.
  • Vonkeman J, Atkinson P, Fraser J, et al. Intimate Partner Violence Documentation and Awareness in an Urban Emergency Department. Cureus. 2019 Dec 28;11(12):e6493. doi: 10.7759/cureus.6493. PMID: 32025415; PMCID: PMC6984185.
  • Rollo D, Atkinson P, Mekwan J, et al. How Feasible is Extracorporeal Cardiopulmonary Resuscitation in a Medium Urban Population Centre? Cureus. 2019 Dec 8;11(12):e6324. doi: 10.7759/cureus.6324. PMID: 31938615; PMCID: PMC6946035.
  • Boyle A, Atkinson P, Basaure Verdejo C, et al. Validation of the short form of the International Crowding Measure in Emergency Departments: an international study. Eur J Emerg Med. 2019 Dec;26(6):405-411. doi: 10.1097/MEJ.0000000000000579. PMID: 30431450.
  • Beckett N, Atkinson P, Fraser J, et al. Do combined ultrasound and electrocardiogram-rhythm findings predict survival in emergency department cardiac arrest patients? The Second Sonography in Hypotension and Cardiac Arrest in the Emergency Department (SHoC-ED2) study. CJEM. 2019;21(6):739‐743. doi:10.1017/cem.2019.397
  • Lalande E, Burwash-Brennan T, Burns K, Atkinson P, et al.; SHoC Investigators. Is point-of-care ultrasound a reliable predictor of outcome during atraumatic, non-shockable cardiac arrest? A systematic review and meta-analysis from the SHoC investigators. Resuscitation. 2019 Jun;139:159-166. doi: 10.1016/j.resuscitation.2019.03.027. Epub 2019 Apr 9. PMID: 30974189.
  • Atkinson PR, Milne J, Diegelmann L, et al. Does Point-of-Care Ultrasonography Improve Clinical Outcomes in Emergency Department Patients With Undifferentiated Hypotension? An International Randomized Controlled Trial From the SHoC-ED Investigators. Ann Emerg Med. 2018 Oct;72(4):478-489. doi: 10.1016/j.annemergmed.2018.04.002. Epub 2018 Jun 2. PMID: 29866583.

  • Health Systems
  • Point of Care Ultrasound
  • Resuscitation
  • Analgesia and Sedation
  • Cardiology

  • Hutchinson-Stewart Scholarship, 1990
  • Physiological Society (London) Prize, 1992
  • Sir George E. Clark Prize in Endocrinology, 1992
  • Commonwealth Society Elective Bursary, 1993
  • Emily Sarah Dixon Elective Bursary, 1993
  • East of England Research Presentation Award, 2003
  • Clinical Excellence Award, Cambridge, 2007
  • Clinical Excellence Award, Cambridge, 2008
  • “Best in Class” Award: Dalhousie Medicine New Brunswick Award, 2012
  • Grant Innes Award for Top Research Presentation CAEP, 2014
  • Emergency Physician “Teacher of the Year”, 2015
  • Dalhousie University Emergency Medicine Research Day, 2015
  • Dragon’s Den Top Research Presentation Award, 2017
  • CAEP Ian Stiell Researcher of the Year Award, 2019