Core Faculty
Frank Tift, MD, NRP, FACEP, FAEMS, CMTE
Program Director
Med School: Medical College of Georgia
Residency: Georgetown University Hospital/Washington Hospital Center
Fellowship: University of Tennessee - Chattanooga
Dr. Tift has been with the program almost since its creation. In fact, he was the first fellow to complete the program after its creation. He decided to stay in Chattanooga and join the faculty, eventually working up to the PD slot. He got his start in EMS prior to medical school, working for a 911 service as an EMT during a gap year, and this experience planted the seed that lead both to Emergency Medicine and ultimately to EMS Fellowship. He has a particular interest in air medical transport and currently serves both as one of the Medical Directors for LIFE FORCE Air Medical Service as well as an active Flight Physician with that service.
Jocelyn De Guzman, MD, FACEP, FAEMS
Associate Program Director
Med School: University of Tennessee Health Science Center
Residency: East Carolina University Brody School of Medicine
Fellowship: East Carolina University Brody School of Medicine
Dr. De Guzman is a native of Chattanooga. After graduating from UTC, she enrolled in EMT school at Chattanooga State and earned her license as an EMT-IV. She was privileged to work for Erlanger’s ground service and Hamilton County EMS. She fondly remembers her dream job working as the B shift floater down at Medic 9 & 13, before leaving for medical school in 2002. This experience and appreciation for EMS led her to complete an EMS Fellowship after residency. She remained on faculty at East Carolina University until 2014 and served as medical director for the ERAC/SMAT II, Hospital Disaster Preparedness, assistant medical director for Pitt County EMS, on-scene medical control for ECU Pirate football games and OBX marathons, and taught EMS resident education and base station courses.
After deciding to return to Chattanooga, she joined the EMS fellowship faculty in 2017 and currently directs our didactic curriculum.
Shoshana Rosenthal, MD
Core Faculty
Med School: University of Colorado
Residency: Henry Ford Hospital, Detroit, MI
Fellowship: University of Tennessee - Chattanooga
Dr. Rosenthal moved to Chattanooga to complete the EMS fellowship in 2020, and decided to stay and join the faculty following the completion of her fellowship. During her education in both Denver and Detroit she was able to experience both ground and flight programs and became inspired by the many roles of prehospital care. In particular during the pandemic in Detroit, she witnessed how utilizing the knowledge and services of prehospital care into new roles became integral in the functioning of our health system. Her current interests are exploring functions outside of traditional EMS in alternative care models and EMS education.
Additional Faculty
Ron Buchheit, MD, FAAEM
Med School: American University of the Caribbean
Residency: University of Tennessee - Chattanooga
Dr. Buchheit did his residency here in Chattanooga, and he has been here ever since. He was involved in the initial planning of the program with Dr. Creel. After Dr. Creel’s unfortunate passing, Dr Buchheit took over both as the PD of the Fellowship and the medical director of Hamilton County EMS. When the pandemic hit, he became heavily involved in hospital-level administration regarding pandemic response, surge capacity, patient transfers, and resource utilization. This role naturally took a great deal of his time, so he stepped out of the PD/Core Faculty role, but he remains a valuable resource to our fellows as the medical director of HCEMS and in his experience with EMS-related activities within hospital administration.