Dittman, James

By Michael Hilleary | August 16, 2022

 

 

James Dittman, MD

Dr. James Dittman

Hometown:

Yorktown, VA

Medical School:

Virginia Commonwealth University

Bio:

Growing up in a military family gave me the opportunity to travel the world at an early age. By the time I graduated from the University of Virginia with a chemistry degree, I had lived in five states and Germany, owned and operated a small whole-grain bakery, and discovered a passion for responding to medical emergencies while serving as a volunteer firefighter. During my gap year between college and medical school I worked as a data analyst, absorbing skills that ultimately propelled me though a diverse range of research projects throughout medical school and led me to discover vascular surgery as a specialty. In medical school I found that I connected with the older and complex patients who tend to comprise a large part of the vascular patient
population as well as the dynamic and individualized nature of vascular surgery. While the primary focus of my vascular residency will be learning to provide comprehensive and excellent vascular care for all patients, I look forward to engaging in opportunities for surgical innovation, curriculum development, and promoting diversity, equity, and inclusion at the University of Washington as well.

Personal Interests:

Hiking, traveling, cooking, antiquing.

Clinical Interests:

Peripheral arterial disease, aortic dissection, medical device innovation, post-market surveillance, and health care disparities.

Professional Activities:

Society for Vascular Surgery (SVS), American College of Surgeons (ACS), American Medical Association (AMA), Washington State Medical Association (WMSA)

Why UW?

The University of Washington offers comprehensive surgical and vascular training with exposure to diverse clinical environments. It was important for me to train where I would have the opportunity to work with urban and underserved populations and graduate with open and endovascular case numbers that are among the highest in the country. There is a strong team culture between trainees and faculty that values dedication, diversity, and resilience. In addition, UW offers substantial professional development, mentorship, and research opportunities with experts who are also leaders in the field of vascular surgery regionally and nationally.

What advice do you have for incoming interns?

Remember you are never alone – it takes a whole team to take care of every patient!

What do you like best about living in Seattle?

Seattle is a diverse city, with excellent restaurants and a no-frills attitude. I enjoy being able to look out my windows to the 24/7 bustle of city life. On days off, I enjoy being able to take a quick drive to the rainforest to hike or out to the peninsula to pluck oysters off the beach.

Publications:

  1. JM Dittman, MF Amendola, KS Lavingia. Medical optimization of the PAD patient, Seminars in Vascular Surgery, 2022; 35(2):113-123. doi: 10.1053/j.semvascsurg.2022.04.003.
  2. JM Dittman, KS Lavingia, RA Larson. Elevated Risk Analysis Index (RAI) Frailty Scores Are Independently Associated with Adverse Outcomes in Lower Extremity Surgical Revascularizations Similarly Across Genders. Ann Vasc Surg. 2022; S0890-5096(22)00188-1. doi: 10.1016/j.avsg.2022.04.004.
  3. S Boyd, JM Dittman, W Tse, KS Lavingia, MF Amendola. Modern Lower Extremity Bypass Outcomes by Anesthesia Type in the Veteran Population. Ann Vasc Surg, 2021; 000: 1–9. doi: 10.1016/j.avsg.2021.08.028.
  4. B Aulivola, EL Mitchell, VL Rowe, MR Smeds, S Abramowitz, KS Amankwah, HT Chen, JM Dittman, Y Erben, MD Humphries, JA Lahiri, L Pascarella, E Quiroga, TM Singh, LJ Wang, JF Eidt. Ensuring equity, diversity, and inclusion in the Society for Vascular Surgery: A report of the Society for Vascular Surgery Task Force on Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion. J Vasc Surg, 2021; 73(3):745-756.e6. doi:10.1016/j.jvs.2020.11.049.
  5. LN West-Livingston, JM Dittman, JA Park, L Pascarella. Sexual orientation, gender identity, and gender expression: From current state to solutions for the support of lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer/questioning patients and colleagues. J Vasc Surg, 2021; 74(2S):64S-75S. doi: 10.1016/j.jvs.2021.03.057. PMID: 34303461.
  6. JM Dittman, M Amendola, R Ramraj, S Haynes, P Lange. The COMET framework: A novel approach to design an escape room workshop for interprofessional objectives. J Interprof Care, 2021; 1-4. doi: 10.1080/13561820.2020.1870442.
  7. JM Dittman, K Maiden, AT Matulewicz, G Beaird, K Lockeman, A Dow. A flexible customizable virtual escape room approach for interprofessional learners. Journal of Interprofessional Education & Practice 2021; 24: 100455. doi:10.1016/j.xjep.2021.100455.
  8. K Popli*, JM Dittman*, M Amendola, J Plum, D Newton. Anatomic suitability for commercially available percutaneous arteriovenous fistula creation systems. J Vasc Surg 2021; 73 (3): 999-1004. doi: 10.1016/j.jvs.2020.09.021.
  9. W Tse, JM Dittman, K Lavingia, L Wolfe, M Amendola. Frailty Index Associated with Postoperative Complications and Mortality after Lower Extremity Amputation in a National Veteran Cohort. J Vasc Surg. 2021 Mar 5; S0741-5214(21)00345-1. doi: 10.1016/j.jvs.2021.02.039.
  10. CS Stingl, KJ Alexander, JM Dittman, NJ Hillerbrand, K Popli, A Dalmazio, N Valencia-Rojas, A Baghdassarian, S Jayaraman, EB Rodas. Development and Implementation of a Longitudinal Global Acute Care and Systems Strengthening Program. Ann Glob Health. 2021; 87(1):125. doi: 10.5334/aogh.3385. PMID: 35036332; PMCID: PMC8698217.
  11. KA Owen, A Price, H Ainsworth, BN Aidukaitis, P Bachali MD Catalina, JM Dittman, TD Howard, KM Kingsmore, AC Labonte, MC Marion, RD Robl, KD Zimmerman, CD Langefeld, AC Grammer, PE Lipsky. Analysis of Trans-Ancestral SLE Risk Loci Identifies Unique Biologic Networks and Drug Targets in African and European Ancestries. Am J Hum Genet, 2020; 107(5):864-881. doi: 10.1016/j.ajhg.2020.09.007.
  12. JM Dittman, W Tse, M Amendola. Optimizing Peripandemic Care for Veteran Major Non-Traumatic Lower Extremity Amputees: A Proposal Informed by a National Retrospective Descriptive Analysis of COVID-19 Risk Factor Prevalence. Mil Med, 2020; 185(11-12):e2124-e2130. doi: 10.1093/milmed/usaa180.

Book Chapters:

Dittman JM, Amendola MF. IDEAL framework. In: Eltorai A, Bakal J, Moore E, Newell P, Osband A, eds. Translational Surgery. 1st ed. Elseiver; 2023.