Dr. Alan Sazama has been appointed as the new Inaugural Chair of Emergency Medicine at the University of South Dakota Sanford School of Medicine (SSOM). Dr. Sazama, currently serving as the assistant dean of medical education at SSOM, will begin his duties in this new role on May 22, 2026. As noted in the press release, "Dr. Sazama is an award-winning and successful educator in emergency medicine with Avera Medical Group and has practiced bedside emergency medicine at Avera Health since 2017. A 2014 graduate of the Sanford School of Medicine, Sazama completed his emergency medicine residency at Regions Hospital in St. Paul, Minnesota, and was named vice chair of the Avera Health Division of Emergency Medicine in 2024." Read more.