Residency Edition Faculty

Dr. David Caro is the Residency Program Director at the University of Florida College of Medicine for the Department of Emergency Medicine in Jacksonville. He is also the co-director for The Difficult Airway Course: Residency Edition™.

When it comes to managing difficult airways, Dr. Caro has one main piece of advice: always approach emergent airways with no less than three plans, so there is always something to fall back on should anything fail. He loves teaching, especially the moments where he can see students applying what they’ve learned to real life scenarios. His interest in teaching came from his parents, and the way they raised him. “Both of my parents took every opportunity to teach what they could as I grew up. Their modeling had a strong influence on my interest and desire to educate.”

Dr. Caro has three sons, and is married to a fellow emergency physician.

Dr. Leslie Simon is the Chair of Emergency Medicine at Mayo Clinic Florida. She was on active duty in the U.S. Navy for ten years, and was stationed in Guam, Spain, Jacksonville and San Diego, and did a combat deployment in support of Operation Iraqi Freedom. Simon has trained thousands of providers in the Navy, Army and Airforce in difficult airway management over the last fifteen years.

Her advice to those in the field is to always practice. Practicing builds and sharpens your skillset. “More importantly,” Simon adds, “practice builds confidence, which is every bit as important as technical ability.” She loves to teach because it keeps her excited about her work, and gives her the chance to learn new things.

Simon is a mini-van-driving mother of four whose favorite sport is shoe shopping.