Dr. Nelson attended Williams College in Williamstown, Massachusetts, and received his medical degree from Yale University School of Medicine in New Haven, Connecticut. He completed a residency in Pediatrics at St Christopher’s Hospital for Children in Philadelphia PA, and fellowship training in Pediatric Emergency Medicine at Boston Children’s Hospital. He is board-certified in Pediatric Emergency Medicine, and is fluent in medical Spanish. He is on the medical staffs of Primary Children’s Hospital and the University of Utah Medical Center.
Dr. Nelson has been on the faculty of the University of Utah School of Medicine for 27 years. He is a Professor of Pediatrics, and a member of the Division of Pediatric Emergency Medicine. He has served as the associate division chief, fellowship director, schedule coordinator, and Emergency Department Medical Director at Primary Children’s Hospital. His other certifications include Pediatric Advanced Life Support and CPHIMS (Certified Professional in Healthcare Information and Management Systems).
In addition to his clinical role as a pediatric emergency medicine physician, Dr. Nelson currently serves as a Medical Director of Care Transformation for Intermountain Healthcare. In this medical informatics role, he leads a team of Intermountain and Cerner employees working to improve and enhance Intermountain’s iCentra EHR (Electronic Health Record). His portfolio includes order development, advanced clinical decision support, and population registry development.
Dr. Nelson has served as an author on over 20 peer-reviewed research articles, which focus on the use of a pediatric observation unit, pediatric sedation, influenza, and appendicitis. He has written numerous chapters in standard medical textbooks, on topics including pediatric seizures, pediatric sedation, and altered mental status/coma.
Dr. Nelson is the site principal co-investigator at the University of Utah/Primary Children’s Hospital for PECARN, the Pediatric Emergency Care Applied Research Network. In this role he oversees a research staff of five, and mentors other investigators in the conduct of PECARN studies at the University of Utah/Primary Children’s Hospital.
Dr. Nelson has been an invited expert lecturer at local, regional, national, and international medical meetings. Topics of these talks have included pediatric procedural sedation, pediatric orthopedic emergencies, pediatric behavioral health emergencies, pediatric septic shock, pediatric poisonings, and prevention and treatment of sleep deprivation among medical personnel.
