Curriculum Vitae
Steven C. Gabaeff, MD, FAAEM, FACEP, AMAAFS
Address: 265 Clear Ridge Drive
Healdsburg, CA 5448
Telephone: 916 342 4835
Licensure: California G 32170
New York 127867
New Mexico 2000-33 (voluntarily inactivated 9-6-19)
College: State University of New York at Buffalo
1965-1969, BA. Psychology
Medical School: University of California, Los Angeles,
California (UCLA), 1969-1975
Internship: Mercy Hospital, San Diego California
1975-1976
Current Practice: Clinical Forensic Medicine
Past Practice: Emergency Medicine 1976-2015 (retired)
Employment:
1988-Present Clinical Forensic Medicine
Emergency Medicine, Abuse and Assault
10/04-5/11 Emergency Physician
Sutter Amador Hospital
Jackson, CA
2/05-Present Expert Consultant
Central Complaint Unit, Medical Board of California
Sacramento, CA
7/03-12/03 Faculty Physician, Assistant Clinical Professor of Medicine
Department of Emergency Medicine
University of California, San Diego
San Diego, CA
7/01-12/03 Attending Physician, Emergency Medicine
Long Beach Veterans Administration Hospital Emergency Dept.
Long Beach, CA
2/98-8/01 Staff Physician, Emergency Medicine
Tustin Hospital and Medical Center
14662 Newport Ave.
Tustin, CA 92780
5/95-2/98 Staff Physician, Associated Emergency Physicians Medical Group
Fallbrook Hospital District
624 E. Elder St.
Fallbrook, CA 92028 (1995-1998)
Paradise Valley Hospital
National City, California (1995-1996)
Scripps East Hospital
El Cajon, CA (Medical staff privileges only)
San Diego County Jails Medical Officer (1995)
11/94-5/95 Staff Physician, El Centro Regional Medical Center
1415 Ross Ave.
El Centro, CA 92243
4/94-5/95 Staff Physician, Kaiser Permanente Emergency Medical Group
4647 Zion Ave.
San Diego, CA 92120
11/93-3/94 Clinical Informatics Consultant
Del Mar, CA
Clinical Information System Design
Clinical Simulation Software
4/93-10/93 Medical Director. Villa View Emergency Department
5550 University Ave.
San Diego, CA 92105
5/92-10/93 Medical Director. Mid-City Community Clinic
4290 Polk Avenue
San Diego, CA 92105
3/92-10/93 Emergency Department Physician
Sharp Murrietta Hospital
Murrietta, CA
1/91-2/92 Clinical Informatics Consultant
Del Mar, CA
Clinical Information System Design
Clinical Simulation Software
11/81-12/90 Emergency Department Physician
Grossmont District Hospital
5555 Grossmont Center Drive
La Mesa, California 92042-3001
6/80-10/81 Emergency Department Physician
Eisenhower Medical Center
39000 Bob Hope Drive
Rancho Mirage, California 92270
6/79-6/80 Senior Physician
Department of Family Practice
Protective Health Providers (a federally qualified HMO)
San Diego, California
6/78-6/79 Solo Family Practice
San Diego, California
6/77-6/80 Emergency Department Physician
Pioneers Memorial Hospital,
Brawley, California
Admitting Officer – Imperial County Inpatient
Mental Health
6/76-6/77 Emergency Department Physician
Mission Bay Memorial Hospital
San Diego, California
Publications:
Gabaeff, SC, Zahl, S, Weister, K. Examining perinatal subdural haematoma as an aetiology of
extra‐axial hygroma and chronic subdural haematoma. Acta Paediatrica. 2019;00:1–8.
Gabaeff, SC. Exploring the controversy in child abuse pediatrics and false accusations of abuse. Legal Medicine 18 (2016) 90–97.
Gabaeff, S. “Investigating the possibility and probability of perinatal subdural hematoma progressing to chronic subdural hematoma, with and without complications, in neonates, and its potential relationship to the misdiagnosis of abusive head trauma.” Legal Medicine, ePublished 7 March 2013
Gabaeff, S. “Challenging the Pathophysiologic Connection Between Subdural Hematoma, Retinal Hemorrhage and Shaken Baby Syndrome.” Western Journal of Emergency Medicine, ePublished 18 February 2011 and print published May 2011.
Gabaeff, S. “Challenging the reliability of shaking confessions as predictor of abuse” in response to “Abusive Head Trauma: Judicial Admissions Highlight Violent and Repetitive Shaking”. Pediatrics, 17 September 2010.
Gabaeff, S. Flawed Logic. Minnesota Medical News, February 2010
Idea accepted for publication in “Tricks of Trade,” Emergency Medicine. 1981, concerning local anesthesia technique in children.
Contributor, The Grossmont Physician, A Medical Staff Publication
Op-Ed piece for San Diego Union 1992, “Tragedy of False Positive Determinations in Interfamilial Child Abuse”
Op-Ed piece for San Diego Daily Transcript 1993, “Diagnosing Abuse”
Author of two chapters, “Child Abuse” and “Sexual Assault” in the American Academy of Emergency Medicine on-line eMedicine textbook, peer reviewed and published January/February 2001. Now listed under eMedicinehealth.com
Appointed Co-Medical Editor American Academy of Emergency Medicine on-line Emergency Medicine Guide and Co-Managing Editor of eMedicine an on-line continuing education project, March 2001 to 2014
Member American Academy of Emergency Medicine Medical Documentation Template Editorial Board, Appointed September 2001
Research:
Collected data in the use of 10% cocaine, 4% xylocaine topical anesthesia for use in the repair of lacerations in children and selected adult facial lacerations.
Professional Organizations and Certification:
Associate Member American Academy of Forensic Science, 2011-2018
Officially reappointed by a committee of LA County Superior Court Judges to “Panel of Expert Witnesses” to provide “expertise for both prosecutors and defense attorneys in criminal trials,” 10-8-10 with expansion from Emergency Medicine to Child Abuse and Sexual Assault, Hon. Michael Johnson, Chair, Experts Committee
Fellow Emeritus of the American College of Emergency Physicians 2010
Peer Reviewer, Western Journal of Medicine for submissions related to child abuse, sexual assault, clinical forensic medicine, assault, mechanism of injury 2008-Present
Reviewer for the American Professional Society on the Abuse of Children (APSAC) published position paper regarding Child Maltreatment and Neglect 11-07. Published 2008
Past member of the Board of Directors California Chapter of American Academy of Emergency Medicine
Past ex-officio member of the Board of Directors of California Chapter of the American College of Emergency Physicians (CalACEP)
Past member of California Chapter of American College of Emergency Physicians
Fellow Emeritus American Academy of Emergency Medicine
Member of the Editorial Review Board Western Journal of Emergency Medicine appointed 2007 through present
Member of the Advisory Board Western Journal of Emergency Medicine appointed 2007 through present
Member of the Evidence Based Medical Society 2005-present
President California Chapter of American Academy of Emergency Medicine, 2006
Diplomat American Board of Emergency Medicine, Sept.1983, Recertified, 1994, 2004 through 2011
Past member American Professional Society on the Abuse of Children
Past member California Society on the Abuse of Children
Past member American College of Legal Medicine
Past member California Chapter American College of Emergency Physicians
Past member American Medical Association
Previous member, San Diego County Emergency Physicians Association
Certified Base Station Physician – CAL ACEP, completed 1981, Los Angeles, California
ACLS Provider, 1977 to 2014
ATLS Provider 1983 to 2014
Past Red Cross Certified BLS Instruction
Member Health Care Reform Commission, Alternative Delivery Systems Subcommittee, Physician Working Group
Member United Way’s Future Scan Committee, Study of the Future of Children in San Diego
Member Physician Advisory Committee “All Kids Count,” a project to computerize the immunization records of all children in San Diego County
Past Medical Director Sexual Assault Response Team (SART) program, Villa View Hospital, San Diego, CA, 1993
Member Ad Hoc Committee of Child Abuse; appointed by Paul Pfingst, District Attorney, County of San Diego, 1995
External Reviewer, Child Maltreatment, Journal of the American Professional Society on the Abuse of Children (APSAC), appointed November, 1998
Designated 5150 evaluator (mental status evaluation) for 35 years in ED environment
Mandated adult, child and elder abuse reporter for 35 years
Member Board of Directors and Treasurer of Coalition to Preserve Families, Sponsors of the Child and Family Protection Act, appointed February 2001
Member American Academy of Emergency Medicine Medical Documentation Template Editorial Board, Appointed September 2001
Examiner for American Academy of Emergency Medicine Oral Board Certification Course 2002
Vice President, American Academy of Emergency Medicine, California Chapter, 2005, Elected Board Member, 2001-2004
Passed the eligibility examination as Medical Consultant (Enforcement) for the Medical Board of Califormia 5-02
Continuing Education:
Current per standards of Medical Board of California, American Board of Emergency Medicine, the American College of Emergency Physicians and the American Academy of Emergency Medicine
Completed 1 on 1 formal Child Sexual Assault Examination Training Program, with Dr. Jan Bays, Portland, Oregon
Greater that 450 hours of category one training specific to child abuse and sexual assault
Emergency Medical Malpractice Experience:
Expert /consultant witness in approximately 400+ cases
Significant experience in case analysis, deposition and trial testimony
Clinical Forensic Expertise as of 5-2016
Medical expert in ~4000+ criminal abuse cases
Past Medical Director Sexual Assault Response Team, Villa View Hospital, San Diego, CA
28 years of extensive research case evaluation, lecturing, teaching and collection of material related to abuse of children and sexual assault.
Extensive review of culposcopic photographs (greater than 5000) and a current library of greater than 5000+ article library related to sexual and physical abuse of children and adults and child abuse pediatrics.
Qualifications summary of Steven Gabaeff, MD, FAAEM, FACEP, AMAAFS
- I have a BA in Psychology from State University of New York and a MD from UCLA. I was board certified in Emergency Medicine from 1983 till 12-31-2015 (32 years) and practiced emergency medicine in the hospital for 35 years until I retired from ED practice. There after due to my work I maintained current knowledge of emergency medicine (EM) practice.
- EM involves in-depth knowledge of the different subspecialties, their most critical illnesses and findings, in all of them. This broad knowledge can be integrated into any child abuse analysis, to generate an integrated narrative incorporating relevant information from the applicable specialties.
- Emergency departments are the primary entry point into the medical system for accidents, medical problems, and legitimate abuse related presentations.
- Child abuse is part of the core curriculum of Emergency Medicine and our collective emergency medicine experience with injury and immediate care of critically ill children affords us extensive hands on experience in dealing with the analysis of various critical medical presentations and the differentiation of medical problems from abuse; virtually on a daily basis.
- I have been a licensed medical doctor for over 42 years. I have licenses in the states of California, New York, and New Mexico (inactive as of 9-6-2019).
- While I stopped hospital work due age and night work in 2011, I was concurrently, from 1988 on, practicing forensic medicine.
- My current practice is in clinical forensic medicine alone. In my clinical forensic practice I have consulted on 4000+ criminal and dependency cases of abuse over 30 years.
- I have been an Expert Consultant to the Central Complaint Unit of the Medical Board of California. I am a past president of the California Chapter of the American Academy of Emergency Medicine, past Board member of that organization and I am a current member of the Editorial Board of the Western Journal of Emergency Medicine, and reviewer for that journal. I also have been a reviewer for Child Maltreatment, the journal of the American Professional Society on the Abuse of Children and contributed to a white paper as peer reviewer on physical abuse that was published in in the early 2000’s
- Over the course of my clinical career, I have worked primarily in Emergency Medicine but have experience in Urgent Care and Family Practice. About a third of the ~150,000 patients I saw, were children (50K) with urgent and emergent medical problems.
- I have taught as an Assistant Clinical Professor of Emergency Medicine at University of California, San Diego residency program and at the Long Beach VA hospital to residents and students from the VA and University of California, Irvine. Since 1988 I have had an active practice in clinical forensic medicine.
- I am an Associate Member of the American Academy of Forensic Science, a position achieved based on accomplishments and have been appointed by a committee of Los Angeles County Superior Court Judges to the Panel of Expert Witnesses to provide expertise for both prosecutors and defense attorneys in criminal trials since 2008. This precertification of my expertise was based on a significant submission of my works. I am certified in the areas of Emergency Medicine, Child Abuse, and Sexual Assault. I have worked for the Los Angeles County Superior Courts for 0+ years before the certification process was implemented in 2008.
- I have extensively researched and published several articles concerning diagnosing and evaluating potential child abuse For the past three decades, I have focused much of my research on the studying scientific reliability and validity of the diagnoses of Shaken Baby Syndrome (SBS) now officially being referred to as Abusive Head Trauma (AHT) or nonaccidental trauma (NAT). I have also studied rickets and vitamin D deficiency in great depth, the physics of accidental injuries, birth trauma and complications, and various less common mimics of child abuse that are often misdiagnosed as abuse. I have researched police interrogation techniques (especially the Reid technique) and reviewed hundreds of video and audio taped police interrogations.
- I am aligned with 2 academic groups, one of about 150 medical professionals and the other, a similar number of attorneys. I continuously monitor the abuse literature along with my colleagues, using the internet to full advantage, for all relevant articles across a spectrum of specialties. I personally review on average 4-5 new articles per week to remain current in this field. I study both the establishment literature and the challenging literature in child abuse pediatrics. I have a library of about 5000 articles related to abuse that covers the child abuse literature and information from other specialty journals that relate to the diagnosis and treatment of critically ill children of any etiology including disease entities that are often mimic the findings used to diagnose abuse.
- My academic colleagues is made up of specialists from pathology, forensic pathology, pediatrics, radiology, neurosurgery, neurology, neuropathology, ophthalmology, emergency medicine, lawyers, a retired judge, biomechanics, and neuroradiology. Together we help each other to gain more extensive knowledge about these areas, distinct from our own specialties and often work together to evaluate these complex cases. We collectively have identified over diagnosis of abuse by child abuse pediatricians using nonspecific findings to misdiagnose abuse and collectively have worked and published to decrease the number of false accusations of abuse; which constitute a very high percentage of contested allegations of abuse.