Dr. Chang is the Vincent P. Verdile, M.D., ’84 Endowed Chair for Emergency Medicine, Vice Chair of Research and Academic Affairs, and professor of emergency medicine. Dr. Chang completed his undergraduate studies at Stanford University and his medical school training at the University of California, San Diego. He was part of the inaugural class at HAEMR (Harvard Affiliated Emergency Medicine Residency), a combined residency program between Massachusetts General Hospital and Brigham and Women’s Hospital in Boston.

Dr. Chang worked at the University of California, Irvine for three years before transferring to Montefiore Medical Center in the Bronx, where he worked for 13 years. While at Montefiore, he obtained a Masters in Clinical Research at the Albert Einstein College of Medicine and received a K23 award from the National Institutes on Aging. Dr. Chang has spent the past 15 years conducting research in acute pain in the emergency department, primarily in the form of randomized clinical trials. He came to Albany Medical College in August 2016.

Dr. Chang is active in emergency medicine at a national level, currently serving as the Grants chair for the Society for Academic Emergency Medicine (SAEM) and as an ex-officio trustee of the SAEM Board of Trustees Foundation.

In November 2017, one of Dr. Chang's studies was published in JAMA (the Journal of the American Medical Association) and received national attention, being covered by over 60 news outlets, including the New York Times, Time Magazine, and a front page article in the Los Angeles Times. This study went on to be in the top 10 of JAMA’s Most Talked About Articles of 2017 and the top 10 of the New England Journal of Medicine’s First Watch Stories of 2017.

Selected Publications
a. Chang AK, Bijur PE, Esses D, Barnaby D, Baer J. Effect of a single dose of oral opioid and nonopioid analgesics on acute extremity pain in the emergency department: a randomized clinical trial. JAMA 2017;318(17):1661-1667.

b. Chang AK, Bijur PE, Holden L, Gallagher EJ. Efficacy of an Acute Pain Titration Protocol Driven by Patient Response to a Simple Query: Do You Want More Pain Medication? Ann Emerg Med 2016;67(5):565-72.

c. Chang AK, Bijur PE, Gallagher EJ. Comparative Analgesic Efficacy of Oxycodone/acetaminophen vs. Hydrocodone/acetaminophen for Short-term Pain Management In Adults Following ED Discharge. Acad Emerg Med 2015;22(11):1254-60.

d. Chang AK, Bijur PE, Gallagher EJ. Comparative Analgesic Efficacy of Oxycodone/acetaminophen vs. Codeine/acetaminophen for Short-term Pain Management Following ED Discharge. Pain Med 2015;16(12):2397-404.

e. Chang AK, Bijur PE, Munjal, KG, Gallagher EJ. Randomized Clinical Trial of Hydrocodone/Acetaminophen Versus Codeine/Acetaminophen in the Treatment of Acute Extremity Pain After Emergency Department Discharge. Acad Emerg Med; 2014;21:228-235.

f. Chang AK, Bijur PE, Davitt ME, Gallagher EJ. Randomized Clinical Trial of an Intravenous Hydromorphone Titration Protocol Versus Usual Care for Management of Acute Pain in Older Emergency Department Patients. Drugs Aging; 2013:30:747-54.

g. Chang AK, Bijur PE, Lupow JB, Gallagher EJ. Randomized Clinical Trial of the 2-mg Hydromorphone Bolus Protocol versus the “1+1” Hydromorphone Titration Protocol in Treatment of Acute, Severe Pain in the First Hour of Emergency Department Presentation. Ann Emerg Med; 2013;62:304-10.

h. Chang AK, Lupow JB, Bijur PE, Gallagher EJ. Randomized Clinical Trial of Efficacy and Safety of a Single 2 mg IV Dose of Hydromorphone vs. Usual Care in the Management of Acute Pain. Acad Emerg Med; 2013;20(2):185-92.

i. Chang AK, Bijur PE, Gallagher EJ. Randomized clinical trial comparing the safety and efficacy of a hydromorphone titration protocol to usual care in the management of adult emergency department patients with acute severe pain. Ann Emerg Med 2011;58(4):352-9.