About me
Christine Trankiem Wall, MD, is a board-certified general surgeon and critical care surgeon. She is the Chief of Trauma and Acute Care Surgery at MedStar Washington Hospital Center and Regional Chief of the same for MedStar Health. Dr. Trankiem serves as state Vice Chair for the American College of Surgeons Committee on Trauma and participates in the education of medical students, physicians in training, and peers. She is Chair of the Code Critical Airway Committee, serves on the Risk Management Committee, and is a member of the Medical Board and Medical Executive Committee of the hospital.
Dr. Trankiem specializes in trauma, general surgery including gastrointestinal and bowel surgery, and surgical critical care. Her clinical interests include trauma surgery, gastrointestinal surgery, necrotizing acute soft tissue infections (or flesh eating bacteria), community violence prevention and outreach, and organ donation. As chief of the Gold Acute Care Surgery Team at MedStar Washington Hospital Center, Dr. Trankiem has an added level of expertise in taking care of patients with seemingly straightforward general surgery issues that may develop into critical care needs. Patients who come to MedStar for care will also be treated by other physicians in the Gold Acute Care Surgery Team, in addition to being treated by Dr. Trankiem.
Dr. Trankiem earned her undergraduate degree from the Honors College at the University of Pittsburgh, pursued post-baccalaureate studies at the University of Pennsylvania, and obtained her medical degree from MCP Hahnemann School of Medicine. She completed her general surgery residency at Temple University Hospital in Philadelphia and completed her fellowship training with the Division of Trauma and Surgical Critical Care at Los Angeles County Hospital at the University of Southern California.
Born and raised in the Philadelphia area, Dr. Trankiem came to Washington, DC for the opportunity to provide advanced trauma and surgical care to area residents. Dr. Trankiem is an advocate for team care. Data shows that a team always outperforms an individual. For this reason, she is passionate about surgical education and critical events team training. When not searching for innovative approaches to care for trauma patients, Dr. Trankiem enjoys spending time with her husband and son hiking, white water rafting, and adventure travelling.
Philosophy of Care
“Mental wellness, spiritual well-being, nutrition, social work and physical therapy are all essential in order to bring the patient as a whole to their best state of health. Through this philosophy, I bring care to my patients in a compassionate and thoughtful way. Communication is the cornerstone of my practice. It is important to me to not only educate and update the patient in order to address their disease but to also communicate with their families.”
Conditions and procedures
Procedures I perform
- Cholecystectomy
- Duodenal Ulcer Surgery
- Exploratory Laparotomy
- Hernia Repair
- Splenectomy
Insurance
MedStar Medical Group accepts most major health insurance plans. If you are uncertain as to whether your individual health insurance plan is accepted at MedStar Medical Group, please call your insurance company.
-
List of insurance plans we accept
- Aetna Elect Choice/ EPO (Aetna Health Fund) Innovation Health: Network Only Plus
- Aetna Quality Point of Service (POS)
- Aetna Student Health Insurance
- Aetna Medicare Advantage HMO & PPO Plans
- CFBCBS BlueChoice HMO
- CFBCBS Blue Choice Opt Out Plus Open Access (POS)
- CFBCBS Maryland Point of Service Plan (MPOS)
- CFBCBS Maryland Indemnity or PPO
- CIGNA HMO & Network (HMO)
- CIGNA POS/Network POS
- Great-West Healthcare POS/CIGNA
- CIGNA Indemnity
- Coventry Health Care of Virginia
- Coventry of Delaware HMO/PPO
- First Health PPO
- FIRST HEALTH
- Tricare Prime
- Tricare for Life (Medicare Supplemental Plan)
- MedStar Family Choice - Maryland Health Choice
- MedStar Select (MedStar Associates' Plan)
- United Healthcare Select HMO - EPO/NPP
- United Healthcare Select Plus (POS)
- United Healthcare Choice Plus
- United Student Resources
- M.D. IPA (HMO)
- M.D. IPA Preferred (POS)
- Optimum Choice Preferred (POS) & OCI Direct (HMO)
- Mamsi Life & Health (Indem./PPO)
- Aetna Worker's Compensation Network
- Coventry Health Care National Network PPO
- United Healthcare Choice
- CIGNA HMO Open Access (OA)
- Network OA
- POS OA & OA Plus
- CIGNA EPO
- PPO and PPO Plus
- Choice Fund PPO
- CFBSBC Blue Preferred PPO
- HealthyBlue PPO
- CFBCBS Blue Choice Opt Out Open Access
- BlueChoice Open Access
- Aetna Traditional Choice (PPO)
- Innovation Health: Indemnity
- Aetna Open Choice (PPO)
- Innovation Health: PPO
- Aetna Managed Choice (POS)
- Innovation Health: POS Plus
- Aetna Elect Choice/ Open Access (POS)
- Innovation Health: Open Network Only Plus
- Aetna HMO-Open Access/Select OA/HealthFund/Health Network Option OA
- Innovation Health: POS
- Open HMO
- Opoen HMO Option
- Open EPO Plus
- Aetna Managed Choice Open Access (POS)
- Choice POS & Choice POS II
- Innovation Health: Open POS Plus
- Open POS II
- Aetna HMO
- Select HMO/HealthFund/Health Network
- Aetna Innovations: HMO & EPO Plus
- Blue Choice Advantage & Healthy Blue (HMO, POS)"
- CFBCBS EPO
- CFBCBS Federal Employee Program (Std/Basic PPO/Blue Focus)
- Kaiser MD Medicaid MCO
- Kaiser Permanente Flexible Choice POS
- Kaiser Permanente Medicare Plus (Medicare Supplemental Plan)
- Kaiser Permanente Select
- Kaiser Permanente Signature
- Kaiser Permanente Signature-Added Choice
- Kaiser PermanenteSelect-Added Choice
- Kaiser Virginia Premier
- Medicare Fee for Service
- Private Health Care Systems (PHCS) (PPO)
- UHC Community Plan of MD
- United Healthcare Options (PPO) (includes Empire PPO, GEHA, Compass Rose)"
- UnitedHealthcare and AARP Medicare Complete Plans/ UHC Group Medicare Advantage Plans HMO, POS, PPO"
- UnitedHealthcare Medicare Adv/Special Needs Plans
- Kaiser Permanente Medicare Advantage Signature and Select (aka Senior Advantage)"
Education
Board Certification: American Board of Surgery, Surgery
Board Certification: American Board of Surgery, Surgical Critical Care
Fellowship Program: University of Southern California (2007)
Residency Program: Temple University Hospital (2006)
Medical School: Hahnemann University (2001)