AAEM/RSA EDITOR’S MESSAGE
AAEM/RSA Chair Introduction Kasha Bornstein, MD MPH MSC Pharm EMT-P
“We see many of the direct effects of structural violence
as they are lived and experienced by our patients on a daily basis…This presents us with a wonderful but complex set of responsibilities: how to make our practice spaces not only accessible but genuinely safe and meaningful for the patients we are tasked to treat.
”
H
ello! I’m Kasha Bornstein, the incoming Chair of AAEM/RSA’s Publications & Social Media Committee. I’m an intern at Louisiana State University’s combined Internal Medicine and Emergency Medicine program in New Orleans, LA. Prior to residency I completed medical school at the University of Miami MD/ MPH program. During my time as a medical student, I was honored to have the opportunity to become the AAEM/RSA Modern Resident Blog Copy Editor, where I reviewed articles submitted by residents and medical students and worked with writers to get them ready for publication by cleaning up prose, clarifying concepts, and ensuring information presented was useful, timely, and up to date. I also workshopped article concepts with new writers exploring the world of research, gave presentations on how to get involved with free open access medical education, and collaborated with students and activists across multiple fields, utilizing data to advocate for legislative policy change around harm reduction services in Florida.
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COMMON SENSE SEPTEMBER/OCTOBER 2021
My goal for my time as the Chair of the Publications & Social Media Committee is to focus our efforts on orienting our work ever more in the efforts of social justice and equity. It’s my strong belief that as physicians and medical students in emergency medicine we see many of the direct effects of structural violence as they are lived and experienced by our patients on a daily basis. Whether it’s coming to the emergency department for needs as simple as medication refills or meals, or presenting with early onset of cardiovascular disease, delayed end-of-life care, trauma inflicted by needless gun violence, sequelae of unsafe drug use, or preventable complications of chronic health problems, our patients in emergency medicine come to us for medical attention in some of the lowest barrier environments for accessing health care resources in the United States. This presents us with a wonderful but complex set of responsibilities: how to make our practice spaces not only accessible but genuinely safe and meaningful for the patients we are tasked to treat.
I plan on working to make our Publications and Social Media Committee a resource for students and residents beginning or continuing their research, particularly those whose efforts explore the structural and social phenomena that make our patients vulnerable, and meaningful tools we can implement to ameliorate these problems. I look forward to assisting budding researchers strengthen their writing, clarify their research aims, and help their ideas reach a larger audience capable of adapting actionable ideas where they live and work. I look forward to this opportunity and welcome collaboration! Sincerely, Kasha Bornstein, MD MPH MSc Pharm EMT-P Chair, AAEM/RSA Publications & Social Media Committee
