March-April 2006

S A E M

Newsletter of the Society for Academic Emergency Medicine March/April 2006 Volume XVIII, Number 2

PRESIDENT’S MESSAGE

Faculty Development in Emergency Medicine: A Backwards Step?

The accompanying photo represents an important part of faculty development…Getting away! Taken by my wife while we were pleasantly lost in the South of France, it represents an essential element of any “Faculty Development Content listing”, ie, balancing Work versus the rest of your Life. It also offers a break from the face that has stared back at you for these last several months. It was not a setting tolerant of Hymenoptera sensitivity!

“Since July, 1987 Faculty Development has been part of the Special Requirements for training in emergency medicine sponsored by the ACGME and monitored by the RRC-EM. It was included to stimulate resident training programs to add faculty as another group of students requiring an organized educational experience.” These two sentences began an editorial I wrote in 1988 that outlined the reasons why faculty development had not gained the level of support it needed in our specialty, after more than five years of dialogue on the topic. Subsequently, although the individual programmatic commitment to faculty development varies considerably, the specialty as a whole has responded most vigorously in its offerings. The CORD conference, “Navigating the Academic Waters,” was a centerpiece of this effort as is its current successor. SAEM has had a Faculty Development Committee since the late ‘90s derived from its earlier Education Committee. ACEP sponsors the EMBERS Course and the Teaching Fellowship experience in Emergency Medicine. Although all of these have emanated from a generalized interest in moving the academic credentials of this specialty and its faculty forward, I have always believed the key driving force behind this effort remained embedded with the sustained commitment of the RRC-EM to encourage and monitor faculty development activities in residency training programs as part of their accreditation charge. That is until most recently. (continued on page 11)

901 N. Washington Ave. Lansing, MI 48906-5137 (517) 485-5484 saem@saem.org www.saem.org

AEM Outstanding Reviewers – 2005 The editors of Academic Emergency Medicine offer our sincere thanks to the 479 reviewers who assisted in peer review during 2005. Their generous voluntary participation has helped maintain the high quality of our journal and the medical literature.

From January 1, 2005 to December 31, 2005 AEM received 926 manuscripts (645 new submissions and 281 revisions).

1,480 reviews were obtained for new submissions that advanced to peer review, for an average of 4.7 reviews per new submission.

For new submissions, turnaround time averaged 25 days to first decision.

Each reviewer received an average of 3.7 requests to review and responded within 3 days. Reviewers took an average of 10 days to complete their reviews.

We especially want to acknowledge a group of our reviewers who our decision editors have identified as outstanding among their peers. These individuals have provided at least five high quality reviews in a timely fashion. Their names are listed below and those designated with an * are also members of the AEM Editorial Board. The AEM outstanding reviewers for 2005 are:

Joel Bartfield, MD Robert Birkhahn, MD John Burton, MD Sean Bryant, MD Clifton W. Calloway, MD Kathleen Clem, MD D. Mark Courtney, MD Jim DuCharme, MD Bob Gerhardt, MD Michelle Gill, MD Louis Graff, MD Steve Green, MD Fred Hustey, MD Charlene Irvin, MD *Alan Jones, MD Justin Kaplan, MD *David Karras, MD Terry Kowalenko, MD Eddy Lang, MD E. Brooke Lerne, PhD, EMP-T John Marx, MD James Niemann, MD James Quinn, MD Kathy Rinnert, MD Steve Smith, MD Mark Turturro, MD *Henry Wang, MD Donald Yealy, MD

“to improve patient care by advancing research and education in emergency medicine”

Call for Proposals 2007 AEM Consensus Conference Deadline: May 10, 2006 November, 2007. Submitters are strongly advised to review proceedings of previous consensus conferences, which can be found in the November issues of AEM, to guide the development of their proposals.

Proposals must include the following: 1. Introduction of the topic (including brief statement of relevance and justification for this topic choice) 2. Proposed conference chairs and sponsoring groups ( i.e. interest groups, committees) 3. Proposed conference agenda and proposed presenters (including plenary lectures, panels, break-out topics, and questions for discussion) 4. Anticipated audience (stakeholder groups/organizations, Federal regulators, national researchers and educators, others) 5. Anticipated budget 6. Potential funding sources and strategies for securing conference funding Proposals must be submitted electronically to aem@saem.org no later than May 10, 2006. Questions may also be directed to aem@saem.org

The editors of Academic Emergency Medicine are accepting proposals for the AEM Consensus Conference to be held on May 15, 2007, the day before the SAEM Annual Meeting in Chicago.

Proposals must advance a topic relevant to emergency medicine that is conducive to the development of a research agenda and be spearheaded by thought leaders from within the specialty. Consensus conference goals are: to heighten awareness related to the topic, discuss the current state of knowledge about the topic, identify knowledge gaps, propose needed research, and issue a call to action to allow future progress.

Previous topics have included errors in emergency medicine, the unraveling safety net, quality/ best practices in emergency care, information technology in emergency medicine, disparities in emergency care, and emergency research without informed consent.

Well-developed proposals will be reviewed on a competitive basis by the AEM Editorial Board. The 2007 AEM Consensus Conference topic will be announced at the SAEM Annual Business Meeting on May 20, 2006. Proceedings of the meeting and original contributions related to the topic will be published exclusively by AEM in its Special Topic Issue, in

AEM Reviewers' Workshop The annual AEM Reviewers' Workshop will be held on Friday, May 19, 2006 during the SAEM Annual Meeting. The Workshop will be held at 12:00-1:30 pm and will include lunch. The theme of the Workshop will be, "What Editors Really Want to Know" and will be presented by members of the AEM Editorial Board. All AEM reviewers are invited to attend and are asked to register by sending an e-mail to: kathryn@saem.org no later than May 1.

AEM Consensus Conference: Science of Surge Gabe Kelen, MD Johns Hopkins University Chair, AEM Consensus Conference Planning Committee The AEM Consensus Conference will be held on May 17, 2006, at the San Francisco Marriott. The theme of the conference will be the “Science of Surge,” and it will include keynote speakers, lectures for scientific content experts, interactive facilitated small group sessions, and interactive conference attendee voting on key consensus issues.

Surge capacity, the ability of a hospital or healthcare system to meet short term extraordinary needs of the community in the event of a manmade or natural catastrophic event, is an important parameter of disaster preparedness. The concept of surge extends to two areas, daily surge and disaster surge. These two concepts are prima facie intrinsically inter-related, but are not overlapping constructs. Both of these concepts are a mainstay of emergency medicine, but by no means are they within the exclusive domain of the discipline. In fact, creation or maintenance of surge capacity as related to health care and public health is multifaceted and multidisciplinary.

While surge capacity is the vigor of the national healthcare safety net and public health system, its scientific underpinnings are varied and ill-defined. The conference will focus almost exclusively on defining the scientific parameters of surge capacity, and will eschew simple reviews of current practice or thought. The conference will review: current scientific knowledge, current understanding of surge, and current understanding of interlinkage of the two main concepts.

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The Conference will be designed and conducted to: • better define surge and its various components.

• describe the current status of surge research.

• determine appropriate research methodologies.

• establish priorities for research.

• highlight funding sources.

Finally, the major output of the conference will be the establishment of a research agenda for emergency medicine for the scientific exploration of surge capacity. Apart from identifying appropriate areas of endeavors, the conference will determine a plan for advocacy: i.e., means to communicate the importance of this area as a research endeavor to related disciplines, policy makers, and funding agencies. The conference will also identify potential funding sources already known to be interested in this area.

This year’s conference is supported in part by the Johns Hopkins Office of Critical Event Preparedness and Response (CEPAR), the National Center for the Study of Preparedness and Catastrophic Event Response (PACER), the National Institutes of Health [pending], the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality [pending].

The registration fee for the conference is only $75 and includes lunch. All interested individuals are invited to attend.

Use the Annual Meeting online registration form at http://www.saem.org/meetings/2006/06main.htm

2006 SAEM Annual Meeting Debra Houry, MD, MPH Emory University Chair, SAEM Program Committee The Program Committee has been busy finalizing the Annual Meeting for this upcoming May in San Francisco and we hope that you are planning to attend. We’ve had a busy few months finalizing the didactic grid and selecting abstracts. Below are our latest updates:

We implemented a new category for abstracts called “Late breaker sessions.” These late breaker abstracts were reviewed by the scientific subcommittee for quality of methodology, preliminary results, and anticipated timely completion of the study. Researchers submitting late breaker abstracts are required to complete data collection and analysis by April. We received 41 “late breakers,” although many did not fit this category and were either completed studies (which were scored with the rest of regular submitted abstracts) or were surveys or chart review studies. We have accepted 3 late breaker abstracts, including a multi-center cardiac study and an ultrasound study.

Social Events The opening reception will be on Thursday, May 18. This should be a great opportunity for members to enjoy hors d’oeuvres while listening to the jazz music of the Todd Dickow Trio. On Friday, May 19 our banquet or “evening event,” will be held at the Exploratorium, a hands-on science museum with over 650 exhibits. Attendees will have access to both floors of the museum and will be able to make their own take home souvenir at the pendulum paint exhibit. We will also be bringing a taste of San Francisco to you through our “Streets of San Francisco” menu with North Beach, Chinatown, and Fisherman’s Wharf food stations. Tickets will be $85 per person ($45 for children) and will include dinner, two drink tickets, round-trip transportation, and access to the Exploratorium.

Finally, on Saturday, May 20, we will have a short wine and cheese event featuring wine tastings from Mumm Napa, William Hill, and Clos du Bois wineries. Representatives from each vineyard will be on hand to provide information and wine tastings.

We are also excited to offer group tickets to an Oakland A’s game (against the Seattle Mariners) on Wednesday, May 17, the evening before the conference officially starts. We have also scheduled short coffee breaks each day to give members a chance to socialize.

Didactic Sessions and Workshops One of the biggest changes to our didactic schedule is a 15 minute break before our didactic lunch sessions. We will no longer be offering seated, plated lunches. Instead, we have contracted with the Marriott to provide a lunch cart with sandwiches and snacks for sale outside the lecture rooms. SAEM Annual Meeting attendees will no longer have to pre-register for lunch lectures and can opt to buy lunch from the hotel cart or from a neighboring restaurant. We will also provide a list of quick lunch spots within walking distance of the hotel.

In addition, the Institute of Medicine report on “The Future of Emergency Care in the United States Health System” should be released in mid-May. We plan to have a session dedicated to this report with ample time to ask questions of IOM committee members and to discuss how this may affect emergency medicine.

The SAEM Research Committee worked in collaboration with members of the ACEP Research Committee and will be holding a Grant Writing Workshop on the pre-day, Wednesday, May 17. NIH staff will be leading sessions on grant writing skills and how to improve your chances of getting funded, so this should be an invaluable opportunity for members to get tips from the experts.

Finally, the Program Committee has just completed its review of the Innovations in Emergency Medicine (IEME) Exhibits. There were 79 submissions and 26 have been accepted for presentation. This year the selected IEME Exhibits will be published in the Abstract Supplement, which will be mailed with the May issue of Academic Emergency Medicine.

The Program Committee is currently reviewing the nearly 100 photo submissions. Selected photos will be posted in the Exhibit Hall for the enjoyment and education of all Annual Meeting attendees.

As always, please feel free to contact me with questions and suggestions for the Annual Meeting. Email is the easiest way to reach me: dhoury@emory.edu. I look forward to seeing all of you in San Francisco!

Paper Presentations We received 1,117 abstract submissions this year (after removing duplicate and blank abstracts) which is an 11% increase over last year and our best year yet. Education (102), administration/health policy (97), and cardiology (97) categories had the highest number of submissions. Overcrowding was added as new category this year and received 40 submissions. We have accepted 504 abstracts this year (48% acceptance rate).

We had many excellent submissions this year and choosing five for the plenary session was difficult. We aimed to represent basic science and public health, as well as clinical science. We selected “A clinical decision rule to safely rule-out subarachnoid hemorrhage in acute headache”, “Comparison of 33 degrees Celsius and 35 degrees Celsius: hypothermia after cardiac arrest,” “Witnessing intimate partner violence as a child does not increase likelihood of becoming an adult IPV victim,” “An emergency department diagnostic protocol for patients with transient ischemic attack,” and “A randomized controlled trial of fixed versus escalating energy levels for defibrillation.”

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Two New Residency Programs Approved

Medical Student Excellence Award

Established in 1990, the SAEM Medical Student Excellence in Emergency Medicine Award is offered annually to each medical school in the United States and Canada. It is awarded to the senior medical student at each school (one recipient per medical school) who best exemplifies the qualities of an excellent emergency physician, as manifested by excellent clinical, interpersonal, and manual skills, and a dedication to continued professional development leading to outstanding performance on emergency rotations. The award, presented at graduation, conveys a one-year membership in SAEM, which includes subscriptions to the SAEM monthly Journal, Academic Emergency Medicine, the SAEM Newsletter and an award certificate.

Announcements describing the program have been sent to the Dean's Office at each medical school. Coordinators of emergency medicine student rotations then select an appropriate student based on the student's intramural and extramural performance in emergency medicine.

Over 100 medical schools currently participate. To submit the 2006 Medical Student Excellence Award recipient from your school (only one winner per medical school), go to: www.saem.org/awards/excelfrm.htm Submissions must be received at SAEM no later than June 20. The list of 2006 recipients will be published in the SAEM Newsletter in late summer.

During the February meeting of the Residency Review Committee - Emergency Medicine meeting two new programs were approved.

The Medical College of South Carolina program is a threeyear 1-3 program, and was approved for six residents per year. The program director is Sam Kini, MD, and the chair is Laurence Raney, MD. The University of Nevada - Las Vegas program is also a three-year 1-3 program. The program was approved for 8 residents per year and the program director is Deanna Young, MD and the chair is Dale Corrison, MD. SAEM extends its congratulations to these new programs.

There are now 136 approved Emergency Medicine residency programs.

SAEM Membership As of 3-13-06 Active – 2475 Associate – 229 Emeritus – 21 Fellow – 137 Honorary – 5 Medical Student – 439 Resident – 2768 Total – 6074

SAEM Medical Student Interest Group Grant Report In November 2004, members of the Emergency Medicine Student Association at the State University of New York at Buffalo School of Medicine received an SAEM Medical Student Interest Group Educational Grant. This $500 grant was intended to fund the development of educational videos to help instruct medical students in the basics of airway management. These videos were to be used in coordination with existing teaching methods including didactic sessions and hands-on workshops during the second-year curriculum. The videos were to incorporate animation and graphics of airway anatomy, step-by-step demonstrations of airway techniques on mannequins and cadavers, and live clinical footage of techniques being applied to patients.

The initial step towards achieving our goal was to acquire video footage of airway techniques being performed on mannequins and cadavers, as well as simulated and real patients.

Technical equipment and support was provided through the Department of Emergency Medicine at Erie County Medical Center (ECMC). Mannequins, cadavers, and other supplies were provided by the University at Buffalo School of Medicine. Much time was

spent acquiring live footage of techniques being applied to real patients at the ECMC Emergency Department.

With our filming efforts, along with a library of previously filmed footage though the Department of Emergency Medicine at ECMC, we were able to acquire video demonstrating techniques such as head positioning, airway adjunct use, mouth-to-mask and bagvalve-mask ventilation, use of suction, endotracheal intubation, and both needle and surgical cricothyrotomy.

Dialogue and voiceover scripts describing airway management techniques were written and revised to be incorporated with the video during final editing, using textbooks and expert input as resources. With the gracious assistance of Fritz Schultz in the Department of Emergency Medicine at ECMC, segments of acquired footage have been edited and combined with audio voiceovers, graphics, and dialogue from emergency physicians to create clear and succinct video files that explain and demonstrate common airway maneuvers.

While our initial proposal suggested that we would be using the DVD format as our final media for distribution to students, the decision was made to place 4

the finished video segments on a central computer server which can be accessed through the internet by students located both on and off campus.

This change was felt to increase the ease of availability to the information, as well as allow for continual additions and modifications to the video files as medical knowledge changes and our work on this endeavor continues. The use of a central computer server for storage and distribution of the media also enabled us to save on DVD production costs. Since the grant funds were initially dedicated to advancing airway management education for medical students, we felt a suitable use for the funds would be to purchase two cricothyrotomy simulators and supplies, which can be used in conjunction with the educational videos during the second-year curriculum.

We would like to express our thanks to SAEM for enabling us to attempt to enhance the education of ourselves and our classmates. We would also like to thank those that assisted us in our efforts at ECMC, especially Dr. Jeff Myers and Fritz Schultz, for all of their support and encouragement.

The SAEM Research Fund – Rapidly Approaching 5 Million Dollars!

Brian Zink, MD University of Michigan Chair, SAEM Development Committee It has been a very good year thus far for the SAEM Research Fund. Member contributions have been frequent and generous. At the end of January for the 2006 campaign, members and friends have donated $25,670. In December we unveiled a new brochure to highlight how donations lead to high quality emergency medicine research. The brochure included quotes from Research Fund grant recipients, and testimony from donors on why they chose to give. Over the past six months we have worked closely with Hammond Rosebush, LLC, our new development consultants, to hone our message and plan our appeal for high level donations to the Research Fund. Because of new contributions and a sound, successful investment strategy, the SAEM Research Fund has grown impressively to $ 4,966,347 as of January 31, 2006. Yes, that’s just $ 33,653 short of five million dollars in our Research Fund! We are on our way to establishing the largest single source of emergency medicine research funding in the world – a Fund that can eventually function as an endowment, and provide even more research training grants than it does now.

The SAEM Research Fund will be front and center in San Francisco at the Annual Meeting. Look once again for a special oral abstract at the end of the Plenary session, presented by one of our Past Presidents whose humor is matched only Contributed $500 or more in 2006 campaign Carolyn Annerud, MD Brent Asplin MD Michelle Blanda MD Kris Brickman, MD Steven Davidson, MD, MBA Leon Haley, MD James Hoekstra MD Judd Hollander MD Jennifer Isenhour, MD Kenneth Iserson MD Jeffrey Kline MD Roger Lewis MD Joseph Lex, MD (in Honor of Alan A. Clark, MD) Gretchen Lipke, MD John Marx MD Brian O'Neil MD Gene Pesola, MD Christine Sullivan, MD Scott Syverud MD Ron Walls MD Robert Wears, MD Brian Zink, MD First Time Contributors in 2006 Campaign Christine Abbott-Kletti MD Jeanne Basior MD Ronald Benenson MD Edward Bernstein MD Herbert Bivins MD Andrew Chang MD

by his generosity in donating to the Research Fund. We will express our thanks to contributors with a Donor Luncheon on Saturday, May 20 where I will do a special presentation on “The 1970’s Emergency Medicine Resident”. Members will be able to make a donation at the registration area. The Development Committee will be meeting, and working with our development consultants to strategize further for our multiyear campaign for the Research Fund.

In this Newsletter we will highlight big donors and new donors. A record number of members contributed at a $500 or higher level. This honor roll of major givers is noted below.

Also, is a list of new donors, who were inspired to give for the first time, and perhaps will become regular donors and move up the giving level chain. If you have not yet contributed to the SAEM Research Fund this year, please consider a donation. If you have already given this year, consider making another donation now or at the Annual Meeting. We keep track of your cumulative donations, and will advance your giving level once you reach the next threshold. Donations can be conveniently made on-line at www.saem.org With your help, we can announce at the Annual Meeting that the SAEM Research Fund is in excess of 5 million dollars!

Michael Chansky MD Dennis Cochrane MD Jim Comes MD D. Mark Courtney MD Michael Cudnik, MD Matthew Emery MD Barnet Eskin MD, PhD Christopher Fee MD William Fernandez MD Albert Fiorello MD Camilo Florez MD John Fowler MD Broderick Franklin MD Paul Gordon MD Charles Graffeo MD Jeffrey Hackman MD Jeffrey Hom MD Shkelzen Hoxhaj MD, MPH John Kanegaye MD Eric Katz, MD Brian King MD Dawne Kort MD Andrew Langsam MD Rebecca Lipscomb MD Anil Mahajan, MD Jeffrey Manko, MD Gerard Martin MD Chadwick Miller MD Angela Mills MD James Miner, MD Juan Nieto, MD Mary Palmer MD Christopher Pergrem MD Douglas Rockacy MD 5

Philip Shayne MD Michael Silverman, MD Howard Smithline MD Latha Stead MD Joshua Stillman MD Mark Su MD Andrew Ta MD Gary Tamkin MD Victoria Thornton MD Michael Touger MD Steven Vance MD Michael VanRooyen MD Andrea Vogler MD Paul Walsh, MD Anthony Weekes MD John Wightman MD Charles Worrilow MD Heinz Zimmermann MD

To make a donation to the SAEM Research Fund * Use the online form at https://www. periwinkle.net/saem/research.htm * Send check payable to SAEM Research Fund to SAEM, 901 North Washington Avenue, Lansing, MI 48906 * Contact SAEM via phone (517-485-5484) or email (saem@saem.org) 100% of all contributions go directly to the Research Fund.

All administrative costs are paid by SAEM. Please support the SAEM Research Fund and the future of EM Research.

“Anyone, Anything, Anytime – A History of Emergency Medicine” Available to Research Fund Donors at the Annual Meeting Glenn Hamilton, MD Wright State University SAEM President As most of you know, the Board has enlisted the aid of a fund raising consultant to guide its efforts toward the continued development of the Research Fund in the coming years.

Chuck Hammond from Hammond and Associates has been helpful in helping us produce the Research Fund brochure recently sent out, planning our upcoming Donor Event for the Annual Meeting, and encouraging creative ideas as part of our fund raising planning and efforts. One of those ideas will occur at the Annual Meeting in San Francisco. Brian Zink, MD, author of the book, “Anyone, Anything, Anytime – A History of Emergency Medicine” has offered to provide a signed copy of the book to any member who contributes a minimum of $100 to the Research Fund. Elsevier, the book’s publisher, has generously donated the first 25 books in sup-

port of this project. Our goal is to gain at least 200 new contributors to the Research Fund through this incentive. Look for a table in the registration area and please request the emergency medicine text when you make a contribution to the Research Fund during the Annual Meeting. We would encourage faculty members who may already have a copy of this book to contribute and offer it to an emergency medicine resident or interested medical student who is joining them at the meeting. Dr. Zink has pledged to contribute all author royalties to the Research Fund in addition.

This year, the Board has carefully examined how the Research Fund may best benefit the membership, and will continue to do so as its fund raising efforts progress. Please take advantage of this offer at the Annual Meeting.

American Heart Association Emergency Cardiovascular Care Committee Clifton W. Callaway, MD University of Pittsburgh SAEM representative to the ECC/AHA Over the past two years, I have served as the SAEM liaison to the Emergency Cardiovascular Care (ECC) committee (ACLS committee) of the American Heart Association (AHA).

This group is the component of the AHA that develops a consensus statement about the science behind resuscitation (recently appearing in Circulation 112; November 29, 2005).

The scientific statements developed by the ECC are used to formulate the guidelines. These guidelines are the basis of the AHA courses: CPR, ACLS and PALS. In addition, the ECC exists under the auspices of the International Liaison Committee on Resuscitation (ILCOR), which is an international organization of societies, including the AHA. During this process, the ECC has a number of exchanges by email, teleconference and in-person meetings. All of the participants in the ECC process have devoted tremendous effort and time without pay. There is incredible expertise among the individuals gathered together. There are real efforts extended by the AHA to make the process scientifically rigorous and also transparent with regards to conflicts of interest. Each speaker must tabulate any conflicts of interest in writing, and these conflicts are projected or are available to the group whenever an individual speaks.

The review of scientific evidence for Consensus 2005 followed a very regimented and rigorous format. Beginning early in 2004, members of ILCOR were invited to complete “worksheets” that reviewed the evidence to answer specific questions. These questions were developed prior to my involvement with the ECC. An example of the format for a question is “What is the optimal drug therapy for asystole?” A worksheet writer would interpret this question by phrasing it into a hypothesis, such as “Administration of atropine improves resuscitation and survival after cardiac arrest.” It is important to recognize that any person could submit a worksheet on a particular topic. The ECC recruited experts from around the world to complete these worksheets.

Completing a worksheet involves a search of the literature and a detailed rating of the papers supporting or contradicting the hypothesis. Papers are rated according to quality (fair, good or excellent), research design or level of evidence (from 6

randomized clinical trials to laboratory studies to extrapolation from other diseases) and whether they support or contradict the hypothesis. The worksheet author then summarizes their assessment of the literature in a draft consensus statement, such as “There are no clinical data to support administration of atropine during cardiac arrest” or “Case reports (level of evidence 5) document cases where atropine administration was associated with survival after cardiac arrest.”

In January 2005, there was a large meeting of ILCOR/ECC in Dallas at which the worksheets were presented and discussed in posters, symposia and group breakouts. In addition to the ECC / ILCOR members, experts in resuscitation from all over the world attended this meeting. Although worksheet contributions were solicited, completed worksheets were posted at a website (and can still be reviewed at americanheart.org) and comments on worksheets were welcomed at the website, it is unclear to me how well this process was publicized outside of the ECC. After discussion at these meetings, the worksheet contents were fashioned into the scientific statements. Professional scientific writers were employed to help with this process.

During my attendance, it became clear that the role of liaisons from organizations such as SAEM was not well defined. The other members of the ECC have included me in all discussions. I have been able to provide input on many topics. However, I sometimes did not receive drafts of materials from the AHA home office that were being discussed, and I was not asked to provide any input to the home office.

Recognizing this oversight, the ECC has made it an action item for the next few months to clarify the role of liaisons.

What is the importance of the ECC to SAEM? Most professionally health care providers are required to take ACLS and PALS for credentialing. Moreover, many of us are instructors for these courses. Therefore, the content of the courses that will be derived from the ECC consensus statements affect each of us. Conversely, we have significant expertise about teaching emergency care to students, residents and paramedics. Therefore, the AHA should solicit our input into its materials.

Membership Recruitment Effort Creates Two New Dues Discount Programs Glenn C. Hamilton, MD Wright State University SAEM President This year the Board of Directors established a membership subcommittee. The goal of this subcommittee was to develop recruitment and retention programs for members. Our resident discount program which is celebrating its 10th anniversary this year has continued to be very successful and allow literally thousands of residents the opportunity to participate in the Society’s activities including receiving Academic Emergency Medicine. This year, the Board of Directors supported two initiatives developed by the membership subcommittee.

First, is the Young Physician Discount, this means recent residency graduates are eligible for the first two years after residency graduation. The membership rate for the first year following residency is $185, and the second year is $275.

Members eligible for the Young Physician Discount may also be considered as participating faculty for departments who are considering the Institutional Membership.

The Institutional Membership is a new initiative to increase the number of faculty members joining the Society.

Under this program, institutions may pay a reduced fee of $300 per member (a nearly 20% discount) if 100% of the fulltime academic faculty are enrolled. To qualify for the Institutional Membership, a letter from the Chair or Medical Director must list all full-time academic faculty and a single payment is preferred to accompany the letter. “Academic Faculty” is defined by the Chair or Medical Director and parttime faculty may be included at the discretion of that individual.

This information was shared with Department Chairs and Chiefs of the academic programs in Emergency Medicine in the late Fall of 2005. We have had an excellent response to date with approximately 125 new members having joined the Society. It is now up to us to make sure they clearly see the benefits of being an SAEM member. We are appreciative of the following institutions who have participated in this new institutional membership to date:

• Brown University • Carolinas Medical Center • Cooper Hospital/University Medical Center • Indiana University • Johns Hopkins University • North Shore University • Northwestern University • Oregon Health & Science University • Regions Hospital • University of California, Irvine • University of California, Davis • University of California, San Francisco • University of California, San Francisco – Fresno • University of Iowa • University of Louisville • University of Mississippi • University of North Carolina • Wayne State University • Wright State University • York Hospital A summary of SAEM membership rates are listed below: Active Associate Institutional Member with 100% participation First year graduate Second year graduate Resident or Fellow Group Resident Discount Student

$ $ $ $ $ $ $ $

365 350 300 185 275 90 75 70

If you have further questions or ideas about these initiatives and our continued efforts to demonstrate the value of SAEM membership to faculty, residents and medical students in emergency medicine, you are welcome to contact SAEM at saem@saem.org.

SAEM Michael P. Spadafora Medical Toxicology Scholarship

Dr. Michael P. Spadafora was an academic emergency physician and medical toxicologist who was a member of SAEM and the American College of Medical Toxicology (ACMT) and was dedicated to resident education. After his death in October 1999, donations were directed to SAEM for the establishment of a scholarship fund to encourage Emergency Medicine residents to pursue Medical Toxicology fellowship training.

The scholarship recipient will be chosen to attend the 2006 North American Congress of Clinical Toxicology (NACCT), in the fall and will receive $1250 for travel, meeting registration, meals, and lodging. Any PGY-1 or 2 (or PGY-3 in a 4 year program) in an RRC-EM or AOA approved residency program is eligible for the award. The deadline for application is May 1, 2006. Scholarship recipients will be announced at the SAEM Annual Meeting. The recipient will be required to submit a summary of the meeting for publication in the SAEM Newsletter.

Applications must be submitted electronically to saem@saem.org and include: 1. Curriculum Vitae of applicant 2. Verification of employment and letter of support from the applicant’s program director 3. Letter of nomination from an active member of SAEM and/or ACMT 4. 1-2 page essay describing the applicant’s interest and background in Medical Toxicology Please note that ACMT has developed a similar scholarship program. Contact ACMT for futher information.

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SAEM’s Future in Public Policy Reform Lance Scott, MD East Carolina University SAEM Board of Directors The expansion of our membership, the growth of our Research Fund and the development of grants and fellowships are noble goals. I do not intend to diminish their importance. I argue, however, that we need to look towards the horizon if we intend to secure our specialty’s future. Medicare and Medicaid budgets are going to tighten, not loosen. The financial mechanisms for GME reimbursement will continue to be strained. As more and more Americans enter the realm of the uninsured and underinsured, overcrowding issues will likely worsen not improve.

Threats to national security, bioterrorism, flu pandemics and disaster relief will all further stretch the resources of our departments.

In my view, it will not matter ten years from now if SAEM’s Research Fund doubles in size if our academic departments are decimated by decreased federal research funding, shrinking faculty salaries, increased job stress from dumping/overcrowding and overall low morale from nursing shortages, malpractice costs and department safety issues.

One way to ensure a vibrant future for Academic Emergency Medicine is to embrace a leadership role in health care reform. Take for example the recent budgetary debate regarding NIH funding. On December 21, 2005, the U.S. Senate passed its version of the Labor, Health and Human Services (LHHS) appropriations bill. Funding for the National Institutes of Health (NIH) increased by 0.5%, the lowest increase in more than 30 years. Appropriations for The Centers for Disease Control (CDC) were actually cut by 4%.

At no point during the final negotiations of this bill did SAEM assume a leadership role. We didn’t make an official visit to Capitol Hill, we didn’t write a letter to the Committee Chairman and we didn’t mobilize a large number of SAEM members to write or contact their respective Members of Congress.

Whether or not visits and letters would have made a difference to save last year’s NIH funding is less important as whether SAEM is prepared to act aggressively when it comes to public policy reform. In my view, SAEM doesn’t have a choice. We can either lead or have the future of Academic Emergency Medicine dictated by someone other than academic emergency physicians.

In the November/December issue of the SAEM newsletter, I discussed myths shared by some emergency physicians regarding public policy advocacy and lobbying (see below).

My comments were based, in part, on my experience as a Legislative Aide on Capitol Hill working for a Member of Congress on the House Subcommittee on Health.

In general, I feel there is an unfortunate reluctance on the part of emergency physicians to aggressively lobby local and national lawmakers. While physicians actively contribute to political campaigns, data shows that their commitment to lobbying is far inferior to the pharmaceutical and insurance industries. (“Debunking the Myths of Lobbying,” SAEM Newsletter, Nov/Dec, 2005) In May, my tenure on the SAEM Board of Directors ends.

In this article, I hope set out a framework for the next SAEM Board as it transitions to a new advocacy agenda.

The Myths and Realities of Lobbying Myth #1: Non-Profit Organizations (NPO’s) such as SAEM can’t lobby.

Reality: Federal laws allow NPO’s to engage in a wide range of lobbying activities including face to face meetings, educational seminars and testifying before Congressional Committees.

Myth #2: SAEM shouldn’t lobby; we have better things to do.

Reality: Our speciality is directly linked, possibly more than any other medical specialty, to federal law and public policy.

We can either engage lawmakers now or sit back and let others shape the future of our specialty.

Myth #3: Lobbying is dirty, too controversial.

Reality: While sometimes “dirty,” lobbying is perfectly legal and the only game in town. The pharmaceutical industry and insurance companies tend to play this game much better than we do.

Myth #4: There is no need to come to Washington if nothing is going on.

Reality: The perfect time to educate a Member of Congress is when things are quiet. Visiting once a year is just not enough.

Myth R #5: Physicians are already an effective lobbying force.

Reality: Physicians are effective campaign contributors; we are poor lobbyists.

Goal #2: Develop a Public Face One of the first steps for SAEM as it moves to embrace a more aggressive leadership role in public policy is to develop a public face. Some of this development has already started.

For example, the SAEM Board recently authorized an overhaul of the Society’s website to help streamline access to our vast informatics. The first stage of the website modernization will be completed by May 2007.

Second, SAEM must develop a public relations strategy. A standing committee on public relations should be established to develop long term goals. Several questions would need to be addressed by this committee including, for example, defining SAEM’s relationship with print, on-air and on-line media outlets.

Finally, SAEM must develop a streamlined mechanism for public relations. Whether we like it or not, SAEM will need the ability to write a letter to a Senator or make a comment to a

Goal #1: Decide to Lead There seems to be a strong resistance within SAEM to embrace a national leadership role to advance Academic Emergency Medicine. Some members feel that anything that diverts our attention from our core goal “to foster Emergency Medicine Research” is mission drift and should be deemphasized. As a result, much of our time and money is spent on membership, the growth of our Research Fund and the development of academic grants and fellowships.

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NIH grant priorities. SAEM will have to decide the extent to which it will be involved in these reform initiatives.

SAEM should constantly be on the lookout for unique media opportunities. For example, in May, the Institute of Medicine (IOM) will publish a three-tiered report on the “The Future of Emergency Care in the United States Health System.” There will be several events during the media rollout of this report including testimony before Congress. In my view, the unveiling of the IOM report to Congress is the perfect opportunity for SAEM leaders to meet face-to-face with Members of Congress, to introduce SAEM to decision makers at HHS and the White House and to unveil our legislative agenda for 2006.

newspaper reporter without vetting these comments through a protracted committee system. In my view, SAEM’s President and the Executive Committee should be given explicit authority to engage media outlets, lawmakers and public officials on a day-to-day basis. This authority would be enhanced with the help of a skilled press secretary but hiring a press secretary is not an immediate priority. The short-term priority for SAEM is to develop a cogent public relations strategy that permits rapid executive action.

Goal #3: Define Our Agenda There are a variety of emergency medicine public policy goals and multiple players in the legislative arena. The American College of Emergency Physicians (ACEP), for example, lobbies on behalf of emergency physicians on a variety of issues. Some SAEM members feel that SAEM lobbying activities would be duplicative to ACEP and, therefore, wasteful. I argue that ACEP is not SAEM. Even on its best lobbying day, ACEP has very little incentive to advocate goals uniquely important to academic emergency physicians. Consider the following goals, none of which are listed as an ACEP top priority.

Increase Emergency Medicine Academic Research Funding. As demonstrated during the last appropriations debate, funding for health care research and education are shrinking. SAEM could be help prevents future cuts by aggressively lobbying those in charge of the budget process – namely, Congress and the White House.

Preserve Graduate Medical Education (GME) funding.

Graduate Medical Education (GME) funding helps teaching hospitals pay for resident training expenses. Most academic physicians take GME funding for granted because the funding mechanism under Medicare has existed relatively unscathed for decades. In my view, the GME holiday is over. As more seniors become Medicare eligible and benefits shrink, it will be harder to justify siphoning Medicare funds to train residents. SAEM needs to start lobbying the merits of this program now to prevent future cuts. Emergency Medicine will be hard pressed to develop new residencies without a robust GME program.

Link Emergency Medicine Training to Homeland Security. Millions of dollars in Homeland Security funds are being pumped into education and training yet little effort has been made to channel these funds to Academic Emergency Medicine. The link between pre-hospital medical providers and Homeland Security has been fairly well-established. In my view, the link between Emergency Medicine Residency Training and Homeland Security is equally important. As demonstrated during Hurricane Katrina, emergency physicians are essential medical decision makers during times of national crisis. The workforce shortage of board-certified emergency physicians and the development of advance training techniques in mass casualty, bioterrorism, and infectious disease pandemics should be a national security/health priority.

Goal #4: Define Our Arena It is important for SAEM to define our agenda. It is also important for us to define our arena. It is obvious that SAEM needs to focus it efforts in Washington, DC. Congress is an obvious target for reasons already stated. Additional arenas should be addressed on a case-to-case basis. For example, the President has recently established a task force to review the future of Medicaid. There is also an ongoing reform initiative at the NIH, the Roadmap Initiative, designed to reshape

Goal #5: Be Simple, Be Smart The most important thing for SAEM to remember as it develops a legislative/lobbying strategy is to keep it simple.

For example, ACEP has a political action committee (an account that directs money to political campaigns) but SAEM does not need one. ACEP also tends be involved in multiples states at once but SAEM does not need to do this -- at least, not initially.

What SAEM really needs is a physical, day-to-day presence in Washington, DC. We need to have someone walking the halls of the White House, Congress, NIH, or wherever it is needed. We need someone introducing SAEM to committee staff members, developing professional friendships with officials at the White House and talking with various health care advocacy groups. If a Senate Committee wants to hold a hearing on “Bioterrorism and the Healthcare Safety Net,” SAEM should be available to that committee including offering names of individuals who could testify and compiling current data that helps define the relevance of Emergency Residency Training in the context of a national disaster.

Establishing a human presence in Washington, DC sounds expensive but it isn’t. SAEM could wield a considerable amount of political clout in Washington without ever contributing a single dollar to an election. Our lobbying efforts would be simple, smart, education-focused and significantly less expensive than similar efforts by other health care organizations.

Essentially SAEM has a decision to make about our specialty’s future. Our goal is steadfast, “to improve patient care by advancing research and education in Emergency Medicine.” Yet, the strategies we have employed to achieve this goal must evolve. We first must recognize that our specialty is inexorably linked to public policy, specifically, federal legislation. Second, we must understand that leadership in health care reform requires involvement on a day-to-day basis with streamlined mechanisms for rapid response. Third, we must recognize that academic emergency physicians are the best advocates for the future of Academic Emergency Medicine.

We must stop thinking about the future of Academic Emergency Medicine as something we ask for; we must think about it as something we shape. My hope is that the next SAEM Board will come embrace a leadership role in public policy reform and exert focused, yet aggressive lobbying strategies to secure our specialty’s future.

The opinions shared in this article do not reflect the sentiment of the SAEM Board of Directors. This is the second of a two part series from Dr. Scott regarding SAEM and Emergency Medicine Public Policy Advocacy.

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Academic Announcements SAEM members are encouraged to submit Academic Announcements on promotions, research funding, and other items of interest to the membership. Submissions must be sent to saem@saem.org by April 1 to be included in the May/June issue.

"START Triage: Improving a Tried and True Methodology. Dr. Kahn is the Disaster/EMS fellow at the University of California, Irvine and his faculty co-principal investigator is Samuel Stratton, MD, MPH. Sam Keim, MD, has been promoted to tenured Associate Professor at the Department of Emergency Medicine at the University of Arizona.

Brooke Lerner, PhD, has been appointed Director of the Center for Disaster Medicine and Emergency Preparedness for the University of Rochester.

Shahram Lotfipour, MD, of the University of California, Irvine, has been awarded a $60,000, two-year intramural grant to study older adult driver safety and driver screening. He was also awarded $35,000 for a two-year intramural grant for a novel teaching module for fourth year medical students.

Harvey Meislin, MD, has been awarded the David Wagner Award by the American Academy of Emergency Medicine (AAEM). Dr. Meislin is the chair of the Board of Directors of the American Board of Medical Specialties and Chair of the Department of Emergency Medicine at the University of Arizona.

Heather Prendergast, MD, has been promoted to Associate Professor of Emergency Medicine at the University of Illinois.

She also serves as Co-Director of Residency Research, Chair of the Emergency Cardiac Care Committee, and the Emergency Medicine Liaison for the Divisions of Geriatrics and Cardiology.

Manish N. Shah, MD, was appointed Regional EMS Medical Director and Rollin J. (Terry) Fairbanks, MD, MD, EMT-P, was appointed Associate Regional EMS Director for the Monroe and Livingston Counties EMS system in New York State. In addition, Dr. Fairbanks is the principal investigator of a $599,911 AHRQ grant, "The ED Pharmacist: A Novel Approach to Error Reduction in EM" and the principal investigator of a $100,000 NIH grant, "Development of a National EMS Patient Safety Reporting System."

Federico Vaca, MD, of the University of California, Irvine's Department of Emergency Medicine Center for Trauma and Injury Prevention Research, has been awarded a three-year, $625,000 grant from the State of California, Office of Traffic Safety to develop and implement innovative approaches to alcohol screening and brief intervention in ED patients with alcohol use problems.

John Younger, MD, has been appointed Associate Chair for Research at the University of Michigan Department of Emergency Medicine. Dr. Younger is an Associate Professor of Emergency Medicine at the University of Michigan.

Robert J. Zalenski, MD, has been named the recipient of the Brooks F. Bock, MD, Endowed Professorship. Dr. Zalenski is a professor of Emergency Medicine at Wayne State University.

Steven L. Bernstein, MD, has been awarded a one-year $99,790 grant from the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation to test an educational and clinical tobacco control intervention for emergency physicians. In addition, Dr. Bernstein has been awarded a one-year, $47,830 grant from the Bronx Center for his project, "Racial and Economic Disparities in Access to Nicotine Replacement Therapy in New York City Pharmacies."

Dr. Bernstein is Associate Professor of Clinical Emergency Medicine at the Albert Einstein College of Medicine in the Bronx.

Michael Brown, MD, MSc, has been promoted to Professor of Epidemiology and Emergency Medicine at the Michigan State University College of Human Medicine. Dr. Brown is the director of the emergency medicine residency at the Grand Rapids/MERC Michigan State University Program.

Gregory Connors, MD, has been appointed Vice Chair of the Department of Emergency Medicine at the University of Rochester.

Theodore R. Delbridge, MD, MPH, has been named Professor and Chair of the Department of Emergency Medicine at the Brody School of Medicine at East Carolina University as of March 1. Dr. Delbridge received his medical degree from Eastern Virginia Medical School and completed his residency and fellowship training at the University of Pittsburgh, where he has served as an Associate Professor of Emergency Medicine.

William Dribben, MD, has received a Research Career Award (K08) from the National Institute of Neurologic Disorders and Stroke. His five year, $800,000 grant is to study Magnesium Induced Development Neuroapoptosis. Dr. Dribben is an Assistant Professor of Emergency Medicine at Washington University in St. Louis.

The Homeland Emergency and Learning Preparedness (HELP) Center within the Department of Emergency Medicine at Wright State University has a received a $300,000 contract from the Ohio Department of Health. The grant is to support a series of Basic and Advanced Disaster Life Support Courses in each of the Homeland Security Regions in Ohio and Glenn C. Hamilton, MD, is the principal investigator.

Stephen R. Hayden, MD, has been named Editor-in-Chief of the Journal of Emergency Medicine. Dr. Hayden is also the director of the residency program at the University of California, San Diego.

Jon Mark Hirshon, MD, MPH, has been named the Acting Director of the Charles McC. Mathias Jr. National Study Center for Trauma and EMS. The National Study Center was designated by Congress in 1986 to serve as a focal point for research related to trauma, emergency medicine, and emergency medical systems.

Christopher Kahn, MD, has been awarded a two-year, $124,000 F-32 training grant from AHRQ for his project,

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President’s Message…(continued from page 1) In the 2003-2004 Program Requirements for Residency Education in Emergency Medicine, the statement under Core Faculty Development (III.E.) states “Each program should encourage the academic growth of its core faculty. Faculty development opportunities should be made available to each core faculty member. A written plan for each member of the core faculty should be prepared and consultation with the core faculty member for whom the plan is being developed.

At the time of the program review, an example of a core faculty development plan must be included in the Program Information Forms.” Examining the most recent iteration of these same Program Requirements approved September, 2005, (III.B.6), the now subtended core faculty development heading states “Each program should encourage the academic growth of its core faculty. Faculty development opportunities should be made available to each core faculty member.”

This removal of the proscriptive sentences supporting the two basic intent sentences for “Core Faculty Development” may simply represent a ‘cleaning up’ of the document and improving of syntax. But, for a long time watcher of the fragile faculty development initiatives and varying commitment at various institutions throughout our specialty, it could be read as a concerning step backward. This is the first time since July, 1987 the RRC-EM has not expanded its commitment and guidance for faculty development. I don’t know the rationale for this shift. Perhaps the integration of faculty development into our training programs is sufficiently strong to stand on its own and now needs only the moderate encouragement of the phrase “should be” and simply continued inclusion in our central guiding document for emergency medicine education. I worry the changed phrasing may be perceived as lessened intent and allow individuals or institutions who were weakly committed to the validity of its purpose an escape route. Unfortunately, there does need to be some vigilance about the things that keep us at the front margin (the euphemistic, “cutting edge”) of progress and development in any human endeavor. Such edges are always at risk, much like the arts when budgets are cut or millage’s fail. Constant advocacy must come from some voice that is heard.

This may be preaching to the choir, for if you’ve read this far, you are already likely a member of an advocate group for faculty development, that is SAEM. With the RRC-EM shifting ever so slightly, it will rest even more significantly on organizations such as ours, Department Chairs, Program Directors and individual faculty within our specialty to make sure the interest, energy and enthusiasm for the necessity of faculty development doesn’t take a similar diminished shift on the grand scale. And how do we accomplish that?

As individuals, there are at least six guides for personal faculty development: 1. Be academically oriented – know the values of your institution and department, know you job, expectations and rewards, and know your anticipated career plans and pathway.

2. Know thy time—master the conscious, prioritized decision making about one’s activities and how they are organized and managed.

3. Know thy field – staying up to date generally as well as two or more specific areas of interest is essential to maintaining a fresh excitement about emergency medicine that can last a lifetime.

Teacher heal thyself – each individual must accept responsibility for honing their craft.

5. Understand the difference between management and leadership.

The first relates to tasks and their accomplishment, the second relates to the vision from which these tasks may be derived.

6. Avoid the sins of academic hubris--first and foremost forgetting the Rousseauean “social contract” that brought you to this role in the first place.

As an academic unit in the institution, the following elements must be considered and encouraged: 1. The organization and implementation of faculty development planning is the responsibility of departmental/divisional leadership. Individual faculty will have the most occasions to develop themselves, but the long vision, organizational resources, and implementation persistence in making this happen must come from “the top”.

2. The activities pursued as part of faculty development should be linked to the values of the institution as reflected in promotion criteria. Linking ones individual faculty as well as departmental values to the school values is part of integrating planned promotion into the job description.

3. The “perfect faculty” is created by the assembled skills and talents of all the faculty combined.

4. The scope of faculty development content must remain as broad as possible and is continually under revision.

5. The principles of adult education must be applied. Most importantly, the learner must be active in the learning process and have the opportunity to practice new knowledge and skills such that they are transferred in the real world.

6. The expectation for faculty development is integrated into the evaluative process. This is because evaluation has always driven learning. This is the basis for the RRC’s significant influence in the first place.

7. Anticipate creativity and accept some failures. Faculty development can not become burdensome. The more open the setting to discuss specific faculty needs, the better the potential for creativity to occur. Don’t be afraid to try something and fail. This too is the basis for learning.

Societally, although many elements of SAEM support and encourage faculty development activities, the Faculty Development Committee is most specifically charged with the responsibility of fostering these pursuits within the membership. This year a talented group under the leadership of Chair, Ted Christopher, MD, has worked hard to progress in their assigned objectives and beyond. These objectives included: 1. Develop a series of didactic proposals on academic skills development for submission to the 2006 Annual Meeting.

This talented group submitted a staggering 9 didactic proposals. A number were accepted and one of the most interesting is the new “Faculty Development Workshop” with only 25 slots available in the course, the goal is an individually oriented faculty development experience, something only a few programs in the country have presented for their faculty members.

2. Develop a proposal for the Board for a Faculty Development Consultation as part of the Consultation Service. This service has existed for some time, but it was appropriate for its content to be reviewed and the (continued on next page) 4.

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President’s Message…(continued from previous page) entire concept revitalized as another offering from SAEM for its constituent membership.

3. Develop a proposal to the Board for creating an Academic Leadership Skills Course to be sponsored by SAEM. This is a senior level course directed at individuals interested in moving from a mid-career level to Chair/Dean’s Office/EM Leadership positions. The first draft of this course has been presented to the Board, and comments are currently being returned to the Faculty Development Committee.

There is a specific need for this course as the current senior leadership of emergency medicine, especially the Department Chairs, look to moving into new positions or retirement. The best means of implementing this career building asset is currently being discussed.

4. Take the “Skill Sets for Clinicians-Teachers” developed by the GME Committee and create an educational tool to assist faculty in learning these skills. This objective is still under development.

5. Create a recommended text-based library with an annotated bibliography for faculty development to assist in training faculty in specific academic and administrative skills. This is not due for a few months and is also “under construction”. The library for faculty development has long held a personal interest and to close this message I’d like to share a few favorites plus one new candidate: • The Effective Executive by Peter Drucker was first published in 1967. Dr. Drucker passed away last year at the age of 95, still heralded as the founder of modern management technique. This is a must read for all faculty. It also comes with a warning label. This is a business book. That means within its 200 plus pages there are actually about 15-20 pages of essential information. The rest is sometimes boring and repetitive example. The best way to read this book is to dictate the key points as you read it thoroughly one time. Then, you’ll never need to read it again, but can always refer back to the key points which are most valuable for a long term perspective career in any profession.

• How to Write and Publish Papers in the Medical Sciences by Edward Huth – just the best written and most pertinent text on the topic I’ve ever read. Dr. Huth will teach you not only how to write papers, but how to read them. His step by step elemental approach takes both the mystery and anxiety out of this process. A must read for anyone serious about an academic career as publication is still central to promotion.

• How to Get Control of Your Time and Your Life by Alan Lakein. The classic time management text, only 160 pages. If you’re too busy to read this, you’ve already defined the need to do so!

• The newest recommendation was a gift from one of my faculty. Perhaps the ultimate reward for any faculty development effort is having the concept accepted and returned to you in kind. The book is, ‘Getting Things Done: The Art of Stress Free Productivity,’ by David Allen, 2003, Penguin Books ($15). It is my current read, and at 259 easy reading pages, it may actually replace Lakein as the favorite.

As always, there is some gimmickry, but read it with a note pad or recorder at hand and allow it to help you

maintain a long term productive career. This certainly the best way to advance the admirable goals of academic emergency medicine.

Update on International Emergency Medicine At the close of the last President’s Message entitled “SAEM and Its Global View,” I mentioned the Board of Directors was currently voting on several proposals from the International Task Force. Those votes are now in and the following have been approved: 1. International Memberships. The dues to be set at an annual published rate as determined by the Board of Directors. Members from developing countries defined

by World Health Organization Standards would pay a reduced rate. This rate must cover our costs and be greater than the medical student rate. The benefits would include access to the web site, online access to the Newsletter and other materials, use of the membership rate for SAEM Meetings. These benefits would be included in the reduced rate for developing countries.

These individuals cannot vote or hold office and the Bylaws will need to be modified to be clear on this issue.

Including what occurs if full active dues are paid.

2. Faculty development and mentoring. The Society will work to identifying SAEM members who would be willing to serve as faculty mentors either at their institution or as virtual mentors providing expertise with clinical, educational, research and administrative skills.

3. International distance learning. The Board supported approaching AEM and Elsevier to provide international member access to journal articles online at cost to more members from developing countries. We were aware that Elsevier already did this for several associations.

4. Curriculum implementation. The Board considered publishing or posting of articles and teaching materials on curriculum implementation on the SAEM web site with a specific link for international members on the web site.

5. Regarding rotations for US medical students and residents. The Board supported developing central criteria that make up a valuable rotation and educational experience with some standardization of goals and objectives for international EM rotations and a simple evaluative tool for evaluating them. This effort could be an objective for the upcoming year. They also agreed to support a forum for international fellowship directors to meet and develop a standardized model or agenda for international electives to be met during these rotations.

There was agreement that a web link page for resident and medical student international interest groups and links to available affiliate web site for current visa and other requirements should be made available as part of the SAEM website.

6. Lastly, regarding EM fellowships, the Board approved to provide support for expanding information on international fellowships on the SAEM web site.

As has been noted above, most of these approvals would be possible objectives for either the Task Force if appointed for a second year and/or the International Interest Group. My thanks to several of you who were kind enough to respond to the comments made the last time regarding SAEM’s support of International Emergency Medicine. The last message comes next, always worth the wait.

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FACULTY POSITIONS

UNIVERSITY OF PITTSBURGH – The Department of Emergency Medicine offers fellowships in Toxicology, Emergency Medical Services, Research, and Education. Structured coursework along with intensive interaction with the nationally-known faculty is provided. We offer research and teaching opportunities with faculty, medical students, residents and other health care providers.

The University of Pittsburgh is an Equal Opportunity Employer, and will welcome candidates from diverse backgrounds. Each applicant should have a MD/DO or equivalent degree and be board certified/prepared in emergency medicine. Please contact Donald M. Yealy, MD, University of Pittsburgh, Department of Emergency Medicine, 230 McKee Place, Suite 500, Pittsburgh, PA 15213 to receive information.

COOK COUNTY HOSPITAL – The Department of Emergency Medicine seeks highly qualified and motivated applicants for the position of Associate Chairman. Candidates should possess significant academic and administrative skills. The Associate Chairman will have a lead role in the Department of Emergency Medicine, which is a unified department with the emergency physicians, emergency nursing and the clerical personnel reporting to the Chairman.

The Department of Emergency Medicine see 125,000 visits per year and the clinical area is located within a state of the art newly built hospital with an advanced electronic patient tracking system. Interested candidates should contact Jeffrey Schaider, MD, Chairman, Department of Emergency Medicine, 1900 West Polk Street, 10th Floor, Chicago, IL 60612. Tel – 312 864 0066. E-mail – jschaider@ccbh.org

UNIVERSITY OF PITTSBURGH MEDICAL CENTER (UPMC) Shadyside Hospital is a tertiary-care teaching hospital within the city of Pittsburgh. The campus includes the nationally–renowned Hillman Cancer Center, offers a full range of specialty and subspecialty services, and supports numerous teaching programs.

The progressive Emergency Department sees 36,000 patients annually with 52 hours of physician coverage and 22 hours of physician-extender coverage daily.

Shadyside is an upscale area of the city with great housing and easy access to numerous amenities of Pittsburgh, and is also a short commute from Pittsburgh’s finest suburbs. Candidates should have a record of excellence in administrative leadership and clinical skills, as well as a background including academic/teaching activities. Interested candidates should send a letter of introduction and CV to Dr. Robert Maha, Quantum One, 2 Hot Metal Street, 2nd Floor, Pittsburgh, PA 15203 or via email at mahar@upmc.edu. Phone: 412-4327404.

IMC – The International Medical Corps is seeking an emergency physician or nurse to assist with the implementation of the USAID-supported ‘Emergency Medicine Development Initiative’ in Azerbaijan. The program manager will provide technical support to assist in developing emergency medical services in Azerbaijan. Ability to communicate with senior level government representatives is important. Requirements include 5 years of emergency medicine experience. Desired skills include experience in hospital management, health policy and/or international development. A masters degree in public health is a plus. The position is immediately available. Please contact Adam Sirois, Regional Director of the IMC at adam.sirois@imc-az.org.

PENNSYLVANIA – SEEKING 2 EM PHYSICIANS to join 44 BC physicians and 11 PAs evaluating over 114,000 patients at the three sites of 800-bed Lehigh Valley Hospital. Must be EM Residency trained. All electronic ERs. Collegial group salaried by hospital, with super benefits! Level I Trauma, Regional Burn Center, EM Residency. Eligibility for faculty appointment at Penn State/Hershey. LVH located in the beautiful Lehigh Valley, with 750,000 people, excellent suburban public schools, safe neighborhoods, 10 colleges and universities, moderate cost of living, one hour north of Philadelphia and 90 minutes west of NYC. Email CV to carol.voorhees@LVH.com. Phone (610) 402-7008.

PENNSYLVANIA, PITTSBURGH: Exceptional Medical Director opportunity at the nationally-renowned Magee-Womens Hospital. Magee is part of the prestigious UPMC Health System and the full service ED sees 10,500 patients annually including both male and female patients. In addition to maintaining its status as a center of excellence for women’s healthcare, Magee is now expanding its services to include comprehensive medical/surgical care. This position provides a tertiary care setting with academic and research opportunities.

Candidates should be board-certified in emergency medicine and preference will be given to candidates with an interest/background in women’s health care.

Excellent compensation package with full benefits including paid malpractice with tail, employer-funded retirement plan, paid health insurance, CME allowance, etc.

Contact Dr. Robert Maha at 412-432-7404 or mahar@upmc.edu

THE UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA – Davis School of Medicine, Department of Emergency Medicine is conducting a faculty search for a fellowship trained Emergency Medical Services (EMS) Director. Candidates must be residency trained in Emergency Medicine with board certification/preparation and be eligible for licensure in California. University of California, Davis, Medical Center, one of the nation’s “Top 100 Hospitals,” is a 576 bed academic medical center.

With approximately 60,000 emergency visits annually, our program provides comprehensive emergency service to a large local urban and referral population as a level one trauma center, paramedic base station and training center, and serves as the primary teaching site for a fully accredited emergency medicine residency program. Our residency training program in Emergency Medicine began more than a decade ago and currently has 34 residents. Salary and benefits are competitive, and commensurate with training and years of experience.

Sacramento is located near the northern end of California's Central Valley, with close proximity to Lake Tahoe, San Francisco, and the "wine country" of the Napa and Sonoma Valleys. Sports enthusiasts will find Sacramento's climate and opportunities ideal. The American River Bike Trail follows 30 miles of riverfront, horseback riding, golf and tennis are year-round activities. Areas for skiing, backpacking, mountain climbing, fishing, boating, and rafting are all readily accessible. Interested candidates should submit a letter outlining interests and experience, and curriculum vitae to Deborah Diercks, MD, Emergency Medicine Search Committee Chair; Emergency Department, University of California, Davis, School of Medicine; 2315 Stockton Blvd., PSSB 2100; Sacramento, CA 95817. Applications must be received by May 1, 2006 to be fully considered.

THE UNIVERSITY OF UTAH – Health Sciences Center has a position available in the Division of Emergency Medicine for a residency-trained physician with an interest in academics and residency training to start July 1, 2006. The University of Utah is the primary medical teaching and research institution in the state. The E.D. has a census of 33,000 visits annually and is an ACS-certified Level-1 Trauma Center. The Division of Emergency Medicine runs the AirMed helicopter service, two regional EMS systems, and the Utah Poison Control Center.

Additionally, we began the first Emergency Medicine Residency program in Utah in July 2005 with eight residents. Candidates must be board certified/prepared and have a demonstrated interest in research and education. Competitive salary with excellent benefits package. The University of Utah is an EEO/AA employer and encourages applications from women and minorities. Send CV to Erik D. Barton, M.D., M.S., Chief, Division of Emergency Medicine, 1150 Moran Eye Center, 175 N. Medical Drive East, Salt Lake City, UT 84132; 801-5812730; fax 801-585-6699; erik.barton@hsc.utah.edu.

UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA, IRVINE – Department of Emergency Medicine is seeking a one year Clinical Instructor for July 2006. UCI Medical Center located in Orange County is a Level I Trauma center. This position combines emergency management/disaster medicine and public health training with that of traditional EMS. Candidates must have completed an ACGME-accredited Emergency Medicine Residency. Salary based on level of clinical work. Send/email CV to Carl Schultz, MD, UCI Medical Center, 101 City Drive, Route 12801, Orange, CA 92868, schultzc@uci.edu. UCI is an equal opportunity employer committed to excellence through diversity

The SAEM Newsletter is mailed every other month to approximately 6000 SAEM members. Advertising is limited to fellowship and academic faculty positions. The deadline for the March/April issue is April 1, 2006. All ads are posted on the SAEM website at no additional charge.

Advertising Rates: Classified ad (100 words or less) Contact in ad is SAEM member Contact in ad non-SAEM member Quarter page ad (camera ready) 3.5" wide x 4.75" high

UNIVERSITY OF FLORIDA/JACKSONVILLE – We are actively recruiting Board Certified or Board Eligible Emergency Medicine Physicians in an exciting opportunity to expand our Department. We have a volume of over a 90,000 patient visits per year including Trauma patients. In addition to a competitive salary, we offer the full range of University of Florida state benefits that include health, life, disability insurance, vacation & sick leave, 403B retirement plan with immediate vesting, and sovereign immunity occurrence medical liability insurance.

Individuals will be appointed at the rank of Assistant Professor or Associate Professor. If you are interested in this opportunity please fax (904) 244-5666 or mail your letter of interest and CV to Dr. Kelly Gray-Eurom, Department of Emergency Medicine, University of Florida/Jacksonville, 655 W. 8th Street, Jacksonville, Florida 32209. Deadline to apply for position 4/1/06 . EOE/AA Employer.

$120 $145 $350

To place an advertisement, email the ad, along with contact person for future correspondence, telephone and fax numbers, billing address, ad size and Newsletter issues in which the ad is to appear to: Elizabeth Webb at elizabeth@saem.org

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EMERGENCY MEDICINE OPPORTUNITY IN CENTRAL CALIFORNIA

Central California Faculty Medical Group, affiliated with the University of California San Francisco Fresno Medical Education Program is seeking additional clinical faculty members and core faculty members. The position is located in Fresno at University Medical Center and will move to a new 56,000 sf ED. A new UCSF Fresno 70,000 sf education and research building opened in late 2004. Fresno’s Medical Education Program is home to approximately 180 residents. The EM Residency began in 1974 and is a fully accredited 1-4 program, graduating 8 residents/ year. The ED sees approximately 60,000 culturally diverse patients / year. The hospital is a Level 1 trauma and burn center serving the Central San Joaquin Valley. We are also the major Base Station for the Fresno EMS System and provide medical control to the adjacent Sequoia/Kings Canyon National Parks. We are seeking faculty with interest in (but not limited to) clinical teaching and research, postgraduate medical education, toxicology, wilderness medicine, and pediatric emergency medicine.

Must be Board Eligible/ Certified in Emergency Medicine Send CV and 3 references to: Gene Kallsen, M.D., Chief C/o Diane O’Connor, CCFMG FAX: (559) 453-5233 E-mail: diane.oconnor@ccfmg.org Visit our websites at www.ccfmg.org and www.fresno.ucsf.edu

UCSF is an affirmative action / equal opportunity employer. The University undertakes affirmative action to assure equal employment opportunity for underutilized minorities and women, for persons with disabilities, and for covered veterans.

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Section of Emergency Medicine Yale University School of Medicine Associate Section Chief

The Section of Emergency Medicine at Yale University School of Medicine is seeking to fill the position of Associate Section Chief at the Associate Professor level or above. The candidate should be an experienced clinician with demonstrated excellence in administrative and interpersonal skills. In conjunction with the Chief, he/she will assist with the overall mission of the Section, to excel in clinical practice, education, and research.

Responsibilities will include oversight and direction of clinical operations, in conjunction with the Medical Director of the Emergency Department, specifically the development and monitoring of quality measures.

Candidates must be board certified in Emergency Medicine, obtain licensure in Connecticut, have a minimum of 7 years of experience with significant administrative responsibility within a Section or Department of Emergency Medicine in an academic setting. The successful candidate will also have significant administrative experience, as well as demonstrated leadership skills and a strong commitment to medical education and clinical excellence.

Yale New Haven Hospital is the primary practice site. It is a level I trauma center with approximately 70,000 adult ED visits per year. In addition, a satellite ED on the Connecticut shoreline with an annual census of approximately 10,000 adult and pediatric patients per year.

Rank and salary will be commensurate with education, training and experience. For more information, contact Dr. Gail D’Onofrio at (203) 7854404 or gail.donofrio@yale.edu. To apply, please forward your CV and cover letter via fax at (203) 785-4480, email jamie.petrone@yale.edu, or mail at Yale University School of Medicine, Department of Surgery, Section of Emergency Medicine, 464 Congress Ave, P.O. Box 208062, New Haven, CT 06519-1315.

Yale University is an affirmative action, equal opportunity employer and women and members of minority groups are encouraged to apply.

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The Department of Emergency Medicine at Metropolitan Hospital Center in NYC is actively recruiting a Research Director as well as additional faculty for our primary site.

Preference will be given to experienced academicians ideally with an advanced degree and/or fellowship in Toxicology or Ultrasound. Live and work in the culturally rich and diverse borough of Manhattan. Our program is affiliated with the academic department of Emergency Medicine at New York Medical College and access to all requisite educational resources. We have an active Hospital Emergency Management program with a state of the art decontamination chamber. Our hospital is part of HHC, one of the largest public health care systems in the world, boasting over 1,000,000 ED visits per year in NYC! We are a fully-accredited EM residency training program with 24 residents who rotate to four sites, acquiring a vast exposure to varied pathologies and patients with socioeconomic backgrounds. We have an enterprise-wide electronic medical record system which benefits our residents by encouraging detailed follow-up of their patient encounters and is ideal for retrieving data for research projects. Competitive salary and benefits and a diverse faculty, resident and nursing staff.

Please send CV to Gregory Almond, MD MPH, Chairman, Department of Emergency Medicine, Room 2A18, 1901 First Avenue, NY, NY 10029 or via email at gregory.almond@nychhc.org

Director, Academic Affairs Department of EM Newark Beth Israel Medical Center

POSITION AVAILABLE - FACULTY:

Illinois: The Resurrection Medical Center Emergency Medicine Residency Program in Chicago, IL, seeks Ultrasound Director for organization, implementation and supervision of all aspects of the Emergency Medicine Ultrasound training program. Responsibilities include developing and implementing Ultrasound curriculum, education of faculty and residents, research, and further program development.

BC/BE in Emergency Medicine, with at least 2 years as clinician/educator OR fellowship training in EM Ultrasound. We boast a dedicated faculty, a rich, acute and divergent patient population, and intense didactic, clinical, and research training. Position offers significant protected time, competitive salary and benefits. See web http://www.reshealth.org/education/rmc site: emergency/welcome.cfm. Send CV and letter of interest to Marc Dorfman, MD, Program Director, Resurrection EM Residency via fax: (773) 5947805, or e-mail: mdorfman@reshealthcare.org or mailto :mdorfman@reshealthcare.org.

We are searching for an emergency medicine physician experienced in research, academics, and grant writing with a track record of refereed publications to assume a key leadership role in our department. We are looking for an enthusiastic, energetic individual who is 5-10+ years postEM residency graduation and desires an opportunity to lead a team of talented, dedicated residency faculty and be part of an Emergency Department committed to scholarship, clinical excellence, community service, and humanistic values. An MS or MPH would be a very desirable plus. Please contact or forward your CV/letter of interest to Marc Borenstein, MD, Chair, Department of EM, Newark Beth Israel Medical Center, 201 Lyons Ave, Newark, NJ 07112, phone, 973-926-7562, e-mail, mborenstein @sbhcs.com.

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Boston

OREGON HEALTH & SCIENCE UNIVERSITY

Harvard Affiliated Teaching Hospital

The Department of Emergency Medicine of the Harvard Medical Faculty Physicians at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center has positions available for faculty committed to academic emergency medicine. Board certification or preparation in emergency medicine with four years of training or experience are prerequisites. The base hospital is Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center, a Level I trauma center, with an ED that sees nearly 50,000 patients a year, and the seat of a three year emergency medicine residency. We provide needed direction for three 911 systems. Academic opportunities include access to lab space, international programs, and teaching at Harvard Medical School. Salaries are highly competitive for the community and are incentive based. We are seeking faculty with interests in academics, EMS, ultrasound, sepsis, basic science, or postgraduate education.

PROFESSOR & CHAIR DEPARTMENT OF EMERGENCY MEDICINE SCHOOL OF MEDICINE

The School of Medicine of the Oregon Health & Science University is recruiting candidates for the Chair of the Department of Emergency Medicine. The successful candidate will be board certified by the American Board of Emergency Medicine and possess outstanding clinical skills, excellence in scholarly activity and a proven record of administrative leadership. Additionally the candidate must have a strong commitment to medical student and resident education. OHSU has a strong basic science research program, an organized faculty practice, a large graduate studies program and a nationally recognized curriculum reform program for medical students. Candidates should forward a letter of interest and a current curriculum vitae to the attention of Drs. Edwin Everts and Sharon Anderson at lockartn@ohsu.edu.

Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center and Harvard Medical School are Equal Opportunity Employers.

Women and minorities are particularly encouraged to apply. Please send a cover letter indicating your interest in an academic position, CV, and the names of three possible references to: Maureen Blicker, Administrative Coordinator Department of Emergency Medicine Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center One Deaconess Road (W/CC2) Boston, MA 02215

OHSU is an affirmative action equal opportunity employer.

Academic Emergency Physician Jacksonville, FL

POSITION AVAILABLE MEDICAL TOXICOLOGY FELLOWSHIP: UC Davis has an unexpected opening in it's 2 year medical toxicology training program starting July 1, 2006. This ACGME approved fellowship with 4 full time faculty provides comprehensive training in toxicology and extensive opportunities for patient care, translational research, graduate education and teaching. UC Davis is a division of the California Poison Control System; an integrated system receiving over 300,000 calls /year.

The Department of Emergency Medicine, Mayo Clinic College of Medicine, is seeking a full-time Academic Emergency Physician to join its faculty in Jacksonville, FL on the northeast coast.

This opportunity includes clinical practice in a high-acuity ED (36,000 visits per year) that serves as a leading tertiary care center for the southeast US and the local area. Dynamic faculty with commitment to practice, education, research, and excellence. Teach EM and off-service residents. Numerous opportunities in research, with administrative support, collaboration between sites, and intramural funding available. Building a new, state-of-the-art Mayo Clinic Hospital/ED. The successful candidate will be an individual with demonstrated interest in Academic Emergency Medicine as proven by performance in residency, fellowship training or faculty positions.

Educational experiences include hazardous materials toxicology, hyperbaric medicine, occupational, environmental and regulatory toxicology as well as administrative and medical direction of poison control systems.

Applicants must qualify for California licensure and have completed a residency in Emergency Medicine, Internal Medicine or Pediatrics. This position is open until filled but no later than June 30, 2006. Reply to: R. Steven Tharratt, MD, MPVM, FACMT, c/o Betty Boyd, 4150 V Street, Suite # 3400, Sacramento, CA 95817. (916) 7343564, betty.boyd@ucdmc.ucdavis.edu.

EM residency-training and state (Florida) medical license eligibility required. Learn more about Mayo Clinic in Jacksonville, FL at: www.mayoclinic.org.

For further information, please contact: Wyatt W. Decker, M.D. Chair, Dept of Emergency Medicine, Mayo Clinic Jacksonville and Rochester Mayo Clinic College of Medicine, 1216 Second Street SW, Rochester, MN 55902 Phone (507) 255-6501; e-mail: decker.wyatt@mayo.edu Mayo Foundation is an affirmative action and equal opportunity employer and educator. Post offer/pre-employment drug screening is required.

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SAEM 2006 Research Grants Emergency Medicine Medical Student Interest Group Grants These grants provide funding of $500 each to help support the educational or research activities of emergency medicine medical student organizations at U.S. medical schools. Established or developing interest groups, clubs, or other medical student organizations are eligible to apply. It is not necessary for the medical school to have an emergency medicine training program for the student group to apply. Deadline: September 8, 2006.

EMF/SAEM Medical Student Research Grant These grants are sponsored by SAEM and the Emergency Medicine Foundation. A maximum of $2,400 over three months is available to encourage research in emergency medicine by medical students. Deadline: TBA. Research Training Grant This grant provides financial support of $75,000 per year for two years of formal, full-time research training for emergency medicine fellows, resident physicians, or junior faculty. The trainee must have a concentrated, mentored program in specific research methods and concepts, and complete a research project. Deadline: November 3, 2006.

Institutional Research Training Grant This grant provides financial support of $75,000 per year for two years for an academic emergency medicine program to train a research fellow. The sponsoring program must demonstrate an excellent research training environment with a qualified mentor and specific area of research emphasis.

The training for the fellow may include a formal research education program or advanced degree. It is expected that the fellow who is selected by the applying program will dedicate full time effort to research, and will complete a research project. The goal of this grant is to help establish a departmental culture in emergency medicine programs that will continue to support advanced research training for emergency medicine residency graduates. Deadline: November 3, 2006.

Scholarly Sabbatical Grant This grant provides funding of $10,000 per month for a maximum of six months to help emergency medicine faculty at the level of assistant professor or higher obtain release time to develop skills that will advance their academic careers. The goal of the grant is to increase the number of independent career researchers who may further advance research and education in emergency medicine.

The grant may be used to learn unique research or educational methods or procedures which require day-to-day, in-depth training under the direct supervision of a knowledgeable mentor, or to develop a knowledge base that can be shared with the faculty member’s department to further research and education. Deadline: November 3, 2006.

Emergency Medical Services Research Fellowship This grant is sponsored by Medtronic Physio-Control. It provides $60,000 for a one year EMS fellowship for emergency medicine residency graduates at an SAEM approved fellowship training site.

The fellow must have an in-depth training experience in EMS with an emphasis on research concepts and methods. The grant process involves a review and approval of emergency medicine training sites as well as individual applications from potential fellows. Deadline: November 3, 2006.

Further information and application materials can be obtained via the SAEM website at www.saem.org.

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S A E M

Newsletter of the Society for Academic Emergency Medicine

Board of Directors Glenn Hamilton, MD President Jim Hoekstra, MD President-Elect Katherine Heilpern, MD Secretary-Treasurer Carey Chisholm, MD Past President Jill Baren, MD Leon Haley, Jr, MD, MHSA Jeffrey Kline, MD Catherine Marco, MD Robert Schafermeyer, MD Lance Scott, MD Ellen Weber, MD

Society for Academic Emergency Medicine 901 N. Washington Avenue Lansing, MI 48906-5137

PRESORTED STANDARD U.S. POSTAGE PAID GRAND RAPIDS MI PERMIT # 1

Editor David Cone, MD David.Cone@yale.edu Executive Director/Managing Editor Mary Ann Schropp saem@saem.org Advertising Coordinator Elizabeth Webb elizabeth@saem.org

“to improve patient care by advancing research and education in emergency medicine�

The SAEM newsletter is published bimonthly by the Society for Academic Emergency Medicine. The opinions expressed in this publication are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect those of SAEM.

ABEM Requests Suggestions for Lifelong Learning and Self-Assessment Readings

A cornerstone of ABEM's EMCC program is the concept of Lifelong Learning Self-Assessment (LLSA), which is developed to promote continuous learning on the part of ABEM diplomates. ABEM facilitates this learning by identifying an annual set of readings to guide diplomates in self-study of recent Emergency Medicine (EM) literature.

ABEM welcomes and requests that EM organizations and ABEM diplomates submit suggestions for readings. ABEM has received a significant number of recommended quality readings. Developing high-quality LLSA tests is dependent on high-quality readings.

Submission Criteria for LLSA Readings ABEM has established the following criteria for LLSA readings: 1. Focused on recent advances or current clinical knowledge in Emergency Medicine; 2. Clinically oriented in content; 3. Drawn from peer-reviewed EM journals, peer-reviewed journals from related primary specialty fields, textbook chapters, or updated practice guidelines; 4. Published in printed or electronic form within the immediate five years preceding the LLSA test in which it will be used; 5. Related to either the designated content areas for a given year (approximately 50%), or to the remaining content areas (approximately 50%) of the EM Model "Listing of Conditions."

Content of the 2008 LLSA Test Currently, ABEM is soliciting readings for the 2008 LLSA test, for which the designated content areas will be Procedures and Skills Integral to the Practice of EM and Environmental Disorders. ABEM will select approximately 50% of the readings for the 2008 LLSA from these two designated areas, while approximately 50% of the test content will be drawn from the remaining content areas of the EM Model Listing of Conditions.

How to Submit Recommendations for LLSA Readings For each reference submitted, ABEM must receive the following two items: 1. Lifelong Learning and Self-Assessment Reference Form Complete an LLSA Reference Form for each reference that you recommend to ABEM. Be sure to provide all requested information for each reference, including the article title completely written out, the journal name, etc. Do not use abbreviations. Do not alter the form in any way, except to add the requested information in the space provided. The LLSA Reference Form is available from ABEM and may also be downloaded as an MS Word document from the ABEM website, www.abem.org. The form can be computer-printed or typewritten.

2. One Paper Copy of the Article, Chapter, or Other Text One paper copy of the article, chapter, or other text for which you have submitted a reference must be mailed or faxed to ABEM to be considered for inclusion. Electronic copies of readings cannot be accepted due to copyright restrictions.

References received by June 1, 2006, will be considered for inclusion in the 2008 LLSA module. Materials submitted after that date will be considered in the future.

Recommendations may be submitted via fax or mail: FAX: 517.332.3943; Mail: LLSA References, American Board of Emergency Medicine, 3000 Coolidge Road, East Lansing, MI 48823 For questions or comments regarding the process for recommending references for the LLSA component of the EMCC program, contact Timothy J. Dalton, Examination and Evaluation Project Specialist, at the ABEM office, telephone 517.332.4800. For general questions about LLSA or about the overall EMCC program, contact Robert C. Korte, Ph.D., Senior Psychometrician.