SAEM’s 2023 Strategic Plan: Shaping the Future Science, Education, and Practice of Emergency Medicine

Each January the SAEM Board of Directors convenes to finalize the annual strategies that will continue to move our SAEM Strategic Plan forward. These strategies are developed based on a compilation of meetings with members, mega issue discussions at the Board level, and multiyear plans that were previously developed. Goals and objectives have been developed to meet our SAEM mission (“To lead the advancement of academic emergency medicine through education, research, and professional development.”) and the SAEM Board works on specific strategies with measurable outcomes to meet these goals and objectives. In this article I will share several of these strategies to highlight some of the amazing work our members and staff will be engaging in this year.

Educational Goals

In alignment with SAEM’s standing as the premier organization for academic emergency medicine (EM) educational resources for both medical educators and learners, our 2023 strategies include launching a brand new, innovative faculty development cohort course, the SAEM Master Educators, which addresses core principles of medical education not covered in our other education-related courses. Last year the Emerging Leader Development (eLEAD) program was introduced, providing leaders in academic EM with a structured, longitudinal, year-long experience to develop foundational leadership skills, cultivate a meaningful career network, and build a bridge to countless opportunities in their field. This inaugural year will be evaluated with the second year being launched in

May at SAEM23. Speaking of our annual meeting, this event encompasses another significant annual strategy with attendance of well over 3,000 members and packed with incredible educational content and cutting-edge research.

Research Goals

Our SAEM research goal is to increase the impact, productivity, implementation, and visibility across the spectrum of emergency care research. Strategies include enhanced collaboration with the National Institutes of Health (NIH) on the goals and objectives of the Office of Emergency Care Research, as well as collaboration with other federal funding agencies, to promote networking, increased funding for our specialty, and enhanced funding strategies for our members. Additional strategies include assisting the SAEM Foundation in fundraising and grant funding for our members, making the largest research investment in academic EM’s future, and strengthening the Guidelines for Reasonable and Appropriate Care in the Emergency Department (GRACE) program, which addresses best practices for common chief complaints based on evidence-based research and expert consensus.

Personal & Professional Goals

SAEM strives to be an essential contributor to the personal and professional development of the academic EM community. Our professional development and support strategies include expansion and promotion of an online comprehensive DEI curriculum, promotion of mental health awareness to our members and the EM community through continuation of the Stop the Stigma EM campaign, review and analysis of the membership survey, and development of an SAEM member recruitment and retention plan for our diverse faculty, residents, and students.

Workforce Goals

A new pillar for workforce development was added to the strategic plan last year specifically to define the evolving landscape and workforce of academic EM to address where SAEM can uniquely support dynamic changes in the workforce. Annual strategies for workforce include developing a comprehensive needs assessment to identify and inform best practices to attract talented and diverse students to EM that encompass the spectrum of academic practice.

SAEM is shaping the future science, education, and practice of emergency medicine. The amount of content being produced by our members and staff through our academies, committees, and interest groups is tremendous. I am excited to see the outcomes of the annual strategies and grateful for the great work by all of you to improve patient care, educate and mentor our learners, and produce impactful scholarship and research discovery to advance emergency care.

ABOUT DR. MILLS: Angela M. Mills, MD, is the J. E. Beaumont professor and chair of the department of emergency medicine at Columbia University Vagelos College of Physicians & Surgeons and chief of emergency services for NewYorkPresbyterian –Columbia