THE SAEM ANNUAL MEETING: WHERE EDUCATION AND SCIENCE CONVERGE

An Interview With SAEM Annual Meeting Program Committee Chair Ryan L. LaFollette, MD

Ryan L. LaFollette, MD, is associate professor of clinical emergency medicine and assistant residency program director for the University of Cincinnati College of Medicine. He also serves as a Cincinnati SWAT physician and is a flight physician with University of Cincinnati’s Air Care.

A native of New York, from a town just outside of Syracuse, Dr. LaFollette completed his medical training at Upstate Medical University followed by residency at the University of Cincinnati where he served as chief resident in the Class of 2016.

In addition to serving as the coeditor of the FOAMed site TamingtheSRU.com, Dr. LaFollette is actively involved with SAEM, having served previously on the SAEM Awards Committee, SAEM Education Committee, and as chair of the SAEM Virtual Presence Committee. He presently chairs the SAEM Annual Meeting Program Committee, on which he previously served as chair of the didactics subcommittee as well as in the Medical Student Ambassador (MSA) program.

Tell us a little about your journey to becoming SAEM annual meeting program committee chair. What led you to this point?

My introduction into SAEM follows a similar path as many of my colleagues. I was brought into the organization during my second year of residency by one of my attendings, Andra Blomkalns, a former SAEM Program Committee Chair and an SAEM past president. Early in my SAEM career, while working with and developing the Medical Student Ambassador (MSA) program, I was exposed to excellent mentors like Drs. Gillian Beauchamp and Ali Raja. After handing the MSA program off to the talented Dr. Riley Grosso, I chaired the SAEM Program Committee Didactics Subcommittee for several years before assuming my current role as program committee cair. I have also been privileged to serve on the SAEM Awards Committee, SAEM Education Committee, and as chair of the SAEM Virtual Presence Committee, during which I led the expansion of streaming options for the annual meeting.

What does serving as the annual meeting program committee chair mean to you?

I continue to be humbled by the talent and dedication of SAEM Program Committee members and staff who make this amazing meeting happen. The opportunity to work with a group of people from around the country dedicated to making our annual meeting a first-rate experience has been a highlight. I love being a part of helping the leaders in our organization find the best ways to showcase the work that SAEM members do all year long.

What unique qualities do you bring to the table as the annual meeting program committee chair?

The integration of science and educational content is a hallmark of the SAEM Annual Meeting and the focus on delivering both education and clinical science is a unique characteristic that sets SAEM apart. As an assistant program director and FOAMed curator, I am happy to bring my educational lens to that intersection. The work our members do all year is so impressive and I hope I can help ensure that everyone has an opportunity to engage with our members in the most effective way possible.

What excites you the most about this year’s event? What are you most looking forward to at SAEM23?

We have just selected our keynote speakers and I have to say I am very excited! They represent an exciting cross-section of our specialty and what it will become. Dr. Jane Scott will kick off our plenary presentations with the Dr. Peter Rosen Memorial Keynote Address and Dr. Susan Promes will deliver our Wednesday Medical Education Keynote. With so many of our academy and RAMS events spread out across Austin, I am also excited for people to have the opportunity to explore this amazing city. Lastly, I am excited that we can include parents more wholly during this year’s meeting with our Onsite Childcare/Day Camp. (If you’re interested, register by March 14!) continued on Page 6 continued from Page 5

How will you personally measure the success of SAEM23?

I am excited by the successes we have already had in preparing for the meeting! This year we received a record number of didactics, IGNITE!, and innovations submissions, which makes me hopeful that we might break attendance and engagement records as well. I am excited to meet members who have never attended an SAEM Annual Meeting, learn what engages them the most and how we can continue this momentum into Phoenix in 2024!

I’m sure you’ve attended other conferences throughout your career; what makes the SAEM Annual Meeting stand out from the rest?

The level of presentation at the SAEM Annual Meeting is what sets it apart. There is no question in my mind that if you walk into a room at SAEM23 there will be something to be gained whether you are a medical student or a senior faculty. There are more opportunities to network at the SAEM Annual Meeting than at any conference I have been to. Our meeting combines all the benefits of a large conference with the intimacy of a community. And this community comes to our annual meeting with an eye toward connecting, networking, and building the next generation of academic leaders. You can’t get that at any other conference.

Why is the SAEM Annual Meeting a “must-attend” event of the year for academic EM professionals and what can they expect to take away from this event?

The SAEM Annual Meeting is a must-attend event for the people who comprise academic EM. You can read the articles and practice the medicine all year, but to engage with the authors who wrote the articles and interact with colleagues across the academic spectrum comes but once a year and this year it will be in May in Austin. Everyone, no matter at what level of their career, should expect to take away a new mentor or mentee, research idea, and very full mind (and belly).

What is your advice to first-time attendees for making the most of SAEM23?

Come prepared! On your drive/flight/uber to the meeting, review the program planner, pick out workshops, didactics, abstracts, and events that are interesting to YOU and add them to your program planner schedule and app. Don’t just attend what your colleagues or friends are attending but build a schedule full of things that fit your vision of the clinician/ educator/researcher you want to be. Attend a session or event led by a presenter you’ve been interested to meet and chat with. All our faculty and presenters are open and interested to talk to you about how their work can connect with yours. And stop by dodgeball, as it will give you a new and enduring view of the skillset of the SAEM Board of Directors!

What makes Austin such a great city for this year’s annual meeting?

Whether you like country music and live music shows or are a blasphemous northerner like myself and enjoy coffee and microbreweries, you’ll find it all in this friendly, vibrant, up and coming city. Be sure to check out the bats at sunset on the

Congress Avenue bridge, take a run on the boardwalk of Lady Bird Lake, and see a show at one of the 250 live music venues.

SAEM is making great strides in addressing issues related to DEI. How does this come into play in a lasting way at the SAEM Annual Meeting?

We continue to take strides in diversity, equity, and inclusion along with the SAEM Board and other SAEM academies and committees by acknowledging bias and studying the makeup of

Up Close and Personal

those delivering the content as well as those grading it. We have taken steps to ensure the diversity of our plenaries and sessions reflect that of our society and have reallocated spaces to ensure that everyone who wants a seat in a meeting has one. Also by making sure the next generation of leaders—our medical student ambassadors—have the opportunity to be exposed to SAEM and its leaders through the awarding of a SAEM RAMS Diversity and Inclusion MSA Scholarship.

Name three people, living or deceased, whom you would invite to your dream dinner party.

1. Chef and travel documentarian Anthony Bourdain for his attitude toward engaging and appreciating others

2. Landscape photographer Ansel Adams for his technical gifts and efforts to share a vision of wilderness with another generation

3. My grandmother for her love of travel and people

What's the one thing few people know about you?

I am a lifelong vegetarian and have never eaten meat — and I am still alive 36 years later! (Although I am also a living warning that healthy eating and vegetarianism are two circles of a Venn diagram that do not entirely overlap!)

What is your guiltiest pleasure (book, movie, music, show, food, etc.)? Running. It takes time away from many things I should be doing — but it cannot be replaced!

Please complete these three sentences: In high school I was voted… most spirited. I wish I was kidding. A song you’ll find me singing in the shower is… No songs, but I appreciate how waterproof the iPhone is because that is quality audiobook time.