Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion in EM Research: A Call to Action
SAEM PULSE | MAY-JUNE 2022
By Angela Lumba-Brown, MD; David Fernandez, MD; and Nancy S. Kwon, MD, MPA, on behalf of the SAEM Research Committee and SAEM Equity & Inclusion Committee
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Diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) are cornerstones of the mission of emergency medicine. Similarly, emergency medicine research requires thoughtful and deliberate focus on DEI to impact meaningful change and advance our field. While specific DEI definitions vary in wording, we example the American Association of Colleges and Universities definitions here and offer the SAEM DEI Resource Library and Academy for Diversity and Inclusion in Emergency Medicine (ADIEM) for further information on SAEM’s mission to impact DEI in emergency medicine. Scientific literature across many disciplines in medicine, including emergency medicine, repeatedly
demonstrates the prevalence of inequities in patient diagnosis, management, and treatment. Health care inequities span widespread topics including wait times, admission, rates, TERM
presentations for various disease states and injuries, pain treatment, mental and health support. In one well-known study from the New England Journal of Medicine, black women were DEFINITION
DIVERSITY
Individual differences, group and social differences, historically underrepresented populations, and cultural, political, religious, or other affiliation.
EQUITY
Creation of opportunities for historically underrepresented populations to have equal access to and participate in programs that can close the achievement gaps
INCLUSION
Active, intentional, and ongoing engagement with diversity in ways that increase awareness, content knowledge, cognitive sophistication, and empathic understanding of the complex ways individuals interact within systems and institutions
