‘Anyone, Anything, Anytime’ is the core mission of emergency medicine. It’s the reason many became emergency physicians in the first place – the desire to care for anyone, no matter what. EM physicians led the charge to create EMTALA – a codified version of the EM mission. We don’t turn people away due to insurance status, condition, social or cultural context, gender, race, religion…EM treats everyone.

When your patient population is ‘everyone,’ it’s therefore critical for us as a College to create a membership, a leadership, a staff, events, and meetings that accurately reflect the diversity of our patients. Our patients want to see physicians who look like them, come from similar social and cultural backgrounds, who speak their language and understand them as people, and so do we.

We have had successes and setbacks in our pursuit of diversity and inclusion.

Successes:

  • The #ILookLikeAnERDoc Campaign: A social media campaign to highlight the vast diversity of our membership, demonstrating to the public that EM is a specialty committed to Anyone, Anything, Anytime.
  • Board Diversity: The 2017-2018 ACEP Board of Directors was the most diverse it has ever been. The diversity lay across not just gender and racial lines, but also practice setting, career focus, and age.
  • Implicit Bias Training: Leadership and staff underwent implicit bias training, allowing us to challenge our hidden biases head on.
  • Diversity of Faculty: The ACEP team tracks diversity of meeting faculty so that we may ensure we are equitable, and provide us metrics on how to improve.
  • AAWEP: The American Association of Women Emergency Physicians is a robust section of ACEP membership, which provides advocacy, education, and mentorship. AAWEP’s LeaP project (Leadership Pipeline Project) builds a roadmap to leadership, and helps “channel skills and goals into some of the most influential positions in emergency medicine.”
  • DIHES: The Diversity, Inclusion & Health Equity Section is ACEP’s newest section. Their first (standing-room only) meeting at ACEP18 was as inspiring as it was packed. We are excited for the goals and work of DIHES. The section site is not yet live, but will be soon.
  • The Way Ahead: Through panels and discussions on both research and anecdotal evidence, the full scope of the diversity disparity in EM was revealed, lighting the road ahead of us.
  • Publications: ACEP Now, the ACEP news publication, features diversity/inclusion and bias stories, highlighting the work of our tireless membership.
  • Advocacy: We continue to support ‘Anyone, Anything, Anytime’ in all levels of government.

And setbacks?

We’re not where we’d like to be. We need diversity and inclusion at all levels in ACEP, of all practice, social, and cultural backgrounds. We want to have a membership that accurately reflects our patient population, which allows our leadership to reflect our membership.

How do we accomplish this? With your help.

Join AAWEP and DIHES. Write for ACEP Now. Submit your research to Annals of Emergency Medicine. Join our efforts. For 50 years we’ve been committed to ‘Anyone, Anything, Anytime,’ and we dedicate ourselves to that commitment for the next 50 and beyond.

Tweets:

The American Association of Women Emergency Physicians (@AAWEPsection) has what you need to thrive, not just survive, a career in EM. #ILookLikeAnERDoc Click here to learn more and join today: https://acep.org/how-we-serve/sections/american-association-of-women-eps/

Feeling inspired about #FIX18? The @ACEPnow Diversity, Inclusion, and Health Equity Section is brand new, and looking for you. Click here to learn more and to join today: https://www.acep.org/how-we-serve/sections/sections-petitions/sections-petition-minority-affairs-and-diversity/ #ILookLikeAnERDoc

Do you look like an ER Doc?

Of course you do, because you’re you, and you are an EP, and regardless of your gender, race, social or cultural background, you look like an emergency physician. Take a selfie, tag #ILookLikeAnERDoc, show the world what EM looks like. @ACEPnow

Want to get started with EM leadership? @AAWEPsection’s LeaP can help! Let AAWEP help you channel your skills and goals into some of the most influential positions in emergency medicine. Click here for more now: https://www.acep.org/aawep/LeaP

.@ACEPnow is committed to diversity. We believe that attaining diversity with well qualified physicians in emergency medicine residencies and faculties that reflects our multicultural society is a desirable goal, and work towards it. More here: https://www.acep.org/patient-care/policy-statements/workforce-diversity-in-health-care-settings