YPS President’s Message - March/April

David D. Vega, MD FAAEM
President, Young Physicians Section

I’ve said it before -- the Young Physicians Section (YPS) needs you. We are at a critical time of growth for YPS, and we need you to get involved. The newly elected YPS board of directors will be taking their posts shortly. With new faces on the board will come the energy and ideas that will help to guide our Section in new directions. Now is the time for you to commit to helping out with the Section and make it a valuable resource for its members.

There’s no doubt about it, the early years of a career in emergency medicine are tough. Transitioning to independent practice and building a career while maintaining a balance between one’s personal and professional lives is not easy. And, of course, we continually face challenges to our ability to provide even basic patient care because of overcrowding, unfair employment practices and continually increasing threats of litigation. The pressures and time constraints associated with the early years of an emergency medicine career are likely the reason that many young physicians do not get significantly involved with organizations like AAEM. But the reality is that these very issues are why each of us should be involved with AAEM, the only true specialty society in emergency medicine. Within AAEM, the Young Physicians Section has the potential to be the “go-to” resource for younger emergency physicians.

As emergency physicians, we face more challenges to providing care than any other specialists in medicine. A colleague of mine recently used the phrase “undercurrents of negativity” to describe the pressures working against us in performing our jobs in the emergency department. I like this description, because it captures the insidious nature of a lot of these challenges. Fortunately for our patients, we have been able to rise to the occasion and deliver life-saving care in the setting of these adverse conditions. However, we must recognize our limitations in being able to adapt to the challenges that are thrust upon us. As we face the potential of no longer being able to provide adequate care to our patients because of the conditions in which we practice, we must work on local, regional and national levels to improve these conditions. This means sacrificing some of our personal time to gain a solid understanding of the underlying issues and getting involved with committees, taskforces and organizations that can effect change.

So again, it comes down to the fact that you, as a younger emergency physician, must step up to the challenge and give back to the specialty that provides your livelihood. No more excuses – now is the time. Send an email to info@ypsaaem.org today with your comments and suggestions or for more information on getting involved.

A Note of Appreciation-

Since this is my last article written as President of the YPS, I wanted to take a bit of space to thank some of the individuals who have been fundamental to the development of the Young Physicians Section. David Kramer deserves special mention and thanks for helping to develop and encourage the concept of a Young Physicians Section within AAEM. Antoine Kazzi and Tom Scaletta, in their terms as presidents of AAEM, as well as the rest of the AAEM board of directors over the past two years have been tremendously supportive and have shown great vision in recognizing the importance of developing younger members of AAEM into the leaders of tomorrow. Joel Schofer, Jesse Pines and Mark Reiter were instrumental in helping to change the AAEM bylaws to allow for the formation of Sections within AAEM, and each has worked with the YPS Taskforce to help move us through the process of becoming a Section with AAEM. Along with them, Marc Haber and Mike Epter have served as the founding board of directors of the Section. AAEM’s office staff has been invaluable in keeping us organized and functioning efficiently. And, of course, my thanks to all of the members of YPS who have stuck with the YPS through its infancy. Thank you everyone for your support!