| Co-authored this analysis and opinion article in ACEP News. |
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ACEP's Special Twentieth Centurions
A Call for Support and Recognition: Fellowship and Respect
ACEP News
September 2005
By Peter J. Bruzzo, DO, W. Anthony Gerard, MD, and Arlen R. Stauffer, MD
ACEP News Contributing Writers
Since more than 6,000 emergency medicine residency-trained physicians now staffing our
country's ERs graduated in the 21st century, perhaps it is time to reflect on those ACEP
members whose careers began in another, now bygone, century. What about those
"Twentieth Centurions?
"We'd like to focus on a special group within this Twentieth Century cohort and conclude
with a special plea on their behalf. There's a resolution that will be debated at this year's
ACEP Council meeting in Washington, and it deserves serious consideration.
This group of career emergency physicians has many in its ranks who were practicing at
the very birth of emergency medicine as a specialty. Many of them served as mentors and
helped train the outstanding residency-trained, board certified emergency medicine
physicians that today staff many of this country's ERs and make ACEP the country's
premier emergency medicine professional organization. It is a group of people that are
mostly over 50 years old, or mighty close to it, and who will probably be practicing in the ER
for five to 15 more years, at most. It is a group that has the dedication to practicing that high
quality of emergency medicine that each and every ACEP member of any cohort expects of
their fellow members. It is a group that is largely indistinguishable in training and expertise
from those who entered the specialty through the ABEM practice track several years ago.
The individuals in this group are your fellow ACEP emergency physicians. They are sitting
next to you at CME conferences or chatting with you at the various vendor tables during
conference recesses. They work in many of the ERs across the nation, and serve in many
capacities within our College. Many of you have worked side-by-side in the ER trenches with
members of this special cohort.
This special group of ACEP Twentieth Centurions is an important part of ACEP's history.
They will continue to play an important part in ACEP's vision of excellence in emergency
medical care for another decade or so, until the growing ranks of EM residency-trained
physicians have reached the numbers and equity in distribution to achieve the ultimate goal
of "every doc in every ER an EM residency-trained/ABEM boarded doc."Would it not be
unreasonable to expect an organization to appreciate, recognize, and support such a group
within its ranks? We think so.
By now, most readers will have identified the group of ACEP Twentieth Centurions we are
describing -- the 2,000-plus colleagues in our College, many whom are members of ACEP's
Section on Certification Process, who initially trained in other specialties, and who will
finish out their emergency medicine careers boarded in those specialties, not by the ABEM
or the AOBEM.
Most of those within the Section on Certification understand and accept that the specialty of
emergency medicine, our specialty, must move on into the future with uniform, high quality
training of our country's future emergency physicians. Many of these section members,
including the authors of this article, would be thoroughly satisfied that, if on the day of our
retirement from EM practice, we were both boarded in the specialty of our residency, and
recognized and supported by our chosen professional College, ACEP.
It is in recognition that lies a great unfairness that many of ACEP's younger members,
including its 21st Century cohort, have not had need to even consider. This unfairness lies
in the fact that 2,000-plus members of our College are presently excluded from achieving
fellow status within the College, even after demonstrating their commitment and devotion to
excellence in emergency medicine and to their chosen College, and even after supporting
the College's vision of the future for the specialty in the 21st Century.
We are aware that, historically, many of our College's ABEM and AOBEM boarded members
equate fellow status (FACEP) with meaning EM boarded by an "ACEP recognized certifying
body." This is understandable; that's how it's been during our College's short history.
However, fellow status is, more accurately, a membership issue, not a board certification
issue. Fellow status is granted to members of ACEP who demonstrate their devotion and
dedication to the specialty and to the College through their work, their service, and their
longevity within the specialty and the College.
Granting fellow status to this group of Twentieth Centurions would honor their devotion and
dedication as members of ACEP, and as (still) needed practitioners of emergency medicine.
Therefore, it is with the greatest sincerity that we ask all of our College's members,
particularly those elected to be this year's Councillors, to consider making right this
unfairness, and to support the proposed resolution that makes it possible for this group of
ACEP Twentieth Centurions to achieve true and meaningful recognition by becoming
Fellows of our College.
Please remember, this is a closed subgroup of ACEP membership that will only dwindle in
size over the next decade. A vote of support for this resolution will only be for us, those
career emergency physicians and your fellow ACEP colleagues who entered EM practice at
a time when dedicated physicians from several training tracks were absolutely essential to
staffing our ERs; dedicated physicians that stayed on in the ER, devoted themselves to
emergency medicine CME, experience, and training, and became competent emergency
medicine practitioners. Some entered the practice of emergency medicine when EM
residencies were limited in availability, and many were completing other residencies and
missed the closure of the practice track while honoring their commitment to residency
training.
Yes, times have changed, but the history has not.
Please consider this issue in a serious and open-minded manner. Please vote for the
resolution allowing your ACEP colleagues, this special group of Twentieth Centurions, to be
eligible for fellow status, thereby saying thank you in a most meaningful way.
It's about recognition, respect, and dedication. The Twentieth Centurions deserve it.
DR. BRUZZO practices at Alleghany Memorial Hospital's Emergency Department in Sparta,
North Carolina, and is a member of the ACEP Section of Certification Process & Implications
for Emergency Medicine. DR. GERARD practices at Good Samaritan Hospital's Emergency
Department in Lebanon, PA and DR. STAUFFER is the medical director at Bert Fish Medical
Center's Emergency Department in New Smyrna Beach, FL. Drs. Gerard and Stauffer are
newsletter co-editors for the Section of Certification Process & Implications for Emergency
Medicine.
Copyright © 2006 American College of Emergency Physicians. All rights reserved. Legal.
A Call for Support and Recognition: Fellowship and Respect
ACEP News
September 2005
By Peter J. Bruzzo, DO, W. Anthony Gerard, MD, and Arlen R. Stauffer, MD
ACEP News Contributing Writers
Since more than 6,000 emergency medicine residency-trained physicians now staffing our
country's ERs graduated in the 21st century, perhaps it is time to reflect on those ACEP
members whose careers began in another, now bygone, century. What about those
"Twentieth Centurions?
"We'd like to focus on a special group within this Twentieth Century cohort and conclude
with a special plea on their behalf. There's a resolution that will be debated at this year's
ACEP Council meeting in Washington, and it deserves serious consideration.
This group of career emergency physicians has many in its ranks who were practicing at
the very birth of emergency medicine as a specialty. Many of them served as mentors and
helped train the outstanding residency-trained, board certified emergency medicine
physicians that today staff many of this country's ERs and make ACEP the country's
premier emergency medicine professional organization. It is a group of people that are
mostly over 50 years old, or mighty close to it, and who will probably be practicing in the ER
for five to 15 more years, at most. It is a group that has the dedication to practicing that high
quality of emergency medicine that each and every ACEP member of any cohort expects of
their fellow members. It is a group that is largely indistinguishable in training and expertise
from those who entered the specialty through the ABEM practice track several years ago.
The individuals in this group are your fellow ACEP emergency physicians. They are sitting
next to you at CME conferences or chatting with you at the various vendor tables during
conference recesses. They work in many of the ERs across the nation, and serve in many
capacities within our College. Many of you have worked side-by-side in the ER trenches with
members of this special cohort.
This special group of ACEP Twentieth Centurions is an important part of ACEP's history.
They will continue to play an important part in ACEP's vision of excellence in emergency
medical care for another decade or so, until the growing ranks of EM residency-trained
physicians have reached the numbers and equity in distribution to achieve the ultimate goal
of "every doc in every ER an EM residency-trained/ABEM boarded doc."Would it not be
unreasonable to expect an organization to appreciate, recognize, and support such a group
within its ranks? We think so.
By now, most readers will have identified the group of ACEP Twentieth Centurions we are
describing -- the 2,000-plus colleagues in our College, many whom are members of ACEP's
Section on Certification Process, who initially trained in other specialties, and who will
finish out their emergency medicine careers boarded in those specialties, not by the ABEM
or the AOBEM.
Most of those within the Section on Certification understand and accept that the specialty of
emergency medicine, our specialty, must move on into the future with uniform, high quality
training of our country's future emergency physicians. Many of these section members,
including the authors of this article, would be thoroughly satisfied that, if on the day of our
retirement from EM practice, we were both boarded in the specialty of our residency, and
recognized and supported by our chosen professional College, ACEP.
It is in recognition that lies a great unfairness that many of ACEP's younger members,
including its 21st Century cohort, have not had need to even consider. This unfairness lies
in the fact that 2,000-plus members of our College are presently excluded from achieving
fellow status within the College, even after demonstrating their commitment and devotion to
excellence in emergency medicine and to their chosen College, and even after supporting
the College's vision of the future for the specialty in the 21st Century.
We are aware that, historically, many of our College's ABEM and AOBEM boarded members
equate fellow status (FACEP) with meaning EM boarded by an "ACEP recognized certifying
body." This is understandable; that's how it's been during our College's short history.
However, fellow status is, more accurately, a membership issue, not a board certification
issue. Fellow status is granted to members of ACEP who demonstrate their devotion and
dedication to the specialty and to the College through their work, their service, and their
longevity within the specialty and the College.
Granting fellow status to this group of Twentieth Centurions would honor their devotion and
dedication as members of ACEP, and as (still) needed practitioners of emergency medicine.
Therefore, it is with the greatest sincerity that we ask all of our College's members,
particularly those elected to be this year's Councillors, to consider making right this
unfairness, and to support the proposed resolution that makes it possible for this group of
ACEP Twentieth Centurions to achieve true and meaningful recognition by becoming
Fellows of our College.
Please remember, this is a closed subgroup of ACEP membership that will only dwindle in
size over the next decade. A vote of support for this resolution will only be for us, those
career emergency physicians and your fellow ACEP colleagues who entered EM practice at
a time when dedicated physicians from several training tracks were absolutely essential to
staffing our ERs; dedicated physicians that stayed on in the ER, devoted themselves to
emergency medicine CME, experience, and training, and became competent emergency
medicine practitioners. Some entered the practice of emergency medicine when EM
residencies were limited in availability, and many were completing other residencies and
missed the closure of the practice track while honoring their commitment to residency
training.
Yes, times have changed, but the history has not.
Please consider this issue in a serious and open-minded manner. Please vote for the
resolution allowing your ACEP colleagues, this special group of Twentieth Centurions, to be
eligible for fellow status, thereby saying thank you in a most meaningful way.
It's about recognition, respect, and dedication. The Twentieth Centurions deserve it.
DR. BRUZZO practices at Alleghany Memorial Hospital's Emergency Department in Sparta,
North Carolina, and is a member of the ACEP Section of Certification Process & Implications
for Emergency Medicine. DR. GERARD practices at Good Samaritan Hospital's Emergency
Department in Lebanon, PA and DR. STAUFFER is the medical director at Bert Fish Medical
Center's Emergency Department in New Smyrna Beach, FL. Drs. Gerard and Stauffer are
newsletter co-editors for the Section of Certification Process & Implications for Emergency
Medicine.
Copyright © 2006 American College of Emergency Physicians. All rights reserved. Legal.