How to Teach in the Midst of the Crazy

Image Credit: Common Sense

Author: Molly Estes, MD FAAEM
YPS Board of Directors
Originally published: Common Sense January/February 2019

We’ve all seen our waiting rooms on an “average day.” And we’ve all read the studies about annual census numbers. And we all dread every approaching flu season with increasing levels of anxiety as we try to imagine seeing even more patients with no beds or room to speak of. And in the middle of the administration meetings about flow, setting up tents and triage units in parking lots and hallways, and trying to prevent patients from dying in the waiting room, those of us who work at academic institutions are also expected to impart our hard-fought knowledge onto the next generation. Now how in the world is that possible?

Building Resilience Through Food

Image Source: Pexels

Author: Madhu Hardasmalani, MD FAAEM
AAEM Physician Wellness and Burnout Prevention Committee
Originally Published: Common Sense November/December 2017

Resilience is the ability to bounce back from an adverse life situation. Some individuals are born with this trait and we are all envious. However, the majority of us need a little help. Even those individuals with the inborn resilience trait, need help maintaining it.

Now having and maintaining this trait is not very simple — there is no magic “resilience pill.” The key is lifestyle changes, which may initially be a bit daunting, but can better equip us to meet life’s challenges head on without breaking down.

The Wonder Women of WiEM: Why Do Female Superheroes Still Need Support Organizations?

Image Credit: Common Sense

Author: Ashely Alker, MD MSc
AAEM/RSA 2017-2018 President

Whether it is Women in EM (WiEM), AWAEM, FeminEM or Shemergency, women in emergency medicine are uniting to advance shared goals, including equal pay and access to leadership opportunities. This comes at a time when women across many disciplines, from Hollywood actors to D.C. politicians, are standing up against inequality.

Women have been undervalued since before they entered the workplace. A Washington Post article determined that the value of a homemaker’s labor is equivalent to an annual salary of $96,261.[1] This is not an inconsequential sum, as the United States Census Bureau quotes the median household income as $55,322.[2] Meanwhile, a woman with an advanced degree earns $65,000, which is $30,000 less than the median income of a man with the same degree.[3]

Tattered Tarp or New Roof: Who Gets Included in Disaster Recovery?

Image Credit: Heather Star Krause, MD MPH(c)

Author: Heather Star Krause, MD MPH(c), 2019 EM Residency Candidate
AAEM Diversity and Inclusion Committee
Originally Published: Common Sense November/December 2018

In the bend of the south Texas coast, a community comes together to reflect on a year gone by since
many lost everything. We danced in the streets, honored one another’s hardships and congratulated each other’s resilience, and I reflect on my own experience.

The last move my husband and I made before evacuating with our toddler and seven-month-old was to throw an anchor from our sailboat, sitting on its trailer, in the front yard, a hundred feet from the water’s edge. “Maybe that will keep her from surfing into the neighbor’s second story living room,” my husband half-heartedly joked as he climbed into our small RV, wet from the first bands of the storm blowing ashore. At 5:30am, we left our home, driving in 20-minute shifts, exhausted from a day and a night of increasingly frantic preparation. Less than 12 hours later, the eye-wall of Hurricane Harvey made landfall directly on our small hometown of Rockport, Texas.

Blog Staff, Reviewers, & Mentors

Thank you to our 2019-2020 peer review & editorial team!

AAEM/RSA Leadership:

Haig Aintablian, MD
AAEM/RSA President
UCLA Medical Center

Crystal Bae, MD MSc
AAEM/RSA Vice President
Temple University

Joshua Elliott Novy, MD MBA MS
AAEM/RSA Secretary-Treasurer
Northwell Health

MohammedMoiz Qureshi, MD
AAEM/RSA Immediate Past President
Penn State

AAEM/RSA Blog Leadership:

Alex Gregory, MD
Blog Editor-in-Chief
Social Media Committee Chair
University of Massachusetts

Kasha Bornstein
Copy Editor
University of Miami

Adriana Coleska, MD
RSA Board Liaison to the Social Media Committee
University of Chicago

Cassidy Davis
Communications Manager, AAEM

Yeimidy Lagunas
Communications Manager, AAEM

Publications Mentors:

Attending physicians or fellows who have agreed to help authors and reviewers learn about and navigate the publications process. Interested attendings/fellows can contact info@aaemrsa.org.

Michael Epter, MD
Laleh Gharahbaghian, MD
Nikita Joshi, MD
Arayel Osborne, MD
Andrew Phillips, MD MEd
Loice Swisher, MD

Peer Reviewers:

Mary Blaha, DO
Kasha Bornstein
Jonathon R. Burns
Adriana Coleska, MD
David F. Fine
Alexandria Gregory, MD
Kaitlin Parks, DO
Taylor A. Petrusevski
Christina Schramm
Ivan Yue