SAEM24 Consensus Conference on Creating a Diverse and Sustainable Emergency Medicine Investigator Pipeline - CREATING A DIVERSE AND SUSTAINABLE EMERGENCY MEDICINE INVESTIGATOR PIPELINE
Conference Type: Research Training, Infrastructure and Career Development
PROJECT SUMMARY
The importance of having physicians who share diverse characteristics with their patients, such as racial and
ethnic background, religion or gender, is rooted in several factors that contribute to the overall quality of
healthcare and patient outcomes. While it's essential to note that the quality of care is not solely determined by
the diversity of the physician, diverse representation in the healthcare workforce can have positive
impacts for several reasons, including: cultural competence, enhanced communication, increased trust and
reduced health disparities. In Emergency Medicine (EM) specifically, there is a great need to increase the
diversity of trained physicians and researchers to adequately represent the population of patients seen in
emergency departments across the nation. Particularly, the creation of a diverse and sustainable
Emergency Medicine investigator pipeline will support the advancement of health services research in
EM, building a strong network of clinician scientists who have the relevant background, training and
support to conduct high quality research representative of the diverse population of patients seen in
the emergency department (ED).
The Society for Academic Emergency Medicine (SAEM) is a professional association serving over 8,400
emergency care providers with an interest in academics. The SAEM Annual Meeting (SAEM24) is the premier
forum for original research and innovative education in academic EM. This year, the SAEM24 Consensus
Conference aims to address the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality’s (AHRQ) strong and continued
interest in achieving equity in healthcare delivery in the United States by bringing together hundreds of key
stakeholders to develop a comprehensive program aimed at creating a sustainable and diverse pipeline of
federally-funded clinician-scientists in the specialty of EM. The conference will be held May 14, 2024 in
Phoenix, Arizona at SAEM’s 35th annual meeting. The scope of the plan will include identifying and prioritizing
evidence-based strategies and tactics that specifically focus on undergraduate and medical student training,
resident and fellow training, early career faculty and mid-career faculty training. It's important to recognize that
while physician diversity is valuable, it is just one aspect of a broader strategy to improve healthcare outcomes
for all patients. Other critical factors include improving access to care, addressing systemic barriers, and
promoting cultural competence training for healthcare providers of all backgrounds. The outcomes of the
SAEM24 Consensus Conference will address these factors and create a national plan for research training,
infrastructure and career development for the future. The proceedings of the conference along with the plan
will be submitted for publication and widely disseminated through SAEM’s national communication channels,
creating the opportunity for stakeholders to take meaningful action to improve current practices.
