International Ambassadorship Program
1. What is an ACEP Ambassador?
An Ambassador for ACEP is a qualified ACEP member who serves as a contact person for members and physicians in foreign countries. The Ambassador is appointed by and serves at the pleasure of ACEP’s president. The Ambassador represents the College, assists physicians in a foreign country develop their own emergency medicine specialty or society, and/or helps propagate the specialty within that country or society. The society might be an emergency medicine society, a non-emergency medicine society wishing to advance emergency medicine, a certifying body for the specialty, or an academic group in a country without a society.
2. What are the responsibilities of an Ambassador?
The Ambassador not only represents the College’s position with respect to affairs of the host country or of that particular emergency medicine society, but also is an advocate of that society/country within the College. The Ambassador seeks to promote the evolution of emergency medicine by working closely with the host country’s emergency medicine society, or group of representatives that represent a facet of emergency medicine, such as an EMS program or group of physicians delivering emergency care that is considered integral to the formation of emergency medicine.
The Ambassador will provide alerts to ACEP’s International Relations Manager about important conferences/events (such as EM specialty recognition, Fellowship opportunities, natural disasters, etc.) taking place within their assigned country.
The Ambassador will respond to requests for information from US-based EM physicians or residents who wish to become involved in their assigned country within a reasonable time frame.
The Ambassador will maintain current contact lists for EM leaders in their assigned country.
The Ambassador will update ACEP’s Observership and Rotations Web site to ensure that it reflects complete and accurate information for Rotation opportunities available in their assigned country.
The Ambassador will, on request, represent the College in an official capacity at the host countries society meetings, disseminating information about ACEP, offering lectures, and providing a public relations link between the host country’s emergency medicine group and ACEP. The Ambassador will also disseminate information to the host country on behalf of ACEP.
The Ambassador might also be invited to meet with officials (such as health ministers) of the host country, in order to support the development of emergency medicine with further intervention if needed. However, the Ambassador will work as a facilitator only, avoiding direct influence of any political process of the host country, unless approval from the ACEP Board of Directors allows.
The Ambassador, if he or she chooses, will participate in teaching activities that will enhance emergency medicine in their assigned country, by way of direct teaching, or assisting in the organization of conferences targeted toward the promotion of emergency medicine in that country.
Various Ambassadors to a country or for a region (such as Latin America) are encouraged to collaborate on regional projects to further enhance the specialty in a given region. Ambassadors may also collaborate with various other private or academic groups who work to further emergency care in a country or region. It is hoped that the Ambassador will remain abreast of EM activity in that society, country or region and report accordingly.
With regard to decision making capacities on behalf of ACEP, the Ambassador can only make such decisions with the prior approval of the Section on International Emergency Medicine Steering Committee (ISSC) and the President. Any opinions or actions expressed outside of the approval of ACEP are the sole responsibility of the Ambassador. Any opinions or actions expressed without the approval of ACEP, or outside of the policies of the College and the ISSC will be considered reason for removal of the Ambassador.
3. Submission of annual country reports
The Lead Ambassador, or their designee, will be responsible for preparing/coordinating an annual country report to be submitted electronically utilizing ACEP’s approved Web based template within specified time frames. The reports will be posted on the Section on International Emergency Medicine (Section) website. Ambassadors should have quarterly contact with the host society/country. The Ambassador will when possible help arrange accommodations and welcome delegates from the host country to the United States when such delegates attend important ACEP functions. Hospitality on the part of the Ambassador is greatly encouraged.
4. Is this a funded position?
This is not a funded position. Being an international Ambassador is purely voluntary. Some form of travel expense related reimbursement from ACEP could occur if the Ambassador is asked to travel on behalf of ACEP. This would be rare and would require prior approval by ACEP’s Executive Director or President.
5. What are the qualifications of an Ambassador?
The Ambassador should be an attending physician board certified or board eligible to practice emergency medicine in the United States, and have a strong interest to serve as Ambassador. Ambassadors must maintain active ACEP and Section memberships. It is desirable for the lead Ambassador to speak the country’s primary language. The ideal Ambassador would have an appreciation of the culture of the host country, in order to be as efficacious as possible. An Ambassador should not represent more than three countries or societies, one of which may be in the capacity of Lead Ambassador.
Appointment decisions will be based on the following:
- ACEP and International Section membership status
- Current Curriculum Vitae (CV)
- History/involvement (past work/experience)
- Recent activities (on the ground) in the country of interest (within the past two years)
- Existing/established relationships/contacts
- Ties to developing emergency medicine
- Fluency/familiarity with primary language
- Disclosure statement to include disclosures for all organization/company affiliations with ties to or operating within the country/region of interest as well as family political ties
In cases where a resident in emergency medicine desires to serve, the resident may be appointed as a representative for ACEP, working under the auspices of the Ambassador Program Committee member assigned oversight responsibility for the country/region. This situation could occur, for instance, in cases where the resident is familiar with the country, culture, and language.
6. What would be the term of an Ambassador?
All Ambassador Appointments will be reviewed by the ISSC bi-annually in conjunction with Scientific Assembly. Following a preliminary review and upon recommendation by the Ambassador Program Committee, Ambassadors may be reappointed following a formal recommendation by the ISSC and approval by ACEP’s President. In most cases, terms will be limited to two (2) years. However, more than two (2) terms may be approved by the President if there is not another qualified applicant interested in the position. The position may also be retracted by the President according to the same review and recommendation guidelines.
7. How many Ambassadors may exist for a given country?
In cases of large countries, countries with large memberships, countries with multiple societies, or countries with complex ethnographic make ups, more than one Ambassador may be appointed. This is dependent upon the preference of the country, and the recommendation of the ISSC and the decision of ACEP’s President. However, only one lead Ambassador will exist for a particular country, whereupon if deemed appropriate, additional ACEP members might be designated as “Deputy Ambassador” at the recommendation of the ISSC and approved by the President. Deputy Ambassadors will collaborate with the Ambassador with regard to policies and activities, since the Ambassador is accountable to the President of ACEP, and is the lead representative for the College, activities, and the President.
8. Which host EM society will the Ambassador represent?
The Ambassador will first represent the country’s International Federation for Emergency Medicine (IFEM) society. If the country does not have a society that is a member of IFEM, the Ambassador will then represent the principal society or group, as identified by the ISSC. In some countries, multiple societies exist that may compete with one other. Ambassadors may find it necessary to represent multiple entities, but only in cases where such societies are not mutually antagonistic towards each other, since such circumstances could jeopardize ACEP’s standing in that particular country. Further, no society that is antagonistic towards the ideals of ACEP will have an ACEP Ambassador. Societies open to other emergency medicine societies outside of ACEP may be represented upon approval of the ISSC, and the ACEP President.
9. Application Process
Applications undergo a three-tier review process as follows:
Tier 1 – Initial review by the international section Ambassador Program Committee.
Tier 2 – Ambassador Program Committee recommendations will be reviewed by the ISSC.
Tier 3 – The ISSC will submit a formal recommendation to ACEP’s President for final approval.