News from the Chair

I want to welcome all new and renewed members to our Rural Section and want to thank Dr. Ken Gramyk for his commitment to our rural practice and the care of our patients. Under his leadership the past 2 years our section has become one of the fastest growing sections within ACEP, and interest in our activities has grown.  I believe we represent the most diverse group of clinicians and the ACEP Rural Section wants to support everyone’s practice, no matter where your emergency department is or what volume of patients you see.

The ACEP Rural Task Force (RTF) recently completed its work and has sent a summary statement to the ACEP Board of Directors, where it was very well received. Residency training and board certification in emergency medicine is the ideal for working in emergency departments, but the reality of our workforce is that we are not adequately reaching lower volume ED’s.  Among the conclusions of the RTF are several recommendations designed to help all of us work together to improve the care of emergency patients beyond urban and suburban America. Know that this section will always put quality patient care first, and if there is a barrier to you being able to provide that care, we want to help find the solution.

Over the next 2 years of my term as chair of our Rural Section, we will look to implement recommendations of the RTF, collaborate with all colleagues in EM regardless of a particular medical license or certification, and grow membership in sheer numbers and engagement. Additionally, it will serve all of us if we have a common vision with our specialty organizations: ACEP, AAEM, AAFP, SEMPA, AAENP, AANP, and others. We want to collaborate with all societies as we look to develop guidelines for improving rural emergency care. We will also collaborate with other ACEP sections, such as ACEP’s telemedicine section, to help us reach our goal of enhanced patient care.

We want to hear from everyone. Please encourage other EM physicians, PA’s, and NP’s to join our section, and invite rural hospital administrators to join our section discussions so we can represent a broader range of rural emergency medicine and be more effective in reaching our goals. Please feel free to contact me if you have questions or suggestions. 

Steve Jameson, MD, FACEP

sjamo1212@gmail.com