Message From the Chair

Dear RSI Section members,

I am very happy to write to all of you as this will be my last message as your Section chair. I want to extend my heartful thanks to all of you in supporting my nomination and choosing me for this post. It has truly been a very exciting journey. We had a change of name at the beginning of my term to reflect on the true nature of our Section, going from Research Section to Research, Scholarly Activity, and Innovation (RSI) Section. Over the last few years, I have met a lot of you in person -- and virtually on our phone meetings -- and I have learned one thing about this Section – that members are very resilient. Particularly, 2020 has been a unique year as we have been battling with the COVID-19 pandemic since the beginning of this year.

Numerous members of this section have directly contributed in the science behind COVID-19 care, and I am thrilled and excited to see the amount of research and grants that are contributed by the members of this section through various funding mechanisms, notably the Emergency Medicine Foundation (EMF), Society for Academic Emergency Medicine Foundation (SAEMF), as well as the National Institutes of Health (NIH). Emergency Physicians had perhaps the narrowest knowledge-to-translation window during the pandemic, which was further complicated by the political controversies, which at times made our practice harder, but I want to applaud each and every one of you to continue academically, scientifically, and clinically in the emergency care of this world.

COVID-19 has taken a huge toll on physicians in various aspects - from child care, to elderly care, and to personal care. Everything has been super challenging and required a lot of juggling. Being an essential worker, and I want to say super essential worker, we never had an option to work from home for a day, and at the same time we battled our fights regarding compensation and bonuses. There was a decline in the number of patients in the emergency department across the country overall, however the acuity of the patients was higher. There is a component of readiness and willingness to face death, which was honored with the name of heroes, but is not exactly honored in terms of remuneration or rewards in many parts of the country. Despite all of these roadblocks, and obviously a politically strained election year, preceded by the civil rights outcries … this year will go down as one of the most difficult years of our generation – physically, emotionally, and financially. Though there are still 210,000 deaths from COVID-19, I would like to turn your attention to many patients we have saved and served. The lives lost to COVID, and people lost in service, during this time will never be forgotten, and their loss will push us to be even more scientific and drive clinical excellence.  I want to pause and reflect on those lives who are no longer with us.

Besides the panoramic view of our challenges and achievements, I want to narrow your window towards the RSI Section itself and reflect on what we have achieved in the last two years. In the last two years, we have successfully convened many times and raised and addressed important issues surrounding scholarly activity, followed by negotiations in an academic career. Under the leadership of Dr. James Paxton, the RSI Section was able to secure a section grant to develop a research primer for residents.  The manuscript was written regarding scholarly activity patterns and is under the process of finding a home for publication. Even though our upcoming Section meeting will be virtual, as the whole scientific assembly is virtual, I expect to witness a similar enthusiasm, as has always been true for this group.

I hope this Section, which is particularly enriched with distinguished, academic, and scientific skill in understanding science, methodology, and application, will continue to work for the advancement of future generations in terms of scholarship, and will continue their work in understanding the diversity and responding to unprecedented times. Again, I would like to thank each and every Section member for supporting my endeavors, and particularly the ACEP staff who continuously supported all operations and guided me in the right direction. I look forward to seeing you all in person soon.

Though my term will end this month, I look forward to collaborating with many of you in the future and want to thank already-established collaborators for their hard work and understanding.

Stay safe and stay well.

Warmest regards,

Nidhi Garg, MD, FACEP
ACEP RSI Section Chair 2018-2020
Director Emergency Medicine Research,
Southside Hospital/Northwell Health
Assistant Professor, Donald and Barbara Zucker School of Medicine at Hofstra/ Northwell