In her address to Council shortly before accepting the gavel Saturday, ACEP President Alison Haddock, MD, FACEP, offered a glimpse of her priorities for the upcoming year.
Physician autonomy, cooperation and collaboration with ACEP Chapters, as well as an unwavering commitment to adapt and innovate for the good of emergency medicine will be an emphasis.
“If we can’t find the autonomy we need within the walls of traditional emergency departments, we’ll innovate, we’ll adapt, and we’ll create new paths forward,” she said. “But we will not settle for a system that ties our hands and strips us of the power to give our patients the care they deserve.”
Dr. Haddock started her address by pointing out that there isn’t a more noble profession and no career more inspiring than emergency medicine, saying it’s the backbone of the health care safety net. However, the challenges ACEP has fought over the past few years – boarding, staffing shortages and shutting down hospitals in critical areas – are still with the specialty and weighing heavily on those who provide care in the ED.
“We still save lives,” she said. “We still heal. But increasingly, what we need most to fulfill our calling is taken from us - our autonomy.”
However, there’s good news, she said.
Dr. Haddock told the crowd of 400-plus ACEP Councilors that ACEP is standing with them, fighting for greater transparency and a better workplace. Her wish for the next calendar year is for every action ACEP takes be viewed through the lens of physician autonomy. She will work with Chapters and health care leaders to give back control – both in their careers and in patient care - to emergency physicians.
She pointed out that recent data revealed that women physicians are leaving emergency medicine at an average age of 43.
“Forty-three,” she exclaimed. “Shouldn’t this ring alarm bells? This should be the height of their careers, but instead, they’re walking away - not because they lack talent, but because they lack autonomy. They can’t control their schedules. They can’t find work-life balance. They feel they’re sacrificing their families for their jobs. No physician, male or female, should have to choose between caring for others and caring for their own.”
That received a loud ovation from Councillors.
Before the instillation of the President was completed by giving Aisha T. Terry, MD, MPH, FACEP a hug and a Past President jacket, Dr. Haddock offered a commitment to amplifying the voice of young physicians and recognized the value of the partnership between EMRA and ACEP. She spent several minutes speaking about the crucial role Chapters play in a better day ahead – she called ACEP-Chapter collaboration a force to be reckoned with and a cornerstone of ACEP’s blueprint moving forward under her watch. The better day includes comprehensive sick leave, improved scheduling and compensation, physician engagement at all levels and improved accessibility of mental health support.
“It’s aspirational, but possible,” she said.
Dr. Haddock currently serves as regional dean for the Everett campus of the Washington State University Elson S. Floyd College of Medicine. She is past chair of ACEP Board of Directors, past chair of the ACEP State Legislative Committee and a past board member for the Emergency Medicine Residents Association and Texas College of Emergency Physicians. She attended medical school at Weill Medical College of Cornell University and completed her emergency medicine residency at the University of Michigan.
