ACEP22 Meeting Minutes

American College of Emergency Physicians
Section of Medical Humanities

October 7, 2022
Via Zoom

MINUTES

Participating in all or part of the meeting were: Diane Birnbaumer, MD, FACEP; Seth C. Hawkins, MD, FACEP; Arthur Derse, MD, JD, FACEP; Rachel Kowalsky, MD; Elizabeth Mitchell, MD

Others participating: Tracy Napper, ACEP staff liaison.

Agenda
I. Call to Order Dr. Hawkins

II. Current Activities

A. Newsletter Update Dr. Paganussi
B. Writing Awards for 2022 Dr. Hawkins
C. Council Update Dr. Kowalsky
D. Allow Non-ACEP Members to Join Section?
E. Continue Med Hums Monday?
F. Course Proposals for ACEP23 reminder

III. Adjourn

Major Points Discussed

1. The meeting was called to order by section chair Seth C. Hawkins, MD, FACEP. He welcomed everyone and thanked them for joining the call.

2. Current Activities

A. Ms. Napper gave an update on the newsletter. The next newsletter will be compiled after ACEP22 and will contain the writing award winners, the minutes and letters from the chair and editor. Anyone with pieces to submit for the newsletter can send them to Dr. Paganussi at peterpags@aol.com.

B. Ms. Napper announced that the 2022 Writing Award, prose division, went to Rachel Kowalsky, MD, for “The Pianist.” The 2022 Writing Award, poetry division, was awarded to Elizbeth Mitchell, MD, for “And Breathe.”

There were no submissions for the Visual Arts Award this year. The section will try to advertise the contest more via Twitter next year. Members are reminded of the section’s Twitter handle, @acep_mhs, and to tag #acepmedhum #medtwitter, #medhumisclinical in tweets. Dr. Mitchell and Dr. Kowalsky will assist Dr. Hawkins with the Twitter account while Ms. Napper will continue to maintain the Facebook page.

C. Dr. Kowalsky reported on the proceedings of the ACEP Council meeting at ACEP22. She discussed several of the resolutions and their outcomes. Members reiterated that “words matter” and our members are encouraged to give feedback on language issues. Ms. Napper explained ACEP’s new “member interest groups (MIGs).” Some sections are being flipped to this model due to low membership numbers or unclear purpose of the section. Our section members want to maintain sectionhood, especially to retain a seat on the ACEP Council.

D. The members discussed whether non-ACEP members should be allowed to join the section. According to the section manual, this is up to the discretion of individual sections. Ms. Napper will send a survey to section members to vote on this issue.

E. The section has held several “MedHum Monday” sessions via Zoom. These informal discussions have yielded useful dialogue, so we will continue to have them. The next one is scheduled for Monday, November 7 at 2pm PT/3 pm MT/4 pm CT/5 pm ET.

F. Ms. Napper reminded members of the November 11 deadline for course proposals for ACEP23.

The meeting was adjourned.