About ACEP

Founded in 1968 by a small group of physicians who shared a commitment to improving the quality of emergency care, ACEP set out to educate and train physicians in emergency medicine to provide quality emergency care in the nation’s hospitals.

In 1979 emergency medicine was recognized as the 23rd medical specialty, a major milestone for ACEP and its members. The American Board of Emergency Medicine, the independent certifying body for the specialty, was also established and the first certification exam was given in 1980.

ACEP passed another historic milestone when criteria-based membership requirements were implemented. Starting January 1, 2000, board certification or residency training in emergency medicine became a prerequisite for active or full-voting membership.

Today, ACEP represents more than 38,000 emergency physicians, emergency medicine residents and medical students. ACEP promotes the highest quality of emergency care and is the leading advocate for emergency physicians and their patients, and the public. The College continually strives to improve the quality of emergency medical services through:

• The development of evidence-based clinical policies
• Funding emergency medicine research
• Providing public education on emergency care and disaster preparedness
• Legislative and regulatory advocacy efforts
• Providing industry-leading continuing medical education (CME) in the form of educational conferences, online training, professional references and news magazines
• Publishing Annals of Emergency Medicine, the specialty’s leading peer-reviewed scientific journal. 

Want to know more about the history of ACEP and emergency medicine?
Visit our 50th anniversary site