Elizabeth DeVos, MD, FACEP

For Elizabeth DeVos, MD, FACEP, one of the most rewarding parts of volunteering her time as Chair for the International Emergency Medicine Committee is getting to know emergency medicine leaders worldwide.

“I’ve had the opportunity to meet emergency medicine practitioners, fellows, residents and faculty from all over the world. I think that access is what many of our trainees and fellows and other international EM physicians really enjoy about our work,” she said.

The International Ambassador Program designates specific ACEP members as Ambassadors to other countries and by sharing lessons learned among all participants, hope to share the mission of promoting the specialty of EM worldwide.

“Volunteering with ACEP has given me the opportunity to network and build career development. I think having a national reputation is something that has also been really important to my institution,” she said. “Building those opportunities for lifelong friendships and also career advancement is really a benefit.”

Through the Committee’s work, Dr. DeVos has seen substantial fruit.

“One of the things that’s been most rewarding for me is that we have seen such an increase in support from the ACEP Board and from ACEP as a whole for programs that allow us to work together with our colleagues to increase access to emergency care worldwide,” she said.

Dr. DeVos’ years of volunteering enriched her life and can provide an outlet when the clinical side become overwhelming.

“I say to people all the time that the different things that I do in my career that are also volunteer work outside of the day-to-day clinical job are the things that give me fulfillment and keep me from getting burned out,” she said. “I have a lot of different things going on and I think that allows me to be a better, more rounded person.”

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