02/16/2017

February President's Message

A few reminders before the real message of this month:

1. Although we’re only a few weeks away, it’s still not too late to register for National ACEP’s Leadership and Advocacy Conference in Washington, D.C. on March 12-15.
2. For those of you who work with medical students, please tell them about our Midwest Medical Student Symposium, April 1st in Toledo, OH. It’s an invaluable day for rising fourth year medical students considering entering EM as there will be a residency fair, Q&A panel discussion with program directors, and lectures on rocking your EM rotation and interviews.
3. Finally, don’t forget to register for the Ohio ACEP Emergency Medicine Forum and Annual Meeting May 2 and 3 in Columbus, OH. We’re very excited about the program that’s coming together. Stay tuned for more in next month’s eNews.

And now to my real message…

Last week the ACGME’s decision to remove the accreditation for the Summa EM program effective July 1 sent shockwaves through emergency medicine, both in Ohio and around the country. Some saw it coming, many did not. Although an appeal is actively in the works, too many are already thinking ahead to what might become of the twenty current EM-1 and EM-2 residents at Summa (current EM-3 residents will graduate as planned with accreditation). If the decision is upheld on appeal, these residents will find themselves without a program. Many programs in Ohio and around the country have already stated they will take residents that need a new training program.

Since the decision last week, I am reminded of President Shepherd’s soliloquy at the end of The American President: “…I was so busy keeping my job I forgot to do my job.” The details of the ACGME report will not be publicly known, but for them to completely withdraw accreditation instead of placing the program on probation the ACGME must have concluded the training environment created by the hospital was not acceptable. 

After communicating with several Summa residents last week, I wanted to scream and cry at the same time. As an assistant residency director, I just can’t comprehend how it must feel to see a resident go through this. Should it come to pass that they need to find new programs, we will assist with that however we can. 

Last month I ended with a quote about hope. Despite my best mental efforts, sadly this month I cannot be so optimistic because of the reality of the situation.

They say you got to choose your side and when it’s done,
Nobody right, nobody wrong.
It ended in a great big fight and when it’s done,
Nobody right, nobody wrong.

-Michael Franti, “Nobody Right, Nobody Wrong”

I’m personally well past the point of assigning blame. It’s not for me to judge anyway as I’ll never know what really happened. Regardless of what the future holds, our only focus should be to support the residents at Summa however we can.

Michael

Michael J. McCrea, MD, FACEP
President, Ohio ACEP
mmccrea@ohacep.org
@MJMcCreaMD