NEWSLETTER
Newsletter of the Society for Academic Emergency Medicine
PRESIDENT’S MESSAGE Scholarship As Professor and Chair of an academic department of emergency medicine I am often asked to write letters of recommendation for promotion and tenure (P&T) for faculty members at other institutions. In the same light, the majority of my own faculty are on the clinician-educator track and I provide advice, mentoring, letters of support and assistance with documentation for P&T. Marcus Martin, MD In this issue of the newsletter, what constitutes scholarly activity for P&T are discussed. The portfolio containing documentation of scholarly activity is an extremely important piece of the P&T process. What constitutes scholarly activity varies from institution to institution, but many institutions have adopted some variation of the Boyer/Glassick model of scholarship. Much of the information to follow is referenced from the University of Virginia P&T guidelines, from publications by Boyer, Glassick and the AAMC Council of Academic Societies (CAS) Monograph on Refining Scholarship in Contemporary Academic Medicine, which was published in the September 2000 issue of Academic Medicine. For the 2001 SAEM meeting held in Atlanta, I was a panel member that discussed “Promotion in the Clinician-Educator Track in Emergency Medicine.” I spoke on scholarly activity, “what type, and how defined.” Comments from the outline that I prepared for that session are also contained in this Newsletter. For several centuries American universities have tried to define scholarship and scholarly activity. Meanwhile, European countries for many years have focused on research as the primary emphasis for scholarly activity. Over the past century the stated mission of many American institutions of higher learning has been to “provide teaching, research and service.” While the intent for these three areas was considered to be of equal importance, parity has never really been reached. The dominant view for many years has been to be a scholar is to be a researcher. In the history of American higher education there have been three distinct yet overlapping phases. During the early years, (early 1600’s) schools such as Harvard College was founded and expected to educate students emphasizing teaching. Teaching was considered an act of dedication and was honored as scholarly activity. Emphasis on teaching and learning as scholarly activity extended well into the 19th century. As the focus in the mid 1800’s began to shift to technology and the service aspects of building a nation, the land grant agricultural and technical colleges led higher education institutions as exemplary providers of scholarship through ser-
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July-August 2001 Volume XIII, Number 4
Call for Expert Reviewers for Annual Meeting Abstracts The SAEM Program Committee is currently accepting nominations for individuals to serve as expert reviewers for scientific abstracts submitted to the Annual Meeting. Individuals wishing to nominate themselves should submit an abbreviated CV that includes current academic position and area(s) of expertise (see list below). For each area of expertise the nominee should provide a list of peer-reviewed original research publications, review articles, textbook chapters, and prior scientific abstract presentations. Priority will be given to individuals with demonstrated expertise based upon demonstrated research productivity. Nominations must be submitted to saem@saem.org by October 1, 2001, including an abbreviated CV and area(s) of expertise from the list below. Due to the expected response the Program Committee cannot review full curriculum vitae of nominees. Areas of Expertise: Abdominal/GI/GU, Administration/HCP, Airway/Analgesia, CPR, Cardiovascular (non-CPR), Clinical Decision Guidelines, Computer Technologies, Diagnostic Technologies/Radiology, Disease and Injury Prevention, Education/Professional Development, EMS/Out-of-Hospital, Ethics, Geriatrics, Infectious Disease, Ischemia/Reperfusion, Neurology, OB/Gyn, Pediatrics, Psychiatry/Social Issues, Research Design/Methodology/Statistics, Respiratory/ ENT, Shock/Critical Care, Toxicology/Environmental Injury, Trauma, and Wounds/Burns/Orthopedics
AEM Call for Papers The Council of Emergency Medicine Residency Directors (CORD) is sponsoring a Consensus Conference to present and discuss “best practice” models in emergency medicine residency education. The conference will be held March 2-4, 2002 in Washington, DC. This conference will highlight models to incorporate the six new ACGME core competencies into educational programs, and will also explore “best practices” in other areas of the emergency medicine curriculum. In addition, topics related to evaluation and assessment of the effectiveness of educational curricula will be discussed. Manuscripts relevant to these topics are being solicited for consideration of publication in Academic Emergency Medicine. The deadline for receipt of manuscripts is December 15, 2001 and electronic submission is preferred. Instructions for authors appear on the website at www.saem.org/inform/ journal.htm. Be sure to specify that the manuscript is for the Best Practices issue.