Women’s Committee Update

Thank you to everyone who joined us for the ACOEP Fall Scientific Assembly in the vivacious Las Vegas, Nevada! As always, the Women’s Committee was thrilled to have such a great turnout for all of our events! Our Women’s Luncheon was very well attended including by a special guest, ACOEP President Dr. Timothy Cheslock. At our luncheon we honored our 2022 Willoughby Award winner, Dr. Alexis LaPietra. The Willoughby Award is presented to women physicians by the ACOEP Women’s Committee to recognize the role they play in the profession. After completing her emergency medicine residency at St. Joseph’s Regional Medical Center in Patterson, New Jersey, Dr. LaPietra completed an EM Acute Pain Management Fellowship at St. Joseph’s. After her fellowship she has held increasingly important roles that have distinguished her as one of the leading acute pain management experts in the nation! As an attending physician at St. Joseph’s Dr. LaPietra has served as Director of the Pain Management fellowship, Director of the Addiction and Mental Health Fellowship, and is currently System Chief of Pain Management and Addiction Medicine. Dr. LaPietra has used her expertise and passion in pain management and addiction as a platform to train other physicians and the general public on proper pain management practices. She founded and chaired the ACEP Pain Management and Addiction Medicine Section and is an executive board member for the Department of Justice’s Coalition for Opioid Assessment and Response. ACOEP and the Women’s Committee is proud to have Dr. LaPietra as part of our organization; congratulations Dr. Alexis LaPietra!

We had an excellent panel discussion entitled Creating a Climate of Inclusiveness. This panel discussion was inspired by The AllEM DEI Initiative Task Force, which Dr. Carrick and a few other members of our committee are participating in. All the national EM organizations are collaborating with an overarching purpose of creating an EM Best Practice related to DEI. Our panel consisted of many prestigious individuals from around the country at various stages in their careers. Dr. Kristina Domanski, MD, serves as Core Faculty and Assistant Research Director for the EM Residency at Kirk Kerkorian School of Medicine at University of Nevada, Las Vegas. Dr. Tracy Sanson, MD, has been a director in the US Air Force and the University of South Florida, currently practices as an independent contractor and is a consultant and educator on leadership development and medical education. She was recently awarded the American College of Emergency Physicians Judith Tintinalli Award for Outstanding Contribution in Education. Dr. Jacob Altholz is a second year resident at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas. He chairs the residency program’s Diversity and Inclusion Committee and coordinates hospitalwide efforts of social justice, inclusion and compassionate care. Dr. Nathalie Hibbs is a third year chief resident in Las Vegas. She came to the United States from Columbia as a child and attended medical school at Touro University in South Nevada. She has a passion for diversifying the field of EM. Dr. Lisa Mannina, MD, served in the Air Force as a member of the tactical critical care air transport team for seven years and now works with the Mountain View EM Residency program as Simulation Director, DEI Committee Director and Assistant Research Director.

Our panelists discussed a lot of interesting points and brought up some eye-opening and thought-provoking information. During our panel discussion we explained the principles and importance of diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI). We recognized some barriers to DEI initiatives that can be experienced individually or within the ED. We came up with strategies to create a culture of inclusiveness and break through these barriers. We discussed how we can open dialogue and shift perspectives on DEI. We pointed out the types of bias that may result in microaggressions, as well as resources to learn more about your personal biases and what we can each do to advocate for DEI. It was a great discussion, and our committee members are excited to bring this information to the All-EM DEI Initiative Task Force!