S A E M
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Newsletter of the Society for Academic Emergency Medicine September/October 2004 Volume XVI, Number 5
PRESIDENT’S MESSAGE
AEM goes to on-line submissions!
As you read this, most of you will have recently taken some time off for a summer vacation. Those with children will be gearing up for another school year. We’ve said our goodbyes to a group of graduates, and welcomed their successors. New faculty have been oriented. Overall, there seem to be fewer deadlines looming over us during the summer months. Summer marks the renewal of the acaCarey Chisholm, MD demic calendar, and a chance for reflection and future goal setting. During my vacation I treated myself to reading the Pulitzer prize winning biography, John Adams by David McCullough. A fascinating book, if for no other reason to reinforce in this election year that politics can and have been much nastier in spirit and practice than they are now. I couldn’t help but to think about the qualities of leadership of the people involved in the establishment of our country and its system of governance. I reflected on the governance of the SAEM Board of Directors (BOD) over the time I’ve had the opportunity to serve in that capacity. Each year the quality and style of the BOD has changed, reflective of the individuals’ expertise, experiences, and interests. I have been impressed that the BOD has always attempted to serve the mission statement of the organization as its top priority. The style is a microcosm of governance practiced on grander scales. This involves four distinct components: stewardship, leadership, the “crisis” of opportunity and the crisis of disaster management. Most of the BOD activity appropriately is stewardship. I say “appropriately” because SAEM has become an established entity with a clear mission and purpose. In a stewardship capacity, the BOD decisions will reflect a tendency to the status quo. Although cognizant that the organization must continue to evolve in order to meet the demands of an ever-changing world, decisions tend to be conservative, debate is often brief, and a strong indication of favorable return on investment or risk-benefit ratio mandated. Consensus is easily obtained, and votes are often unanimous. Decisions are widely accepted by the membership, with fewer than 20% thinking the course to be in error. Stability reigns. An overall sense of comfort predominates. The danger of the stewardship role is the potential for complacency, low goal setting, underachievement, and lost opportunity. I have also observed the BOD in the “leadership” role. This includes visionary thinking, risk, and greater potential for failure. Debate is often lengthy, consensus may be slow in developing, and votes can be split nearly evenly for and
The Editorial Board of AEM is pleased to announce that online submission is now available for Academic Emergency Medicine via the Elsevier Editorial System (EES). The easiest way to access the system is from the front page of the SAEM web site at www.saem.org or directly at http://ees.elsevier.com/ acaeme/default.asp. EES is a tool that enables Authors to submit articles on-line, reviewers to referee on-line and editors to manage the peerreview process via an on-line submission and editorial system. EES is an Internet-based tool that can be accessed from anywhere in the world and works on multiple platforms. Available 24/7, the on-line submission system uploads files directly from your personal computer, and allows you to track the progress of your paper through the peer-review process. On-line submission and peer-review speeds up the whole publication process. All authors and reviewers are now required to submit their manuscripts and reviews on-line. On-line Submission: A Guide for Authors is available at: www.elsevier.com/locate/ees authorsguide. Reviewers should go to: www.elsevier.com/locate/ eesreviewersguide to view Elsevier Editorial System: A Guide for Reviewers. We welcome your feedback on the on-line submission site and value your continuing contributions to Academic Emergency Medicine as an author and as a reviewer.
SAEM Research Fund Katherine Heilpern, MD Emory University SAEM Secretary/Treasurer The purpose of the SAEM Research Fund is to provide training grants and other funding opportunities for SAEM members, emergency medicine residents and medical students. The Fund continues to perform well. The account value on June 30, 2004 was $3,155,382.00, representing a gain of 0.3% for the second quarter 2004 and a gain of 5.5% for the first six months of 2004. By comparison, the S and P 500 Index reported a gain of 3.4% for the first six months of 2004.
CPC Finals Competition The six semi-finalist presenters and discussants will compete in the CPC Finals Competition during the ACEP Scientific Assembly in San Francisco on October 18 at 1:00-5:30 pm. Registration is not required. All are welcome. The CPC is sponsored by ACEP, CORD, EMRA and SAEM.
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“to improve patient care by advancing research and education in emergency medicine”