American College of Emergency Physicians

American College of Emergency Physicians

Abbreviation	ACEP
Headquarters	Irving, Texas
Region	United States of America
Membership	>31,000 members
Website	www.acep.org

The American College of Emergency Physicians (ACEP) is a professional organization of emergency medicine physicians in the United States. It is headquartered in Irving, Texas and operates an office in Washington, D.C. As of 2013, ACEP has more than 31,000 physician members.

Role of the College

The college exists to support quality emergency medical care and the physicians who provide it. ACEP believes that “quality emergency care is a fundamental right and unobstructed access to emergency services should be available to all patients who perceive the need for emergency services.” Through continuing professional education, patient advocacy at all levels, public information and research, the purposes and objectives of ACEP, as stated in its bylaws, are:

1. To establish guidelines for quality emergency medical care.
2. To encourage and facilitate the postgraduate training and continuing medical education of emergency physicians.
3. To encourage and facilitate training and education in emergency medicine for all medical students.
4. To promote education in emergency care for all physicians.
5. To promote education about emergency medicine for our patients and for the general public.
6. To promote the development and coordination of quality emergency medical services and systems.
7. To encourage emergency physicians to assume leadership roles in out-of-hospital care and disaster management.
8. To evaluate the social and economic aspects of emergency medical care.
9. To promote universally available and cost effective emergency medical care.
10. To promote policy that preserves the integrity and independence of the practice of emergency medicine.
11. To encourage and support basic and clinical research in emergency medicine.
12. To encourage emergency physician representation within medical organizations and academic institutions.

Membership

Active membership in ACEP is available to physicians who have:

1. completed an ACGME-approved emergency medicine residency
2. completed an AOA-approved emergency medicine residency.
3. been certified by any other emergency medicine certifying body recognized by ACEP
4. been practicing as emergency physicians since before 2000 (a/k/a "Legacy" physicians)

Fellows use the designation FACEP ("Fellow of ACEP"). In order to earn this designation, an ACEP member must demonstrate at least three years of active involvement in emergency medicine as the physician's chief professional activity, exclusive of training, as well as multiple additional accomplishments in the areas of organizational leadership, education, research, and administration.

ACEP is not a board certification granting organization. Board certification in emergency medicine is administered in the United States by organizations such as the American Board of Emergency Medicine and the American Osteopathic Board of Emergency Medicine.

Sections of Membership

ACEP offers 32 sections of membership, which provides emergency physicians the opportunity to network with other experts in the diverse areas of emergency medicine. Members may choose one or more of ACEP's sections. They receive access to e-lists and online newsletters. Emergency medicine residents, medical students, and individuals in fellowship training programs are granted one free section membership.

History

ACEP was founded in 1968 by a group of physicians who shared a commitment to improving the quality of emergency care. The organization set out to educate and train physicians in emergency medicine to provide quality emergency care in the nation’s hospitals. In 1979, emergency medicine was officially recognized as a medical specialty, a milestone for ACEP and its members. Board certification granting organizations soon followed, and in 1980 the first certification exam was given. In 2000, ACEP changed its governing documents to make active or full-voting membership available only to residency-trained and board-certified emergency physicians, a change that remains controversial. The organization today counts approximately 31,000 of the country's approximately 63,000 practicing emergency physicians, emergency medicine residents and medical students as members. ACEP exists to promote quality emergency care and to that end provides support and services such as:

1. The development of evidence-based clinical policies
2. Funding emergency medicine research
3. Providing public education on emergency care and disaster preparedness
4. Legislative and regulatory advocacy efforts
5. Providing continuing medical education (CME) in the form of educational conferences, textbooks, internet-based training, professional references and periodicals
6. Publishing Annals of Emergency Medicine, a specialty peer-reviewed scientific journal, and the monthly ACEP News magazine.

Leadership

ACEP's Executive Director, Dean Wilkerson, oversees the daily administration of the College. The Board of Directors provides day-to-day management and direction to ACEP and serves as its policymaking body. Board members are elected by the ACEP Council and serve three-year terms, with a limit of two consecutive terms. The ACEP Board of Directors represents a wide variety of backgrounds and work experiences in emergency medicine. And with new members joining every year, there are different perspectives and personalities year in and year out. The ACEP Council consists of members representing ACEP’s 53 chartered chapters (50 states, Puerto Rico, the District of Columbia and Government Services), its 32 sections of membership, the Association of Academic Chairs in Emergency Medicine (AACEM), the Council of Emergency Medicine Residency Directors (CORD), the Society for Academic Emergency Medicine (SAEM) and the Emergency Medicine Residents' Association (EMRA). ACEP Committees provide important leadership to ACEP members, its Board and Council. Each Committee is appointed by the President to assist with activities for the year. ACEP has more than 30 committees and task forces working on issues such as ethics, emergency medicine practice, pediatric emergency care, disaster medicine and more.

Publications

ACEP Now

ACEP members receive ACEP Now, a monthly publication covering clinical issues, emergency medicine practice ideas and in-depth articles on critical issues facing emergency medicine. The publication was previously known as ACEP News.

Annals of Emergency Medicine

ACEP's official research publication, Annals of Emergency Medicine is by the Science Citation Index in the top 11 percent by citation frequency and top 11 percent by impact factor among more than 6,000 science and medical journals. Annals is the No. 1 journal among the 13 titles in the emergency medicine category of Thomson Scientific.

See also

• American College of Osteopathic Emergency Physicians
• American Academy of Emergency Medicine
• Academic Emergency Medicine
• Society for Academic Emergency Medicine

External links

• ACEP homepage