Hello from Gainesville! While it remains hot in the Swamp, the return of college football has signaled the beginning of fall. Gainesville has reawakened with a sea of orange and blue tailgates, as many are ready to get back to a post-COVID normalcy. With fall festivities in full swing, our residents have kept busy.

The most recent wave of new COVID cases has led to an explosion of both volume and acuity within our ED. We welcomed 14 new interns this July, and they’ve hit the ground running. Our entire team came together to create new care spaces and improve flow and quality within the department. Despite the many unknowns during this pandemic, one thing has always remained true: residents rise to the occasion.

We’ve had a great start to the new academic year with core faculty lectures, interesting case presentations, evidence-based medicine discussions and M&M. This included our annual Fellowship Day with presentations from UF’s various programs: neurological critical care, critical care, administration, sports medicine, EMS, simulation and ultrasound. Pediatrics will be added to this list as we are excited to host our first PEM fellows as early as July 2022. Additionally, residents engaged in an Emergency Neurological Life Support course to help improve their skills with some of the department’s most critically ill patients.

To maintain proper balance, we’ve kept wellness on the schedule. Residents recently enjoyed a day at the beach, and we’ve been giving plenty of business to our local breweries after conference. These events, along with great support from our faculty, have helped keep morale up despite this COVID wave. And although there is still a lot of uncertainty with what fall will bring, we remain optimistic that there are better days ahead. ■