FCEP MSC 2023 Update

Committee: Medical Student Council

Author: Rachel Shi, BA, MPH, MS-III University of Central Florida College of Medicine

The FCEP Medical Student Council transitioned leadership in September and would like to congratulate the new 2023-2024 Council: Kelsey Clabby (MS-II, University of Central Florida College of Medicine) as Chair; Alexnys Fernandez (MS-III, Nova Southeastern University) as Secretary-Editor; Bailey Brown (MS-III, Nova Southeastern University) as Advocacy Chair, and Cristina Sanchez (MS-III, Florida State University) as the Immediate-Past Chair. The MSC, led by Faculty Advisor, Dr. Robyn Hoelle, strives to provide educational, mentoring, and collaborative opportunities for medical students interested in emergency medicine. In addition to regularly meeting with leaders of Emergency Medicine Interest Groups (EMIGs) from medical schools in the Southeast US to share ideas about what EM-interested medical students have been working on, the FCEP MSC is excited to provide updates on several events and experiences that were organized this year to engage medical students and promote a career in EM. 

From May to September, Dr. Hoelle and the 2022-2023 MSC (past Chair, Cristina Sanchez; past Secretary-Editor, Rachel Shi, MS-III, University of Central Florida; past Advocacy Chair, Kailey Jacobson, OMS-III, Nova Southeastern University) organized a virtual mentoring series, Matching EM: Strategies for Success, led by Dr. Hoelle. Some topics covered included building an EM application, tips on crushing the virtual interview, and so much more. The first talk was titled “2023 Current State of EM and How it Affects You as an EM-Interested Medical Student.” One of the students who attended, Ria Peralta, OMS3 at NSU Tampa Bay, eloquently shared her thoughts about the talk:

“As unprecedented as the unmatched numbers in Emergency Medicine were the past couple years, it was reassuring to learn that they are not exclusively unprecedented among the general medical community. While going through the history of Emergency Medicine and its relationship between supply and demand, Dr. Hoelle revealed that another medical specialty had gone through a similar course–anesthesiology. Despite the current state of Emergency Medicine, Dr. Hoelle made it clear that the essence of the field is still intact. Emergency Medicine physicians are still the knowledgeable, compassionate and considerate attendings to residents; and still the meticulous, caring, and diligent healthcare providers to patients. Those that make up this field are just as adaptable as the field itself calls for–this is not the call for restoration, but the beginning of a remarkable transformation that will require the collective efforts of the past, present, and future of Emergency Medicine.”

Each session was recorded and can be found on the FCEP Medical Student Council Youtube channel.

Symposium by the Sea (SBS) on August 3 – 6, 2023 in Bonita Springs, FL. SBS provided an opportunity for medical students, residents, EM physicians, and other allied EM health professionals to gather for networking and high-quality educational opportunities. The 2022-2023 MSC organized the medical student forum which took place on the Saturday afternoon. Florida medical students and residency program directors attended the forum which consisted of presentations by medical students on a variety of topics related to EM ranging from diversity and inclusion in EM to management of poisoning, an ultrasound-guided IV insertion workshop co-directed by students, and a meet-and-greet with Florida EM residency program directors. Many students also presented original research at the conference. Congratulations to Urmila Venkataramani (USF) on winning the Best Medical Student Poster Award for her poster, “Findings from a Quality Improvement Project Aimed at Improving the Care of Patients Presenting to the ED following Sexual Assault.” We invited students who attended the Symposium to reflect on their overall experience:

“My first thought when I walked into the symposium was ‘I have found my people.’ I was surprised and delighted by the sight of folks in cargo shorts and graphic tees with their favorite band logo presenting research posters and attending scholarly presentations. Emergency Medicine has always struck me as a field that values delivering high-quality medicine above all, and leaves the rest of the formalities and decorum behind. I suppose that responding to life-threatening conditions on a daily basis makes dressing formally seem somewhat superfluous in comparison.Having only attended a handful of conferences during medical school, I was overdressed in my blazer and slacks, but happy to be choosing a career that would seldom require such uncomfortable attire from me again.”

-Elissa Klein, MS3 UM Miller School of Medicine

In addition, FCEP MSC members have been working hard to put together a new advocacy educational series where the team delves into what advocacy is and discusses hot topics in the changing legislative landscape of the practice of emergency medicine. Stay tuned for announcements on the FCEP MSC Instagram page (@fcep.msc) about these topics and how you can get involved!

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