As we celebrate FCEP’s 50th anniversary this year, let us take a moment to reflect and appreciate those who came before us, those who stand alongside us now, and those who will come after us. 

Our specialty was essentially born when dedicated physicians saw an opportunity to better serve patients. They fought from the back doors and the basements to improve the care provided in these hospital afterthought care areas. Defining the unique skill set of emergency medicine specialists, creating a board certification process, and many years of struggling to be acknowledged by physicians of other specialties, payers and health systems was required to pave the way for our specialty. Our specialty has flourished as emergency physicians have continued to discover areas of need and opportunities to better serve our patients, resulting in the development of multiple subspecialties and areas of expertise. Health systems have recognized the importance of our specialty in their markets, and emergency departments have become the front door of hospitals, with billboards on the interstate to advertise our services.  This revolution and emergence of our specialty as a well respected and essential voice in the house of medicine was not won without substantial individual and collective commitment and dedication. 

There are ongoing issues emergency physicians face, including system-based barriers to wellness, appropriate reimbursement by payers, and increasingly onerous regulatory requirements. Most recently, we have faced a pandemic head on, which has taken a tremendous toll on everyone and separated us from one another. Fluctuations in emergency department volumes due to the pandemic intersecting with the growth of emergency medicine residency programs across Florida accelerated issues that were arising in the workforce. The emergency physicians who will come after us deserve our dedication to this work. 

FCEP gives us the ability to come together across lines of employment to collaborate and seek solutions. Emergency medicine is a specialty that was born out of a need for change in order to improve care for our patients, and the evolution of emergency medicine has been fueled by a need for change ever since. We will most successfully navigate times of significant change that make us uncomfortable if we do it with confidence in our value, transparency and respect for perspectives that may differ from our own.    

Over the last 50 years, FCEP has been a powerful way for emergency physicians in Florida to offer a cohesive and collective voice when addressing health systems, legislators, patients and other specialties/organizations. Many FCEP leaders and staff have helped improve the quality of care for all those who seek care in our emergency departments, and sought to protect the integrity of our specialty. Please keep an eye out for the upcoming “50 Years, 50 Voices” celebration of some of their stories.

It is with incredible gratitude and respect that I close out my tenure as FCEP President. I am honored to have had the opportunity to serve you, our specialty and, most importantly, our patients. 

Pictured: FCEP’s first president, William T. Haeck, MD, receiving FCEP’s charter from the American College of Emergency Physicians (ACEP) in 1971. From FCEP Archives