ACEP leaders and emergency medicine researchers knew in the late 1990s that the specialty lacked the respect and recognition afforded to other specialties in peer-reviewed medical education and research.

Emergency physician, researcher, and instructor Edward Panacek, MD, FACEP, decided to do something about it with help from the College and his research colleagues. Together, they decided to build a rigorous body of peer-reviewed research, but they knew it would take a growing number of skilled researchers and academicians to get that done. More researchers would lead to more research. In 1997, Dr. Panacek led the charge to introduce the Emergency Medicine Basic Research Skills course (EMBRS). The 11-day course at ACEP’s headquarters was designed to provide attendees with a strong foundation in research methodology.

“The idea was to create ‘a mini-research fellowship’ modeled after the successful EMF Teaching Fellowship,” Dr. Panacek said.

Fast forward to 2025, and the EMBRS course Dr. Panacek and his team created has been an unqualified success. Since the first course in 1997, hundreds of learners from around the world have completed EMBRS. Alumni now are global leaders in emergency medicine, serving as department chairs, vice chairs of research, residency program directors, and clinician researchers in both academic medical centers and community emergency departments. At least 10 former chairs of ACEP committees and sections, and nearly 30 vice chairs, are graduates of EMBRS.

The EMBRS Who’s Who includes:

• Christopher Kang, MD, FACEP, ACEP Past President
• Gillian Schmitz, MD, FACEP, ACEP Past President
• Andra Leah Blomkalns, MD, FACEP, professor and chair of emergency medicine at Stanford
• Benjamin P. Donham, MD, Commander, U.S. Army Medical Department, Alaska
• Marie-Carmelle Eli, MD, FACEP, Endowed Professor at the University of Alabama at Birmingham and the first Black woman to be named Chair of an academic emergency-medicine department at a major medical school
• Bryan G. Kane, MD, FACEP, Past President of the Lehigh Valley Health Network
• Angela M. Mills, MD, inaugural chair, department of emergency medicine, Columbia University
• Andre M. Pennardt, MD, FACEP, chief medical officer of FEMA

Today, Dr. Panacek’s idea has entered a new era. EMBRS has been restructured and rebranded as ACEP Research Academy.

Research Academy

As part of ACEP’s Research Academy, students are asked to present their research to the class and instructors for feedback. Research Academy, formerly known as the Emergency Medicine Basic Research Skills (EMBRS) Course, kicks off this fall with Session I from Sept. 5-6 in Salt Lake City. Session II will take place next Spring at ACEP’s headquarters in Irving, Texas. (Click to enlarge.)