Sometimes it may be work conditions, sometimes it may be the terms of your employment, sometimes it could be social stressors, and sometimes it could be from a bad outcome or a bad event. So somewhere along the way overall, I think physicians are seeking to have greater autonomy and respect. And the catch with that is that almost every other part of the health care system no longer necessarily provides and affords the same amount of respect that I think we need to be able to provide the right care, but also for our professional sense and our well-being. Somewhere along the way, we’ve been asked to do more and more and more with less and less, including respect and the support from everybody else.

What is ACEP doing to maintain the attractiveness of the profession amid things like salary declines and all these other factors that are being demonstrated by fewer medical students wanting to go into the profession.

Dr. Kang: I want to start with the last part of your statement and that is why would people not want to go into emergency medicine versus why did people want to go into emergency medicine? And I would say that the College right now is identifying and celebrating what makes our specialty so unique and so good for so many.

We still have many physicians who are generally satisfied with the career and the chance and opportunity to serve their patients, as well as communities. And if you still want to be that quintessential doctor who is there for your patients, regardless of their background, regardless of their needs, 24/7, that’s emergency medicine.

Second, what does emergency medicine offer? If you’re still motivated to see patients and then utilize the skillsets to be able to see any acute undifferentiated patient, to be able to identify, prioritize concerns, and then stabilize and/or disposition patients, that skillset can take you many different places.

Whether it may be telehealth, whether it is pre-hospital, whether it’s innovation simulations, whether it’s concierge medicine, wilderness medicine, space medicine, or emergency medicine provides you with a skillset that can help you provide the best patient care and be prepared in almost any scenario. That has not gone away.

The working conditions, the respect from others has declined. And so we know that some medical school deans, as well as advisors, are directing people not to go into emergency medicine. But as rural hospitals close, as health care systems and practices are changing rapidly, sometimes month to month, we’re still there. We’re still the ones that will care for patients, and we still have that overall critical mission.