ACEP honored two emergency physicians for their outstanding efforts to communicate about emergency medicine issues last month at the Leadership and Advocacy Conference in Washington, D.C. Dr. Stephen Anderson, an emergency physician from Seattle, was named 2013 Spokesperson of the Year, and Dr. Stephen Epstein from Boston received the 2013 Communications Lifetime Achievement Award.

“These two remarkable individuals are not only passionate about caring for patients, but they have a gift at communicating that passion to the general public,” said ACEP President Dr. Andrew Sama. “They are continuing to show their commitment to promoting the value of emergency medicine.”

Dr. Anderson has been a visible member of ACEP’s Spokesperson’s Network. He has done numerous media interviews and was the media point person in Washington State during the state’s Medicaid crisis – successfully fighting to protect the prudent layperson standard. Dr. Anderson worked with CNN to produce a one-hour documentary on the nation’s prescription drug abuse epidemic. Because of his commitment to media, he has built strong relationships with high-level medical journalists who see him as a trusted source.

Dr. Epstein has a public role speaking on behalf of this organization on a wide variety of topics, both policy and consumer-related. Most recently, he was one of the organization’s representatives to the media during the tragic Boston Marathon bombings – promoting the positive work emergency physicians throughout Boston were doing to help stabilize and treat dozens of bombing victims. For several years, Dr. Epstein has appeared in national media publications, including Associated Press, The Washington Post, The Los Angeles Times, ABC News, NBC News, and CBS News. He’s done several national television interviews with CNN and MSNBC.

Also recognized at the conference in Washington, D.C., were Monica Navarro and Izidio Contreras of Univision. They received the 2013 Award of Excellence in Journalism. The 2013 Special Recognition of Excellence in Journalism went to Anna Matthews of The Wall Street Journal.