Complete Story
02/11/2024
GSACEP Presidential Address
Lt Col (ret) Roderick Fontenette, MD, FACEP
Hello team GSACEP!
I hope your 2024 is off to a great start! Your chapter has been busy over the last year advocating for what affects each and every one of us on shift and the patients we care for, whether it was taking our advocacy efforts directly to Congressional Representatives on the Hill at LAC to attending several high-level meetings with ACEP leadership to discuss ways to tackle the boarding crisis or the workplace violence we experience and the moral injury it causes. We have also established a task force to evaluate our clinical competency and how it affects readiness. As we prepare for the next conflict, it is crucial we train up and do all that is possible to ensure wartime readiness, and who better than this chapter to lead the charge?
With time comes growth and change, and with that, we must ensure the work we are doing is still in alignment with our mission. The board recently met, and we reviewed and updated our strategic plan to ensure it still meets the mission of the chapter: promoting quality emergency care and enhancing the development of Emergency Physicians who serve our nation from training through retirement. We stand ready because it is truly one team, one fight. I am proud of the work this chapter has accomplished and our unwavering efforts to advance our specialty and deliver world class unscheduled emergency care. Anytime. Anywhere in the world.
As we turn our focus to San Diego and GSS24, I would like to take a moment to thank the Conference Planning Committee for the tremendous effort they have put into planning the conference. This is definitely one you do not want to miss! From the minute you arrive until the end of the conference, be ready to be blown away with amazing educational content, hands-on skill labs, groundbreaking research, networking with peers, and the biggest SimWars competition ever done at GSS. And did I mention the food trucks with local cuisines? And the Midway! You will leave energized and motivated ready to tackle whatever presents to your emergency department and navigate through the challenges unique to deployment medicine!
As my tenure as chapter president comes to a close, I would like to take this opportunity to thank everyone for their support over the past sixteen months. It has been an amazing time of growth for the chapter as well as for me personally and professionally. Our chapter continues to strive and remains strong financially. I feel that I am transitioning out with the chapter being more energized and engaged, and I am super excited to see what we will accomplish under the new leadership. Our committees are more focused than ever and poised to do the work of our members. The board has several new members that bring with them a fresh perspective and new ideas ready to elevate the chapter to the next level. With Sean Stuart leading the charge, there is no limit to what we can and will accomplish! The work we do advocating for our patients and specialty at our home institutions and on the Hill is a testament to your steadfast dedication to the mission, and I proudly stand with you as we fight for issues critical to advancing our specialty and placing patient care at the forefront of all we do. It has been a tremendous honor to serve as your president and I eagerly look forward to what lies ahead and to continuing to serve beside each of you as we do the work of the chapter!
See you all in beautiful San Diego!
Rod
