Daniel Artiga, MD

President

University of Cincinnati Medical Center/College of Medicine

Previously, I worked with the RAMS Resident Labor Task Force where we developed a didactic to inform members of the historical aspects of resident labor rights and its impact on unionization efforts today. In the online space, I served as liaison to the Virtual Presence committee and assisted in launching our Instagram. I hosted the Ask-a-Chair podcast and developed projects to streamline our educational podcasts series. I have participated in several Strategic Planning sessions where I put your interests first.

Aaron D'Amore, MD

President

Mass General Brigham / Harvard Medical School

D'Amore you want, D’Amore you get!

In leadership, my north star has always been the principal that the strongest leaders are not those with all the power, but those who are able to empower others. Emergency medicine is the best specialty because we must effectively work as a team to get the job done – and RAMS is the same! I am running for RAMS president under this belief so that together we can build each other up and expand leadership and academic opportunities for all trainees in emergency medicine. Having experience working on the RAMS board plus a strong background in academic medicine and leadership, I am confident I have what it takes to carry the RAMS board to future success.

RAMS membership has been growing at record rates, which is exciting because of all the amazing feats we can accomplish with our growing group of emergency academicians. In light of empowering others’ career growth, I would like to expand upon RAMS efforts in three meaningful ways:

First, SAEM and RAMS offer numerous opportunities for their members to get involved. I would like to help make it easier for our members to discover what opportunities are available and interesting to them through the creation of a centralized resource which lists the many opportunities offered to our RAMS members. This in turn will ensure that we are maximizing the amount of involvement we can obtain and spread the wealth to folks who may not have otherwise known where to start.

Second, it is pertinent that we continue to focus our efforts on medical student involvement as a means of promoting our specialty’s growth and future promise. One way I would love to assist this is by advocating for more medical student roles on the RAMS board given their unique and invaluable perspectives. I would also continue to advocate for more medical student opportunities through SAEM and expand our excellent outreach efforts for promoting future RAMS growth.

Third, SAEM and RAMS are premier organizations pushing the needle on academics and research within our field of emergency medicine. I want to continue to expand these opportunities for our members through our promotion of more grants and publication opportunities. I am particularly valuable in this sense as I have a strong background in academic medicine, having worked at the National Institutes of Health prior to medical school and now currently being in training at a highly academic residency program.

Having served on the RAMS board, I have a solid understanding of the functioning of RAMS as an organization. I am honored to have been elected to serve as a member-at-large for the RAMS Board and an Education Committee representative. In addition to representing and advocating for my peers in these roles, with the help of my team, I helped spearhead the review of all the preexisting and the creation of several new SAEM Roadmaps – a free resource which helps RAMS members interested in exploring the many career pathways in Emergency Medicine.

In addition, having served as the president of my medical school class for four years as well as the vice president of our Alpha Omega Alpha (AOA) honor society, I’m no stranger to leading large groups of passionate medical professionals. My work in these roles and others were recognized through multiple awards, including the ACEP/EMRA Medical Student Professionalism and Leadership Award, the William D. Kaplan, M.D. Humanism Award, RISE AAMC Leadership Conference Award Delegation, Gold Humanism Honor Society, and Student Service Award.

I am fully committed to this organization and its initiatives, and as a third-year next year in a four-year program, I look forward to giving these projects my full attention if elected. For all these reasons, I am excited about the opportunity to serve the emergency medicine community as your next RAMS president, and I look forward to working with you all in this wonderful field for years to come!

Stephanie Balint

Member-at-Large

Quinnipiac University

As the last year of Medical School approaches and Residency applications are complete, I am extremely grateful to the physicians and future physicians I learned from and worked with through RAMS over the past three years. Being able to attend committee meetings, work on projects like the “Cold Feet” study, the Post-Dobbs Decision Landscape of EM didactic, the #StopTheStigmaEM campaign and paper, and the All-EM DEI Taskforce, always reminded me why I came to medical school in the first place. Before medical school I was an EMT, National Guard Healthcare Specialist, ED RN, then APRN, but SAEM and RAMS gave me my first introduction to Academic Emergency Medicine. I know what a pivotal role these opportunities had in my ability to stay motivated and engaged. I want to continue to bring opportunities to others, connect people to facilitate projects and represent medical student and resident interests for another year. Everyone deserves the opportunity to realize their ideas, get support and mentorship, or simply findings a committee where they can contribute to advancements in the field. My goal is to help connect those who are unaware or unable to find the resources on their own and contribute to projects that create opportunities for others. Thank you for your time!

Alison Bonner, MD

Member-at-Large

New York Presbyterian Cornell Columbia

I am currently a PGY-2 at New York Presbyterian- Cornell/Columbia and attended the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill for both my Bachelor of Science and Doctor of Medicine, graduating in 2023 as a member of Alpha Omega Alpha. I have had the privilege of serving as a RAMS Board Member-at-large for the past year and am honored to be considered for re-election.

In my time on the RAMS Board so far, I have acted as liaison to the Program Committee. In this role, I am collaborating with my fellow board liaison to develop a year-long mentorship program for the medical student ambassadors who are crucial to ensuring the annual meeting runs smoothly. I have also been part of the Strategic Planning Task Force to create the next three-year strategic plan for the RAMS Board. The Regional Ambassador Task Force has been working to connect EMIGs with SAEM, and I have assisted this group in writing the EMIG guidebook and attempting to build a better communication system with EMIGs around the country. It has been a joy to work with such a wonderful group of doctors on this board; we are just getting started and have a list of projects we are excited to bring to fruition.

My interest in Emergency Medicine began as an undergraduate volunteer and medical scribe where I learned what it is to be a good emergency physician and how to approach emergency medical care. Medical school was where I found the two focus areas for the rest of my career- education and mental health and wellness. I took advantage of every opportunity to teach, including as an EMIG leader, a peer instructor for the clinical skills course, and as an MCAT course instructor for undergraduates from underprivileged backgrounds. In residency, I am part of the Medical Education advanced practice track, through which I have helped teach procedure sessions for Code BLOOM, an organization at Cornell Medical School that mentors URiM pre-medical students. I also represent my class on our residency Program Evaluation Committee and co-lead our Women in Emergency Medicine group (WomEM), as I aim to continuously improve our residency education as our program expands and ensure other women physicians are able to join and be successful in our specialty.

I consider my most significant accomplishment to be co-founding the non-profit organization, Mission 34, established in memory of my brother, Sean Bonner Jr. Our mission is to eliminate the stigma around mental illness through awareness, education, and advocacy. My brother, his life and his struggles, inspired me to be more proactive in mental health and wellness, both in and outside of medicine. I am the New York City liaison for Mission 34 and help organize our local events and major annual events back in North Carolina. I am also developing my research work in Secondary Traumatic Stress in medical education.

To be considered for re-election is a vote of confidence in the incredible work the RAMS Board has done so far this year and I am excited to see what such a strong group of people can do in the future.

Mel Ebeling

Member-at-Large

University of Alabama at Birmingham Marnix E. Heersink School of Medicine

My name is Mel Ebeling (they/them), and I am a fourth-year medical student at the University of Alabama at Birmingham. Emergency medicine has been a long-standing passion of mine, and I take pride in having served my community as an Emergency Medicine Technician since freshman year of college and have been involved in teaching first responders, assisting in writing grant proposals to secure pandemic funding, and interviewing new departmental personnel. As a trained Hazardous Materials Specialist, achieved through partnerships with the Department of Homeland Security, I also possess knowledge and interest in disaster medicine and have experience developing and publishing immersive simulation in this realm for emergency medicine residents. My collaborative approach to leadership stems from service on several institutional and emergency medicine-focused committees–largely in the medical education and DEI spaces–where I have been involved in re-designing preclinical curricula and establishing system-wide strategic plans to enhance diversity and inclusion, for example.

Throughout the entirety of my education, SAEM has served as a critical resource for me, connecting me with resources and mentors that have ignited my desire to become an academic physician, so I understand the importance of this election. As someone who is known for their reliability, integrity, and workhorse nature, I am committed to advancing our organization so that it continues to be an invaluable resource for residents and students. If elected to the RAMS Board as a Member-at-Large, I am excited to bring my diverse background and experiences to advance initiatives that support our academically minded and research-oriented membership. Specifically, my goals include the following: (1) developing a comprehensive guide for junior residents and medical students expressing an early interest in an academic career, addressing key topics such as detailing the academic promotion process, navigating resources and contacts for a variety of niche interests; (2) making available to our membership a standardized curriculum vitae specifically designed for the emergency medicine physician; and (3) creating a research guide containing best practices for manuscript revision and a complete repository of emergency medicine-focused journals.

I look forward to the opportunity to serve you, the next generation of academic emergency physicians, on the RAMS Board. I hope I can earn your vote!

Jared A. Escobar, MD

Member-at-Large

Rutgers - New Jersey Medical School

My path to medicine has been shaped by a unique blend of military service, healthcare experience, and a deep commitment to leadership and education. After high school, I enlisted in the U.S. Marine Corps, where I served for five years as part of the Marine Special Operations community. Toward the end of my time in the Marines, I began cross-training with Navy Corpsmen, which ignited my passion for healthcare and set the foundation for my transition into medicine.

After my military service, I completed my undergraduate studies at Fordham University before pursuing my medical education at Robert Wood Johnson Medical School. While in medical school, I also joined the U.S. Army, where I was commissioned as a Captain. In this role, I continued to develop my leadership skills, applying military principles to the healthcare setting. Throughout medical school, I worked closely with senior leadership and fellow veterans to integrate teamwork training and leadership principles into the residency curriculum at RWJ. As a Curriculum Research Fellow, I contributed to the development of programs aimed at strengthening teamwork dynamics in medical education—principles I had refined in the military—and published qualitative research on this work. I was honored to be inducted into Alpha Omega Alpha and named a Rutgers Rising Star Scholar for my academic achievements and leadership contributions.

Now, as a PGY-2 resident at New Jersey Medical School, I continue to integrate the leadership lessons I learned in both the Marine Corps and the Army into my medical training. I have been actively involved in initiatives focused on improving patient care in high-acuity environments, including the development of critical airway equipment and the application of teamwork principles such as briefing and debriefing to enhance performance during acute events. These experiences have deepened my respect for the pivotal role that emergency medicine plays in patient care and within healthcare systems.

As a resident, my goal is to make meaningful contributions to the field of academic emergency medicine, with a focus on research, education, and leadership. I am excited about the opportunity to support the Society for Academic Emergency Medicine (SAEM) in advancing initiatives that promote academic development and the integration of team dynamics—principles that are crucial for improving patient care. Through my involvement with the Resident and Student Association (RAMS), I hope to advocate for policies that enhance the educational experience for residents and medical students, while fostering a sense of community, collaboration, and shared purpose among all members.

With my combined military leadership experience, commitment to academic excellence, and passion for emergency medicine, I am eager to contribute to the continued growth of SAEM and the broader field of emergency medicine.

Ethan Grant, MD

Member-at-Large

University of Utah Health

Dr. Ethan Grant is a PGY-2 resident at University of Utah Health. Dr. Grant is a native of rural West Texas, and completed his medical school training at Texas Tech University Health Science Center in 2023. His journey to medicine began by working as an emergency department scribe at Denver Health, where he grew to love the pace and changing environments of EM. During medical school, Dr. Grant served as the Wilderness Medicine Liaison for the emergency medicine interest group, and the Quartermaster for the Wilderness Medicine club. In these roles he broke down barriers that often prohibit students from training in austere environments. During residency, Dr. Grant has worked to improve the learning of incoming interns by coordinating education month. Additionally, he has invested in the future of emergency medicine by being involved with the interview process and by teaching medical students.

If selected to be a Member at Large for RAMS, I hope to increase the visibility of RAMS at medical schools and residencies to improve member engagement. As a key point of relations between residents and medical students interested in EM, RAMS has an important opportunity to excite students about the many career possibilities within EM. I hope to broaden the ways in which students and residents view their career paths, as the world of EM steps into a post-COVID era. Additionally, I hope to use my education and training opportunities to build connections for members with the wilderness and austere medicine community.

Indrani Guzmán Das, MD

Member-at-Large

Stanford University

I am passionate about making healthcare cheaper and more accessible to lower-resource and underrepresented patients. I believe that the emergency department is where systemic health inequities meet the frontline and the best place to help the most vulnerable people in my community. As a RAMS Member at large, I will create opportunities for emergency medicine physicians to build their medical competencies and provide support to high-need patients.

I am a PGY-1 at Stanford Healthcare in California and a graduate of Weill Cornell Medical College and the Harvard Chan School of Public Health. As a resident, I serve on Stanford’s program evaluation committee to identify improvement areas for the residency, on the recruitment committee, and I am a mentor in programs that expand opportunities for underrepresented students, including LMSA, HPREP, and SEO Scholars.

By way of background, I am a first-generation American whose parents became medical practitioners after arriving in the United States as refugees. Before attending medical school, I worked as a management consultant at Bain & Company where I helped S&P 500 corporations and international nonprofits define their strategic goals and improve their finances and operations. I subsequently worked at the International Rescue Committee on their global refugee resettlement program and public-private partnerships to deliver nutrition supplements to rural communities in Sub-Saharan Africa.

While in medical school, I supported multiple health equity projects in the US and abroad. As a medical practitioner, I served in the Weill Cornell Community Clinic to provide care to uninsured, non-English speaking patients in New York City, as well as in the Weill Cornell Center for Human Rights to provide medical forensic exams to asylum seekers hoping to receive sanctuary in the US. From a research perspective, I partnered with Johns Hopkins and the Associated Press to report on hospitals that utilized predatory billing practices, conducted field investigations through the Harvard Chan School of Public Health on progressive insurance programs in the Chilean healthcare system, and collaborated with Brigham and Women’s Hospital and Partners in Health to identify opportunities to expand access to emergency care in Western Africa.

As a RAMS board member, I would leverage my background in strategy consulting to expand educational resources to members. RAMS has a massive archive of data and educational material, such as the Residency/Fellowship Maps and overviews on how to perform uncommon procedures that are currently difficult to access. By improving the website navigation and organization of these resources, residents and medical students can make informed decisions in their training and career paths.

I would also implement a structured mentorship program at our annual meeting to match faculty, residents, and medical students with shared interests. Emergency Medicine is full of unique challenges and exciting opportunities - we can best serve our patients and enjoy the experience when we can rely on and learn from our diverse experiences.

Financial literacy is another critical area I plan to address. With over 40% of emergency departments now managed by private equity organizations, residents must be equipped with the knowledge to navigate various hospital structures effectively. Having worked with private equity, nonprofit, and publicly-funded hospitals, I will help RAMS members understand how their careers may be impacted by the organization structures that they join.

Ultimately, I am committed to expanding RAMS as a vibrant, engaging, and resourceful community where every member feels supported and empowered to thrive in their careers. By prioritizing education, mentorship, and health equity, I hope that RAMS meets the needs of our current members and attracts future generations of emergency medicine professionals.

Thank you for considering my candidacy for the RAMS Member-at-Large position. I look forward to the opportunity to collaborate with you and enhance our community in emergency medicine. As you make your voting decision, please reach out if you would like to discuss any of the ideas that I’ve shared

KC Hummer

Member-at-Large

University of Colorado School of Medicine

Having spent a decade prior to medical school working in education and leadership, KC Hummer (she/they) is enthusiastic about providing high-quality academic resources to learners and supporting future and current emergency medicine physicians as they navigate medical school and residency. As a member-at-large, KC Hummer intends to accomplish this by improving the study materials associated with the SAEM exam many rotating students take during their sub-I rotations with clearer explanations, and by creating a centralized list of resources for medical students preparing to apply to residency. Previous roles and experience that will make KC Hummer a strong addition to the RAMS Board include her decade-long career as a teacher and education program director prior to medical school, as well as her prior experience as a Medical Student Ambassador at SAEM24.

Juliet Jacobson, MD

Member-at-Large

New York Presbyterian Cornell Columbia

I am running to continue my position on the SAEM RAMS board to foster open communication, collaboration, and continuous improvement in medical education. My primary goal is to support learners throughout their medical careers, not just during medical school and residency. I aim to help SAEM compile its outstanding resources into a user-friendly platform where medical students and residents can easily access webinars, guidebooks, and articles on topics ranging from research and grant funding to medical education and mental health support. By continually enhancing this repository, I aspire to develop tools and references that adapt with us throughout all stages of our careers, ultimately enriching our learning environment and elevating the specialty of emergency medicine.

Before entering medical school, I taught 6th-grade math and science in Bed-Stuy, Brooklyn, teaching 120 students. This experience ignited my passion for education and inspired me to give back during my gap year. I quickly learned that a communication gap often exists between educators and learners. Many of my students assumed I understood their feelings and needs, yet few voiced their concerns. To best support them, I actively encouraged open dialogue, deepening my understanding of their challenges as learners and individuals.

Transitioning back to being a learner (in medical school) just a month after completing my teaching role, I noticed my medical school classmates frequently expressed frustrations regarding faculty and administrative decisions. When I inquired whether they communicated their concerns, the typical response was, “No, but I’m sure they know.” This disconnect further illuminated the frustration and dissatisfaction prevalent on both sides.

Two months into my journey at New York Medical College, I was elected to the school’s curriculum committee as a liaison between students and faculty. In this role, I advocated for student concerns and facilitated communication of faculty expertise back to my peers. During my tenure on the committee, I witnessed firsthand how eager professors were to assist once they received feedback. On the committee, we designed and implemented a new systems-based, shortened preclinical curriculum. We also established open feedback surveys and monthly town halls to facilitate ongoing dialogue between students and faculty.

As a resident at NYP Cornell and Columbia, I contribute to our residency recruitment board, developed peer-to-peer evaluations during shifts, and volunteer for college outreach programs. I also mentor current medical students and remain passionate about medical education.

As a member of the SAEM Wellness Committee this year, I have contributed to initiatives supporting the well-being of residents and medical students, including developing articles on suicide prevention and creating resources for the Stop the Stigma Campaign. Additionally, I have organized webinars teaching medical students and residents how to apply for grants and secure funding for research.

Through my continued work on the RAMS board, I hope to bridge the gap between learners and educators. By focusing on well-being, constructive feedback, and accessible resources, I believe we can cultivate an enriching learning environment that empowers all members of our community. I look forward to the opportunity to continue serving on the SAEM RAMS board and contribute to our collective growth and success in emergency medicine.

Michael Makutonin, MD

Member-at-Large

Yale University

When I went to my first SAEM conference, I was floored by the number of cool things I could get involved in at SAEM. That year was a blur – working with the SAEM research committee to put on talks, designing a machine learning series, and running a Datathon for med students. I always wondered what could have been possible if I could have gotten involved earlier, without the financial barrier of going to conferences, and benefited from the resources and mentors I ended up finding in SAEM.

I have been lucky to find opportunities to contribute and lead both in SAEM and in other organizations advancing emergency medicine. For four years I served as the curriculum representative at the George Washington School of Medicine, helping my classmates advocate for fairer grading and better feedback among other initiatives. I have also spent several years in the EMRA research committee, helping organize events like Case-Con, our annual national case conference for trainees. I’ve contributed to projects on ACEP informatics-focused committees using my background in machine learning. Finally, I've participated in organizing trainee-facing didactics and training events as part of the SAEM research committee and SAEM AI interest group.

Now as a PGY-1 resident at Yale, I am eager to leverage my experiences in emergency medicine and my passion for education to make SAEM a more inclusive, welcoming, and useful organization for all of us. The headwinds that emergency medicine is facing, like AI and workforce challenges, are opportunities in disguise, ones that require a lot of passionate work by medical students and residents interested in moving the needle in academic EM. If elected, I will work to ensure that MS1s can find what they are looking for in RAMS as easily as they can sign up for their local EMIG, that students and residents can find mentorship and contribute to projects no matter the resources of their home institutions.

Sara Schulwolf

Member-at-Large

University of Connecticut School of Medicine

Hi! My name is Sara Schulwolf and I am an MD/MPH student at UConn, currently applying into EM. This is my second year on the RAMS board as I served as Medical Student representative last year; I am thrilled to have the opportunity to serve once again as member-at-large.

I firmly believe that EM is the best specialty, and feel strongly both about providing our members with the resources needed to succeed at any career level as well as exposing undifferentiated medical students to all that EM has to offer. Through my work with the Research Committee, I have come to feel passionately about fostering early mentorship in EM research in order to spur both career connections and the advancement of evidence-based medicine. I am also committed to RAMS’ goal of supporting medical students throughout their EM clerkships, away rotations, and the application process, and in particular want RAMS to serve as a resource hub for students whose home institutions lack strong EM advising.

Outside of the RAMS board, I am passionate about point-of-care ultrasound and public health, and you can often find me brainstorming ideas for new phantoms. I look forward to meeting you and supporting you on your journey as a RAMS member!

Eileen Williams, MD

Member-at-Large

University of Texas Southwestern

My name is Eileen Williams, and I am currently a second-year emergency medicine resident at the University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center. I grew up in St. Louis, Missouri and completed my undergraduate education at Stanford University, where I worked in a research lab exploring the functional neurological correlates of anxiety and depression. I also worked as a residential counselor for adolescents with eating disorders and helped manage a team of podcast editors, writers, and engineers as a lead producer at the Stanford Storytelling Project. After college, I spent two years completing my final pre-med classes, as well as preparing for and taking the MCAT. During this time, I also worked as a medical scribe and trainer, fell in love with emergency medicine, and developed my own bustling tutoring business.

I moved to Houston for medical school at Baylor College of Medicine, where I was lucky enough to meet an incredible role model and inspiration within the field of academic emergency medicine. Together, we designed and completed a literature review on existing adolescent medicine curricula targeted to emergency medicine residents. Finding very little, we then moved on to conduct a national Delphi study to identify key competencies in this space.

During medical school, I also leveraged my undergraduate experience in the media sphere to help develop and produce our new official school podcast, Resonance. I did everything I could to invest in academics, including the creation of a pre-clinical EKG course that I later went on to facilitate as a TA. As a member of the Curriculum Renewal Workgroup (CREW) at Baylor College of Medicine, I collaborated with a team composed primarily of faculty to redesign the entire structure of the Baylor experience, including succeeding in expanding the graduation requirement to include four rather than merely two weeks of emergency medicine experience.

Now in residency, I am helping to spearhead the new academic medicine track that I helped to develop. Additionally, I initiated a working group now in the process of developing a new medical Spanish curriculum for the program. I also co-chair our monthly podcast club, which necessitates both logistical skill and the ability to facilitate complex educational discussions. When I’m not working, sleeping, or studying, you can find me watching football, writing crossword puzzles and reading twisty murder mysteries.

My passion for emergency medicine colors my perspective on the world, shaping me as a clinician and as a person. I am incredibly fortunate to be completing an emergency medicine residency and pursuing this career. Still, I recognize that the specialty is far from perfect. As much as I love – and will always love – emergency medicine, I appreciate that we are facing many challenges. I believe trainees and residents must step up to take action and be part of the solution: we are the future of the field. RAMS enables us to work together within the academic space and do just that. As a member-at-large, I would strive ceaselessly to serve as an effective advocate and liaison for the ideas and concerns of my co-residents.

John Hennessy

Medical Student Representative

University of Michigan

I have been an educator since 2009, when I started my first tutoring company as an undergraduate student at the University of Michigan. Over the next seven years, we grew to over fifty employees in seven locations across three states. It was during this time (during which I went back for graduate school but kept putting off applying to medical school) that I initially fell in love with teaching and also developed a lifelong interest in how to teach, not just what to teach. Outside of the private sector, my teaching experience continued when I eventually began teaching in academia. Since 2015, I have been a lecturer for the University of Michigan. I have taught 1,000+ students over 20 semesters, and I have continued to teach while in medical school. In addition to actively teaching both undergraduate and graduate students as a lecturer, I have designed new courses and served as an instructor for the National Science Foundation (NSF) I-Corps program, where I’ve taught academic researchers and clinicians to look beyond the lab and accelerate research into commercial success.

In addition to my teaching experiences, I am also an entrepreneur who has collaborated across disciplines and departments at the university for over 10 years. Since 2014, I have been CEO and co-founder of a battery/membrane technology startup originally commercialized from research at the University of Michigan. I have the experience of leading a diverse research staff and working with multiple external partners and university stakeholders. I hope to bring this leadership quality to medicine, where I believe the future of medicine will involve diverse, interdisciplinary teams. I want to leverage my entrepreneurial and education experiences into a career where I can critically evaluate problems, do more with less, and improve outcomes through education.

By serving as a RAMS medical student, I hope to continue my passion for teaching and curriculum development in the realm of medical education and the specialty of emergency medicine. During my time in medical school so far, I’ve worked on multiple medical education projects, such as developing new content (pre-recorded lectures and active learning) for the first-year curriculum. As a co-president of my medical school’s emergency medicine interest group, I also manage educational workshops (such as splinting, IV, suturing, and ultrasound workshops) that happen throughout the year. I hope to use my position as a RAMS medical student to further my passion for teaching how to think, not just what to think. Going forward, I want to work on medical education projects that focus on teaching the critical appraisal of evidence, the benefits and flaws of diagnostic/treatment algorithms (especially when used in emergency settings), and deductive reasoning when generating differentials. I want to help develop workshops and entrepreneurial resources to assist RAMS residents and students in need-finding, ecosystem mapping, and assumption testing to help bridge the gap between practitioners who see a problem or need in their field (critical care, ultrasound, etc) and the necessary tools/resources to leverage emerging technologies in the field to solve those problems.

Olivia Neidigh-Lloyd

Medical Student Representative

Kansas Health Science University

My name is Olivia Neidigh-Lloyd, and I am a second-year medical student at KansasCOM. I have cultivated a robust foundation in healthcare through diverse clinical experiences including internships, an Atlantis Shadowing Fellowship in Italy, and scribing in the emergency department. Currently I serve as Secretary for the American College of Osteopathic Emergency Physicians KansasCOM Branch. I am passionate about advancing research and innovation in emergency medicine. My goal is to foster a supportive community that prioritizes education, research, and personal development, ultimately driving meaningful advancements in emergency care. I am excited about the opportunity to contribute to RAMS and support my peers in their academic journeys.

Nathaniel Sands, MPH

Medical Student Representative

California Northstate University College of Medicine

I am a second-year medical student at California Northstate University (CNSU) in Elk Grove, California, and the Secretary of the CNSU EM Interest Group. I completed a BS in Biochemistry at UC Santa Barbara, an MPH with focus on infectious disease at UC Berkeley, and a pre-health post-baccalaureate program at the University of Pennsylvania. My original interest in EM came from my experiences as an EMT and as a volunteer in the ED at Santa Barbara Cottage Hospital. This interest was invigorated during my post-baccalaureate program as I worked as a clinical research coordinator in the ED at the Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania, helped establish and manage the Resuscitative TEE Collaborative Registry, and provided COVID-19 testing to people experiencing homelessness.

Having attended the SAEM Annual Meeting last May, I feel very much at home in the community of academic emergency medicine. As a member of RAMS, I strive to harness resources and networks within SAEM to build a community that supports and advances the careers of all members. I look forward to expanding my role and connecting with everyone on this fantastic SAEM team!

Carlisle Topping

Medical Student Representative

Yale University

Joseph Williams, MPH

Medical Student Representative

Kansas City University of Medicine and Biosciences

I am a current MS3 at Kansas City University and a graduate of the Yale School of Public Health, where I specialized in Chronic Disease Epidemiology. Earning my MPH before medical school added a valuable public health perspective to my medical education, complementing my prior training as an EMT and clinical research at UMass Chan and Yale University that addressed the opioid crisis and refugee health, and mental health within the emergency department.

I've been involved with SAEM since 2019, first attending the NERDS conference in Worcester, MA. In 2020 I submitted an abstract on an ED-suboxone bridging program which was accepted for the 2020 NERDS conference. This early involvement, even before medical school, empowered me to attend SAEM'23 and SAEM'24 as a medical student ambassador and join AGEM as a medical student representative on the awards committee in 2023. SAEM has played a key role in nurturing my passion for Emergency Medicine and providing a professional foundation.

If elected, I aim to advocate for continued integration of public health competencies within emergency medicine, especially for early-career students. I understand the importance of mentorship, particularly for students at institutions without emergency medicine faculty, and I hope to expand mentorship access to these students. I hope to expand the EMF-SAEMF Medical Student Research Grant to accept additional students and to pair accepted students with additional research mentors. Furthermore, I hope to expand the mentorship initiative within the medical student ambassador program to include resident-physician mentors and engage with a greater number of SAEM-member medical students who may not be able to attend SAEM as an ambassador. The mentorship program is purposed to enhance medical student engagement in SAEM committees and fostering greater interest in emergency medicine among future applicants.

I also believe that improving RAMS' social media presence could further engage members and increase visibility for emergency medicine. Expanding regional community activities, such as local meetups or events, would also strengthen connections and provide more accessible networking and learning opportunities. These initiatives would allow RAMS to engage members more deeply and create a more connected emergency medicine community.

SAEM has been instrumental in my engagement and professional growth in Emergency Medicine, and as a RAMS Medical Student Representative, I hope to advocate for more students nationwide to gain the same valuable experience.

Joseph served as a medical student ambassador at SAEM’23, SAEM’24 and participated on AGEM’s awards committee in 2023.

John Dickens, MD, MBA

Resident Member

McGaw Medical Center/Northwestern University

I am a third-year emergency medicine resident at McGaw Medical Center/Northwestern University in Chicago, IL and I am running for the position of Resident Member for the SAEM Board of Directors. Before residency, I worked as a project manager for Epic Systems and later for Humana as part of the company’s Digital Health & Analytics team. I received both my MD and MBA degrees from the University of Louisville in my hometown of Louisville, KY. I have been involved with SAEM since 2021, serving in various roles including Medical Student Ambassador for the SAEM Annual Conference, Resident Liaison for the Informatics, Data Science, & Artificial Intelligence Interest Group, member of the RAMS Nominating Committee, and my current role of Member-at-Large of the RAMS Board as well as RAMS Board Representative to the SAEM Awards Committee.

I am seeking your support for my election to this position because I am eager to contribute to the Board’s mission of maintaining its status as the premier organization for developing and supporting current and future academic leaders in emergency medicine. My background as a project manager for large healthcare corporations has equipped me with the organizational and executive skills necessary to be a productive member of the Board. As the only resident representative, I will provide a unique perspective that is essential for understanding the interests of resident and medical student members regarding the future of our specialty. Additionally, my experience in other SAEM organizations offers valuable institutional knowledge, enabling me to effectively support and create opportunities for scholarship, leadership, and career development. Most importantly, I aim to advocate for trainees within SAEM’s broader organizational efforts. In a time when many residents and medical students have concerns about the future landscape and career opportunities in our field, it is crucial that we have a voice in leadership organizations that are committed to improving and shaping the future of our specialty.

Patricia Hernandez, MD

Resident Member

Massachusetts General Hospital

I was initially drawn to emergency medicine because of its multifaceted, evolving, and dynamic nature. It is a specialty where uncertainty is seen as a catalyst for coordinated care, critical thinking, and innovation. As emergency medicine providers, we meet people where they are—managing not only acute conditions but also addressing the complex social dynamics and nuances driving their care. This passion for emergency medicine began long before my formal training—it was driven by my desire to serve others, bridge gaps in healthcare, and provide compassionate care regardless of available resources. Somewhere along the way, as a medical student, I was fortunate to come across SAEM, and was immediately captivated by its mission to advance academic emergency medicine through education, research, and professional development. SAEM’s core vision aligned perfectly with my own desire to make a broader impact, beyond the four walls of an emergency department.

My initial exposure to SAEM began as a medical student ambassador in 2022, a role that opened the door to my involvement with SAEM at the national level. Since then, I have had the privilege of serving as a former RAMS Board Member at Large and as resident liaison to the Education Committee. I currently serve as a resident reviewer for the SAEM Grants Committee and as a resident member of AWAEM and ADIEM. These roles have enabled me to contribute to important projects and advocate for the needs of residents and medical students at a national level while allowing me to expand my understanding of the unique challenges and opportunities within our specialty. I have led in the development of educational roadmaps for trainees, revision of our RAMS Board strategic plan, organization of webinars for residents and medical students, and review of didactics and grants proposals. Beyond my work with SAEM, I chair the Center for Diversity and Inclusion Resident and Fellow Committee at Massachusetts General Hospital, and lead a grant-funded community outreach project for at-risk youth in Boston.

As I reflect on my involvement with SAEM and my experiences in emergency medicine, I recognize that the challenges facing our field are evolving. It has grown increasingly more difficult to develop clinical competence in high-stakes, low-frequency clinical scenarios, while managing the cognitive overload that prevails in a demanding, fast-paced specialty. These challenges require strategic action, including balancing procedural proficiency with meaningful patient connections, navigating the increasing demands of patient volume and staffing shortages, and addressing the challenge of providing primary care services amidst unprecedented ED volumes. Yet, despite these challenges, the field is poised for transformative growth with advancements in AI, digital health tools, the expansion of telemedicine, and greater collaboration across specialties.

I am running for a position on the SAEM Board of Directors because I see both the challenges and the immense opportunities ahead, and I believe my background, perspective, and skills align with SAEM's strategic direction. I am committed to being a voice for all residents and medical students, and I will work to make sure that the perspectives of our RAMS members are addressed through strategic, goal-driven efforts. I am committed to integrating emerging technologies into medical education, advocating for mental health support for both providers and patients, and fostering cross-institutional collaborations centered on health equity. I will support initiatives that promote sustainable workforce practices and advocate for better training opportunities and support systems for residents. I am excited about the opportunity to contribute to the growth and future of emergency medicine, and I am confident that by working together, we can leverage these opportunities to strengthen our specialty.