Stronger Together - Finding Strength in Connection Through Peer Support in EM: Stop the Stigma EM Month
Join us for an afternoon discussion on peer support in emergency medicine, concluding #StopTheStigmaEM Month. This session emphasizes that we are not alone and highlights the strength in seeking help and connecting with others, especially during challenging times. It will showcase ongoing efforts to reduce barriers to support, with a focus on ACEP's peer support program, which promotes connection and well-being within the emergency medicine community.
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Rita A. Manfredi, MD
Professor, Clinical Emergency Medicine
George Washington University School of Medicine and Health Sciences
Rita A. Manfredi, MD, is a Professor of Clinical Emergency Medicine at the George Washington University School of Medicine and Health Sciences. She started her career as a US Navy Flight Surgeon and completed an Emergency Medicine residency at the University of Massachusetts. She previously completed a fellowship in Health and Spirituality at the George Washington Institute for Spirituality and Health, recently became board-certified in Hospice and Palliative Medicine and is interested in integrating Palliative Medicine concepts into the care of patients in the ED. Dr. Manfredi is an active member of the SAEM Wellness Committee and has introduced a Storytelling in EM event at national SAEM conferences for the past 3 years. In 2021, Dr. Manfredi received ACEP’s Lifetime Achievement Award: The Pamela Benson Trailblazer Award for seminal contributions over time to the growth of the College and to the specialty of emergency medicine. Dr. Manfredi’s work in Wellbeing focuses on how the system or organization impacts the wellness of the individual health care provider.
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Victoria Zhou, MD
Interim Assistant Program Director
University of Vermont EM Residency
Victoria "Vicki" Zhou is an Interim Assistant Program Director at the University of Vermont EM Residency. Dr. Zhou attended medical school at the University of Rochester and completed her residency in emergency medicine at the Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania. -
Amanda J. Deutsch, MD
Thomas Jefferson University
Dr. Amanda J. Deutsch, MD is a Clinical Assistant Professor and Director of Well-Being for the Department of Emergency Medicine at Thomas Jefferson University. Dr. Deutsch earned her undergraduate degree at Harvard University. She subsequently completed her post-baccalaureate and did quality improvement research at Boston Children’s Hospital before starting her career as a medical student at the University of Iowa, where she is from. She completed an Emergency Medicine residency at the University of Pennsylvania, where she completed a track in Healthcare Leadership and Quality Improvement. She most recently completed a fellowship in Physician Wellness at Stanford Emergency Medicine. In her inaugural role as Director of Well-Being at the Department of Emergency Medicine at Thomas Jefferson University she combines her interests in clinical operations, process improvements and well-being.
Dr. Deutsch chairs the #StopTheStigmaEM subcommittee and hopes to normalize conversations around mental health for emergency medicine physicians, address barriers, and foster better mental health care for emergency medicine. Her interests include focusing on gratitude and appreciation to develop a sense of community and a team that can excel for their patients without the cost of their interests, self, and career. Dr. Deutsch loves to tweak process improvements to help foster well-being.
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Al'ai Alvarez, MD
Stanford Emergency Medicine
Al'ai Alvarez, MD (@alvarezzzy) is a national leader and educator on wellness, diversity, equity, and Inclusion. He is a clinical associate professor of Emergency Medicine (EM) and Well-Being Director at Stanford Emergency Medicine. He co-leads the Human Potential Team and serves as the Stanford EM Physician Wellness Fellowship Director. He is the Chair of the Stanford WellMD's Physician Wellness Forum and Director of the Physician Resource Network (PRN) Support Program. His work focuses on humanizing physician roles as individuals and teams by harnessing the individual human potential in the context of high-performance teams. This includes optimizing the interconnectedness between Process Improvement (Quality and Clinical Operations), Recruitment (Diversity and Representation), and Well-being (Inclusion and Belonging). He is one of the 2021-2022 Faculty Fellows at the Stanford Byers Center for Biodesign.
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Teri Brister, PhD
Senior Advisor
National Alliance on Mental Illness (NAMI)
Teri Brister, PhD, is senior advisor at the National Alliance on Mental Illness (NAMI). She collaborates with NAMI's medical office to ensure all clinical content meets the highest standards of accuracy, relevance, and value, and is supported by research. Dr. Brister also serves as a subject matter expert on NAMI's National Signature Programs and works with members of the executive team to establish and maintain partnerships that advance NAMI's resources. She is the author of NAMI Basics and co-author of the NAMI Homefront program. From July 2018 to June 2024, she served as the patient and family engagement expert for the SAMHSA-funded APA SMI Adviser project. Before joining NAMI in 2005, Dr. Brister worked for 20 years in the community mental health system in Mississippi, holding both clinical and administrative roles, including assistant executive director at two centers. Dr. Brister is a licensed professional counselor in Mississippi. -
Jason T. Siegel, PhD
Professor, Social Psychology
Claremont Graduate University
Jason T. Siegel, PhD, is a professor of social psychology at Claremont Graduate University, where he directs the Depression and Persuasion Research Lab. His scholarship examines the intersection of message features and the cognitive profile of people with depression to develop messages that encourage help-seeking among this population. He also explores message approaches for enhancing the social support available to people with depression. Siegel has been a principal investigator or co-investigator for more than $25 million in grants and contracts. He is currently working on a federally funded grant to increase help-seeking among military members. HCA Healthcare also sponsors Siegel to conduct research aimed at improving the well-being of their medical residents. He has served, or is currently serving, on the editorial boards of journals, including Health Psychology, Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin, and Health Communication. Siegel is co-editor of Wiley's Handbook of Mental Health Communication and is co-editing a special issue for Stigma and Health on the unintended effects of anti-stigma campaigns.