People

Zachary Boivin, MD

Secretary

Yale School of Medicine

My name is Zach Boivin, an ultrasound faculty member at Yale, and I am running for a secretary position for AEUS. Since starting fellowship, I have always enjoyed being active in both the AEUS and ACEP ultrasound sections, and have worked closely with AEUS to develop Probing the Literature sessions, sonogames round 2 stations, an ocular POCUS narrated lecture video, and more. My goal as member-at-large is to increase the number of members who get involved in AEUS activities to give a chance for all ultrasound faculty members, residents, and medical students with an interest in POCUS to shine.

Additionally, I would work to foster increased collaboration across AEUS committees to ensure members know of all opportunities to get involved. There are so many amazing AEUS members with different strengths and skill sets that can be utilized to further the goals of the section and I hope to work closely with everyone!

Jackie Jian, DO

Secretary

Guthrie Clinic Robert Packer Hospital

My name is Jackie Jian and I am running for the position of secretary for AEUS. I am currently an assistant professor at Geisinger Commonwealth School of Medicine, the emergency department ultrasound director at Guthrie Clinic Robert Packer Hospital, and core faculty for the emergency medicine residency. I finished my EUS fellowship at NYP-Brooklyn Methodist in 2023 and I obtained my AEMUS-FPD status in 2024.

My first exposure to SAEM and AEUS began with Sonogames in my third year of residency in 2021. I was able to appreciate AEUS’s dedication to its educational mission despite the difficulties of organizing a virtual competition due to the COVID19 pandemic. Invigorated with the gamification of learning, my team and I won 1st place in Sonogames 2022 and I have been involved as a station moderator since then.

I am running for secretary at AEUS to specifically contribute to its mission of resident education and outreach to increase the amount of members in AEUS. There are potential members among non-fellowship trained physicians who may be intimidated to join a community of stellar but ultra specialized ultrasound clinicians. I also want to focus on how to best assess our resident learners; while there is the SDOT model to assess image acquisition, there is no standardized assessment of their ultrasound interpretation skills. I believe AEUS is the perfect community to establish these guidelines and to write the exam.

Peter Dominguez, MD

Resident Member

UF Health Jacksonville

My name is Peter Dominguez and I am a second year resident interested in furthering the advancements of ultrasound in the emergency department setting. I would like to contribute to the progression of sonography with diagnostic and interventional utility in emergency medicine. Even before my training began, I noticed the potential applications of ultrasound and had a desire to contribute to the development of its foundation in all department settings. I aim to provide appropriate guidance in making this possible by sharing resident and faculty experiences and create an environment where this essential tool is better supported in emergency medicine.

Yusuke Kishimoto, MD

Resident Member

University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences

My name is Yusuke Kishimoto, PGY2 from University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences (UAMS), and I am running for AEUS Executive Committee's resident representative.

My interest in ultrasound started during my 4th year elective ultrasound rotation. Running around the department with the bulky X-porte, scanning as many patients as I could. I fell in love with POCUS’ versatility and utility in the department as well as providing dynamic real-time diagnostics for patients. As I attended various scientific assemblies, I became acquainted with many ultrasound pioneers from around the country and was inspired by their expertise, knowledge, and passion for the field. What excited me most was the explosive advancements just short of a quarter-century after it’s utilization in the department; the current frontier of applications in the prehospital setting, US-guided block curriculum, realistic SIM training, and even VR integration. All the aforementioned reasons are what moved me to learn more about how I could contribute and be a part of this community. In the future, I hope to share this excitement and inspiration for future students and colleagues as my mentors have for me. Currently serving on multiple national committees including AAEM/RSA (Board of Representatives, Cabinet of Delegates) and ACEP/EMRA (Arkansas Chapter Representative), I hope to bring my experience in leadership, advocacy, and education development for this position.

Liang Liu, MD

President-Elect

Emory University

I am an Associate Professor in the Department of Emergency Medicine and the Ultrasound Fellowship Director at Emory University. I completed my residency and fellowship training at Parkland Health & Hospital System in Dallas, TX . I am fellowship trained in Emergency Disaster and Global Health (EDGH) and Emergency Ultrasound. Since fellowship I have been an active member of and served leadership positions within several national ultrasound organizations. Specific to AEUS, I have served previously as the immediate-past treasurer of AEUS and am continuing to work with AEUS on several initiatives including the Narrated Lecture Series, the medical student awards committee, and as a member of the Sonogames Executive Planning Committee.

As a member of AEUS, I have directly benefited from the resources provided by the Academy. I have seen the organization’s active role in promoting educational and research initiatives that advance the field of ultrasound. Through my involvement with SAEM, I have been granted the opportunity to see the inner workings of the academy and the organization as a whole. This has equipped me with the skills, institutional knowledge and mentorship needed to step into the role of president-elect for AEUS. As president, I hope to further AEUS’s research and educational missions and continue the work that has been started: expand our educational offerings, make content more accessible to the community, build opportunities to engage and promote members, and find ways that we can work with other academies and interest groups within SAEM to further our shared missions.

Trent She, MD

Member-at-Large

Hartford Hospital/University of Connecticut

I have been nominated and am running to be a Member-at-Large on the AEUS Executive Committee for the next year. To tell the membership a little about me, I am currently the Ultrasound Director at Hartford Hospital and am Fellowship Director for the Clinical Ultrasound Fellowship at the University of Connecticut/Hartford Hospital program. I finished medical school at Jefferson Medical College in Philadelphia, did emergency medicine residency at Mount Sinai Beth Israel and Clinical Ultrasound Fellowship at Mount Sinai St. Luke's West. I've been at Hartford Hospital and living in central Connecticut for the past 5 years and work with the emergency medicine residency from the University of Connecticut and enjoy the outdoors life with my wife and my 2-year old daughter.

I've always enjoyed teaching and working with learners of all types. To this end, I've sought positions both in my own institution, locally, regionally and nationally that would allow me greater exposure to experts in ultrasound education. I've been fortunate to work with some really smart, driven and amazing people in the ultrasound community in the six years since residency graduation and I would love to pay the ultrasound and greater emergency medicine community back.

I already do work with SAEM in a number of ways: I participate in Sonogames - probably the largest gathering of emergency medicine sonographers - as a question writer last year (winning an award for the Best Written Round 1 question) and will be one of the Round 2 section leads for Sonogames 2025 in Philadelphia this year. Every year, I have encouraged a team from our residency to participate in the Games and was fortunate to see our UConn residents win in 2022. Our now graduated fellow also updated the pneumothorax lecture of the Narrated Lecture series (which is now available on the AEUS Youtube channel).

As a Member-at-Large, my job and inititative will be to see what projects are currently underway through our ultrasound section and seek to help in anyway I can. Although I have an interest in ultrasound education, I also want to be an active and contributing member and will first plan to join any projects that need help and assistance. In addition, I also intend to invest myself in projects if I am not given anything to explicitly finish or whatever the Executive Committee will have me do.

Additionally, I hope to help strengthen mentorship programs within AEUS; it is only fair that with the mentorship and teaching that I received that I also be active in reciprocating. Further, I believe in the importance of promoting research and scholarly activity within our community. I have been able to partake in multicenter research and scholarly activity simply from being responsive to email and listserv opportunities through SAEM and these efforts have been instrumental in giving me the experience to advocate for research at my home institution. These type of collaborative efforts are sometimes difficult to start for young faculty, residents or medical students but with the strength of an organization backing strong experts in the field, these are important projects that should be pursued.

As proof of my interest and dedication to teaching, I have received several awards for excellence in education, including teaching awards from the emergency medicine residencies I have been a part of, the ACEP Junior Faculty Teaching Award and the ACEP Ultrasound Future Leader in Education Award.

For anyone reading this, thank you for taking the time out of your busy day to consider me. I promise that my training, educational and professional experiences, and active engagement with multiple societies (including SAEM) have prepared me for the responsibilities of a being a Member-at-Large on the Academy of Emergency Ultrasound board. I would be honored and thankful to have your support and I look forward to the opportunity to serve our organization and its members.

Rebecca Theophanous, MD

Member-at-Large

Duke University

I am an Associate Professor of Emergency Medicine at Duke University and Emergency Ultrasound Director at the Durham VA Healthcare System. As ultrasound faculty and prior ultrasound course director, I am very involved with our residency, teaching clinical ultrasound, performing weekly image review, presenting advanced ultrasound topics, and teaching at monthly resident simulation sessions. I am active in SAEM and our ultrasound community, presenting didactic and research-based talks at SCUF, SAEM, and AAEM. I have experience writing POCUS guidelines and policy on my hospital’s POCUS taskforce, writing documents on image acquisition, documentation, archiving, equipment maintenance, disinfection policies, and billing for POCUS users across all specialties.

As an ultrasound researcher, I obtained a Master of Health Sciences in Clinical Research at Duke. I have published on innovative three-dimensional ultrasound, am a resident research mentor, and have collaborated with other departments on antibiotic stewardship initiatives, demonstrating my research, teaching, and networking skills. With grant funding from SAEMF-AEUS, my implementation science research involved training VA ED providers on POCUS and developing a documentation and archiving system. Currently as part of the SAEM ARMED MedEd cohort, I am working on POCUS simulation models, resident and faculty development, and competency testing.

I have board experience serving as AAEM-EUS councilor and SCUF education subcommittee. I help plan and organize ultrasound educational and hands-on sessions at AAEM and other group initiatives including monthly podcast series and writing newsletter articles. Election to AEUS would integrate my researcher and educator backgrounds to expand learning and networking opportunities for members.

Maya Lin, MD

Member-at-Large

NYU Department of Emergency Medicine

Hi, I’m Maya, and I am applying for the position of Director at Large. Over the past decade, I have dedicated myself to teaching ultrasound and, in recent years, have actively sought to become more engaged in the ultrasound community. When I first embarked on my academic journey, I was both intimidated and inspired by the ultrasound pioneers who came before me. With the encouragement of wise mentors from outside my institution, I began to get involved at regional and national levels. This involvement has opened numerous opportunities and has been incredibly fulfilling.

I am passionate about providing mentorship and sponsorship to junior faculty, fellows, residents, and medical students. One of my key goals is to support junior faculty and engage residents early in their careers, fostering a deep appreciation for ultrasound. SAEM is one of my favorite organizations because it offers countless opportunities for learners and educators at all levels to share knowledge and network. I am committed to continuing to bring people together from the community and finding innovative ways to increase their participation in AEUS.

Lindsay Davis, MD

Member-at-Large

Boston University

AEUS has a long history of promoting the advancement of clinical ultrasound by supporting education, research and policy, and I would be honored to serve the ultrasound community in the role of member at large.

I earned my medical degree at Temple University School of Medicine in Philadelphia, PA and remained at Temple for residency training in Emergency Medicine. After residency, I moved to New York City to complete my Emergency Ultrasound Fellowship at NYU Langone Health/Bellevue Medical Center. I was recruited to join the Emergency Medicine Ultrasound Faculty at NYU in the role of Director of Resident Ultrasound Education and after a few years was promoted to Emergency Ultrasound Fellowship Director. In 2022, I joined the EM US faculty at Boston Medical Center, initially serving as the Director of the Medical Student US Elective, and now as the Emergency Ultrasound Fellowship Director.

My decision to pursue further training in the field of emergency ultrasound after residency was driven not only by a desire to become an expert in the field, but particularly to become an exceptional educator to future generations of EM physicians. Since completing fellowship, I have held various education leadership roles. In these roles I have developed innovative curricula and learning experiences, overseen scholarly projects, and mentored learners. I also participate in ultrasound education on a national scale, from collaborations with POCUS Atlas, to being an active member in the ACEP EUS Fellowship Subcommittee and the SCUF Education Committee. Volunteering as a judge at SonoGames for multiple years has been an experience I valued and has contributed to my desire to get more involved in AEUS.

I hope to utilize my skills in education, communication, organization and creativity to give back to this collaborative and dedicated POCUS community. As member at large, I would strive to support the President and executive board by taking on whatever projects are priorities to meet AEUS’s goals for the year. In particular, I would love to help create innovative education resources, brainstorm ways to increase our engagement with residents and provide more visibility and support for residents interested in pursuing fellowship, and create thoughtful initiatives and programming that promote diversity and inclusion in the ultrasound community. I think there are opportunities for AEUS to provide peer mentorship opportunities for junior faculty or faculty new to their leadership positions. Lastly, I hope to work with the Education Officer to put on the most large-scale, innovative, educational and fun SonoGames to date.

David Mackenzie, MD

Member-at-Large

Maine Medical Center

My name is David Mackenzie. I am the ultrasound director and medical director at Maine Medical Center in Portland, Maine and Associate Professor of Emergency Medicine at Tufts University. I completed medical school at McGill University (2008), EM residency at Brown (2012), and ultrasound fellowship at MGH before moving to Maine. I was the first ultrasound-trained faculty member at MMC, and as director have helped build our mature EUS program, now a division of 8 faculty. I co-founded our AEMUS fellowship and medical student ultrasound programming and curriculum integration as well as APP training and system-level ultrasound. I am an experienced educator and researcher; my interests are in hemodynamic monitoring, POCUS test performance, and ultrasound in global health.

AEUS plays an essential role in promoting ultrasound in EM and beyond, in developing the careers of fellows and junior faculty, and providing meaningful educational and research support to our community. Within AEUS, I have had the opportunity to serve as a Sonogames judge and station developer and on the SAEMMIES awards committee. Within the ultrasound community, I have served on the SCUF annual meeting planning committee and was program committee lead for SCUF23 in Portland. Earlier in my career I served on the board of PURE, working to develop ultrasound programs in global health settings. I welcome the opportunity to support the AEUS Executive Committee's strategic priorities as a member-at-large; my experience has me well positioned to support AEUS aims and to further support AEUS membership.

Robert Stenberg, MD

Education Officer

Cleveland Clinic Akron General

Hi, my name is Bob Stenberg, and I wish to be considered for the AEUS Education Officer. I am the Emergency Ultrasound Director at Cleveland Clinic Akron General as well as the Fellowship Director. I completed medical school at University of Wisconsin, residency at University of North Carolina, and fellowship at Virginia Commonwealth University. My focus is on education, with interests in nerve blocks, resuscitation and gamification. I currently serve as the Co-Chair of ACEP Critical Care/Resuscitation Subcommittee.

I love AEUS and Sonogames! I have published content on the AEUS website, run an annual 80+ learner regional games, and have participated in all rounds of Sonogames including a round 2 station lead. If I were elected, I would do my best to elevate Sonogames and continue creating online content, increasing ease and access for people to run local/regional operations. Thank you so much for your time and consideration.

Elizabeth Yetter, MD, MHPE

Education Officer

Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai

I’ve dedicated my career to ultrasound education and after contributing as a Sonogames Round 1 question writer and Round 2 station member, would love to contribute further to our educational endeavors and organization on a larger scale.

I have been fortunate to work with amazing mentors who continue to inspire me because of their continued passion to expand our scope and conjure up innovative ways to engage learners, from med students to attendings. To share my passion for education, I would like to promote learning through games and formative activities that any program can implement in a central, accessible repository similar to the one we have on our website. Overall, our executive committee has done a wonderful job promoting our field and I hope to contribute to their continuing efforts with expanding and updating the new educational videos, quiz questions, Sonogames, and other efforts.

David Haidar, MD

Education Officer

Northwestern Medicine

Thank you for considering me for a position on the AEUS Executive Committee. I hope that as a member of this committee, I can help support the educational mission of ultrasound programs nationally by providing educational resources, growing the community through social media and the spotlight series, and providing mentorship to residents, fellows, and other early faculty members of AEUS. As Director of Resident Ultrasound Education and AEMUS Fellowship Director, I have experience mentoring both fellows and residents and have a strong interest in helping to develop a standardized national ultrasound curriculum for graduating EM residents.

Through AEUS, I hope to work with other leaders in ultrasound education to help achieve this vision, especially now that ABEM has moved to incorporate ultrasound education in its new certifying exam. I have been lucky enough to earn multiple education focused awards, including the AEUS Rising Star in Education Award, the SCUF Newbie Award, and a SAEMMIE for Best Broadscale Innovation. I have also served on multiple committees including the SCUF24 Planning Committee, AEUS Social Media and Awards Committee, SonoGames Creative Team as both a judge and question writer, and served as the CORD Academic Assembly Resident Track Chair as a resident and fellow. I hope that my experience on these national committees will help me better serve the AEUS community. Thank you so much for your consideration! 

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 honored to be considered for a position on the RAMS Board.

I am a well qualified candidate for the RAMS Board, holding a Bachelor’s degree in Health Science Studies from Baylor University and a current 2nd year medical student at KansasCOM. My healthcare experience is rooted in diverse clinical settings, including internships with Abbott Vascular and Ascension Providence, and an Atlantis Fellowship in Italy, where I shadowed specialists in cardiology, orthopedics, and neurology. These roles provided firsthand exposure to patient interaction, clinical protocols, and the importance of research-backed approaches to care. During undergrad I served as a lead scribe in a Baylor Scott and White Emergency Department where I worked closely with physicians to train scribes, manage detailed patient records, identify data discrepancies, and ensure compliance with HIPAA standards. This experience has deepened my commitment to data accuracy, quality patient care, and the ongoing need for research-driven improvements in emergency medicine. Additionally, I bring leadership experience from my three years on Baylor’s Student Health Advisory Council, where I helped lead health outreach programs and advocated for student wellness. 

Currently, I serve as Secretary for the American College of Osteopathic Emergency Physicians where I manage administrative tasks, including organizing meeting minutes, event planning, and coordinating with medical professionals for educational lectures and simulation events. This position has deepened my understanding of the organizational needs of medical trainees and enhanced my ability to work collaboratively within a large, multifaceted organization. I am also involved in supporting the mission of the American College of Osteopathic Emergency Physicians (ACOEP) and their Resident and Student Organization (RSO), which fosters career development, osteopathic philosophy, and continuing education for emergency medicine students and residents.

My passion for advancing research is central to my candidacy. I believe emergency medicine thrives on innovation and continuous improvement, and I am committed to advocating for expanded resources that support member-led research, encourage high-quality submissions to national conferences, and promote professional development through evidence-based practices. By providing RAMS members with increased access to research tools, mentorship, and emerging medical knowledge, we can drive meaningful advancements in patient care.

I am running for a position on the RAMS Board because I am passionate about supporting my peers in their journey through academic emergency medicine. If elected, I plan to focus on three main objectives. First, I hope to strengthen mentorship programs by creating structured pathways that connect trainees with seasoned leaders in the field. Second, I aim to expand RAMS’ virtual educational resources, including workshops and case-based simulations, on topics such as AI in emergency medicine, telemedicine, and healthcare policy, to better prepare members for the evolving landscape of emergency care. Finally, I am committed to advocating for member well-being by supporting initiatives that promote work-life balance, mental health resources, and wellness practices for trainees.

Through my unique blend of clinical, academic, and leadership experiences, I am prepared to serve RAMS members by fostering a supportive community that prioritizes education, research, and personal well-being. I am excited about the opportunity to contribute to the growth of RAMS and help members achieve their professional and academic goals.

Thank you for considering my candidacy.

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 initially became interested in EM as I was finishing my BS in Biochemistry at UC Santa Barbara.  I figured, what better inroad to explore medicine than EM? So, I became an EMT, and concurrently volunteered in the Emergency Department at Santa Barbara Cottage Hospital.  After exploring interests in infectious diseases and public health at UC Berkeley and UCSF, I returned to EM as a Clinical Research Coordinator in the Center for Resuscitation Science, a research group in the Emergency Department at the Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania. While in Philadelphia, I worked on a project to provide COVID-19 testing to people experiencing homelessness, served as President of the Penn Pre-Health Program’s Student Government, and helped establish the Resuscitative TEE Collaborative Registry (rTEECoRe).  Now, in medical school, I remain active in the community by volunteering with Sacramento Street Medicine and at local elementary schools in the Sacramento area.

Throughout my journey, I have established so many fantastic relationships with people in EM and related disciplines. At the SAEM Annual Meeting in Phoenix last May, I enjoyed reconnecting with many of my colleagues, and I felt honored to meet so many exceptional practitioners of academic emergency medicine.  I feel at home within this community, so I would love to expand my role within SAEM.

This is my motto: whatever we wish to achieve, let’s do it together. As a RAMS Medical Student Representative, I want to connect with as many EM residents and medical students interested in EM as possible. I strive to harness resources and networks within SAEM to build a community that supports and advances the careers of all members.  In turn, I hope that you, the reader of this statement, will reach out to me with ideas, concerns, advice, or questions so that I may address them to the best of my ability.  I am excited to be part of your team!

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.

Carlisle Topping

Medical Student Representative

Yale University

I am a current medical student at Yale University pursuing my MD/MHS degree. I would make a great representative due to my passion for community, mentorship, and wellness. As a fifth-year research student, I have the time, experience, and flexibility to devote to amplifying the voices of medical students within RAMS.

I’m particularly passionate about creating a community and support system for medical students interested in Emergency Medicine. As an undergraduate at Columbia University, I was a member of the women’s soccer team. One of my favorite aspects of being an athlete was entering college with the built-in support system of my team. I love that RAMS brings together medical students and residents, and I hope to work with RAMS to create a welcoming, inclusive, and supportive environment for medical students as they prepare to enter the field of Emergency Medicine.

I have been involved with SAEM since my second year of medical school, when I attended the national SAEM conference in Austin, TX, to give an oral presentation on my research focused on Medicaid coverage of out-of-state abortions. As a medical student attending my first large conference, I was initially nervous and intimidated. However, I was pleasantly surprised by the conference’s fun and welcoming atmosphere. RAMS contributed to this by hosting a costume-encouraged POCUS competition, dodgeball tournament, and party for both medical students and residents. I would love to build on this spirit and ensure that everyone feels welcomed into the RAMS community, whether they are a first-year medical student or a final-year resident. 

In addition to attending SAEM, I recently joined the SAEM Workforce Committee and applied to continue to be involved in the next year. This aligns with my research interests as showcased by my thesis, which focuses on residency programs and rotation sites at for-profit vs. non-profit hospitals. I hope to contribute to SAEM through this committee as well as through RAMS.

I also have experience working with students and administrators in student leadership roles as a Women in Medicine leader and Emergency Medicine Interest Group leader. I enjoyed organizing events, including a book club event with Anne Gardiner Perkins, author of "Yale Needs Women," about the first female class at Yale College. Additionally, I am the student leader of Hamburg House (Yale school of medicine is adapting its own college system) and have helped organize our first House Cup. I would love to contribute my experience as a student leader to the RAMS board. 

As a RAMS medical student representative, I hope to amplify medical student voices and create stronger mentorship between residents and medical students. I would love to create more informal ways for medical students to connect with residents, encouraging greater medical student participation and interest in academic Emergency Medicine. Ideas to accomplish this include hosting statewide or smaller regional events such as POCUS competitions, social events, and conferences that bring together medical students and residents.

Thank you for your consideration; it would be an honor to serve as your medical student representative.

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.

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!