Harvard Affiliated Emergency Medicine Residency

Practicing emergency medicine at HAEMR means caring for all members of society without discrimination and striving for equitable health care. We are on the front lines of public health and violence that disproportionately targets Black communities and is a public health crisis. Being on the frontlines, we have witnessed the disproportional impact of COVID-19 and institutional racism on Black and Brown communities. We commit to fighting both COVID and institutional racism, while continuing to advocate for the Black community inside and outside of the emergency department. BLACK LIVES MATTER! 

Our program offers exemplary clinical training, extensive 1-on-1 mentorship, institutional resources and academic opportunities that allow us to dream big. As a program, we believe and embrace the idea that diversity drives excellence, inclusion is imperative and a sense of belonging allows residents to bring their authentic selves to our program and hospitals. A diverse resident body allows trainees to learn from each other’s lived experiences and cultivates an inclusive environment for our program, patients and colleagues. Diversity comes in many forms including race, ethnicity, language spoken, sexual orientation, gender identity, disability, religion, country of origin and educational background. We are committed to providing a training experience that embraces inclusion and to increasing representation of residents from varied backgrounds reflective of the patients we serve. We believe that this will help mitigate disparities in healthcare and allow the development of deeper empathy, understanding and respect for the communities we serve around our hospitals.  

In this section:

• HAEMR Roots
• HAEMR Women’s Initiative
• Social EM
• HAEMR Gives
• FLIP
• Institutional Support
• Visiting Clerkship Program

HAEMR ROOTS is a resident-driven initiative that strives to create an academic and cultural environment where everyone can thrive. From race and ethnicity to sexual identity and socioeconomic background, diversity comes in many shapes and sizes. We are committed to highlighting and embracing the life experiences that make each of our residents unique and creating a safe space for everyone in our residency to speak up against instances of discrimination.  

Here are some examples of the initiatives we have undertaken to support this mission:

1. Created the annual HAEMR ROOTS Biosheet, highlighting the vast diversity of our residents, with future plans to include fellows/faculty
2. Proactively contacted URiM applicants early in the application process in order to increase and maintain diversity within our resident body.
3. Elicited feedback on how to improve our diversity, equity, and inclusion via an end-of-cycle interviewee survey. 

Don’t hesitate to reach out to the HAEMR Roots Chair, Vanni Rodriguez, PGY3, at any time at grodriguez17@bwh.harvard.edu.

The MGH and BWH Departments of Emergency Medicine support and promote the success of our women residents, and the HAEMR Women’s Initiative (HWI) is devoted to enacting that commitment. We are a community of women residents at HAEMR working to identify and address some of the challenges of working in Emergency Medicine that are specific to women. We represent a wide diversity of backgrounds and experiences coming together to offer mentorship and camaraderie as we all attempt to balance the imperatives of our professional and personal pursuits. The HWI meets regularly to plan residency-wide initiatives and career development opportunities, as well as opportunities for community involvement to encourage young women interested in careers in medicine. 

Mission: In service of the extraordinary coalition of female physicians at HAEMR, the HAEMR Women’s Initiative promotes the success, supports the development, and empowers the aspirations of the women residents in our program and the greater community.

AIMS:

Host biannual residency-wide meetings

Celebrate the academic awards and publications of HAEMR women

Address gaps and disparities in the experience of women in our EDs

Foster supportive environment for personal wellness

Provide mentorship for our residents in academic pursuits

Publish regular newsletter

Coordinate with local women in EM organizations

Serve our community by engaging young women interested in science and medicine

Please reach out to our current chairs with any questions:

Katie Mayes, PGY-3: kmayes@mgh.harvard.edu

Carrie Walsh, PGY-3: cdwalsh@bwh.harvard.edu

Jia Ahmad, PGY-2: njahmad@mgh.harvard.edu

Diana Bongiorno, PGY-2: dmbongiorno@mgh.harvard.edu

The Social Emergency Medicine Interest Academy is a group of residents committed to social justice and health equity in emergency medicine and the integration of this into our didactic programming and clinical practice.

Recent projects have included advocacy to provide suboxone from the ED to patients with opioid use disorder and creating pathways for safe discharge of homeless patients. We recently worked with our ED pharmacist, Bryan Hayes, PharmD (@PharmERToxGuy), and the MGH ED Pharmacy, on an initiative to provide free prepackaged “to-go” medications to uninsured, homeless, and otherwise socially vulnerable patients with infections that can be treated on an outpatient basis.

We also launched a Health Equity Curriculum, which included the events below. See our virtual SAEM presentation for more details about the curriculum.

Recent Publications

Molina M, Chary A, Baugh JJ, Ludy S, Ginart P, Dadabhoy FZ, Samuels-Kalow ME, Slutzman JE, Raja A, Hayes B. To-Go Medications as a Means to Treat Discharged Emergency Department Patients during COVID-19. American Journal of Emergency Medicine, 2020 Jun 1:S0735-6757(20)30461-7.

Molina M, Landry A, Chary A, Burnett-Bowie S. Addressing the Elephant in the Room: Microaggressions in Medicine. Annals of Emergency Medicine, 2020.

Im D, Chary A, Condella A, Vongsachang H, Carlson L, Vogel L, Martin A, Kunzler N, Weiner S, Samuels-Kalow M. Emergency department clinicians’ attitudes towards opioid use disorder and emergency department-initiated buprenorphine treatment: a mixed-methods study. Western Journal of Emergency Medicine, 2020;21(2):1-11. PMID: 32191184

Resources

Algorithm for Unbiased De-escalation of Agitated Patients in the ED
by Anita Chary, Farah Dadabhoy, Melanie Molina, and Emily Cleveland

Our Mission

The Harvard Affiliated Emergency Medicine Residency’s HAEMR Gives program aims to improve the health outcomes of vulnerable patient populations through community health outreach, advocacy, and partnership.

Values and Vision

Honoring our Role in the Health Safety Net

As emergency providers, we hold ourselves accountable to meeting the needs of our patient population. As emergency physicians, we are committed to taking care of all patients, particularly the most vulnerable patients who lack access to other avenues of care, whose medical needs and concerns often start upstream of the moment we see them in the emergency department, and who seek respite by walking through our doors. We strive to establish a stronger safety net for our community.

Leveraging our Vantage Point

The emergency department provides a vantage point to the health needs of the population. Emergency physicians get to see the direct effects of systems that have stopped working, that have left some behind, that are absent. The Harvard Affiliated Emergency Medicine Residency recognizes what a unique privilege it is to serve in our care setting–at the intersection between health care and public health. We aim to advocate for the comprehensive health and social needs of our patient population.

Delivering Quality and Equitable Care

The ED serves as the primary entry point into the healthcare system for minority populations. As emergency providers, we pride ourselves in the egalitarian philosophy that espouses our approach to medical practice–those who are sickest and most in need are prioritized regardless of their social or economic status. However, historically marginalized patients face very real barriers in access to and quality of emergency medical treatment. We strive to create a more egalitarian system for emergency care delivery.

HAEMR Gives Initiatives

Crisis Standards of Care

• Concerned that published Crisis Standards of Care guidelines designed to help hospitals ration critical resources like ventilators and intensive care unit beds had the potential to disadvantage vulnerable patient populations, faculty and residents successfully campaigned institutional and civic leaders to reform guidelines for critical resource allocation.  Opinion: U.S. Must Avoid Building Racial Bias Into COVID-19 Emergency Guidance by Jossie Carreras Tartak, MD and Hazar Khidir, MD.
• Language Translation During Covid Recognizing that the Latinx community was one of the hardest hit by the Covid-19 pandemic, we developed translational materials to meet the language needs of our patients, including comprehensive discharge instructions on safe quarantining at home to protect loved ones.
• Establish outreach and partnership with health centers serving out most vulnerable populations: In 2020-2021 we aim to establish a longitudinal partnership with a federally qualified community health center serving a diverse patient population. Our engagement will involve philanthropic support and conducting outreach initiatives including health fairs.

The Front-Line Indigenous Partnership (FLIP) is a HAEMR-affiliated program that works to improve indigenous healthcare, serve healthcare providers working with indigenous populations, and increase indigenous representation in healthcare. As a HAEMR resident, you can complete clinical rotations to Tséhootsooí Medical Center (TMC) in Flagstaff, Arizona, Gallup Indian Medical Center in Gallup, New Mexico, and/or San Carlos Apache Healthcare in Peridot Arizona during your elective time. These sites offer a unique environment to learn about the Indian Health Service (IHS) and Tribal Healthcare systems, while also honing your clinical skills in a different clinical context. HAEMR grads have gone on to serve in leadership positions at IHS sites across the country. FLIP will connect interested residents with alumni to learn more about this career path. Individuals interested in medical education can also serve as mentors in the Ohiyesa Premedical Program and/or the Saint Michaels Indian School Premedical Society among others, designed to encourage Indigenous youth interested in healthcare and increase their representation in medical schools and other healthcare professions around the country. Launched in 2021, FLIP continues to grow and expand, seeking leadership and input from motivated residents. We would love to have you join us! Residents are encouraged to partner with this program for opportunities in education, research, and leadership. Please visit www.the-flip.org or reach out to flip@partners.org to learn more.