On October 9, 2023, the American College of Emergency Physicians (ACEP) will host its annual national conference for ER doctors at ACEP 2023. This year’s conference will be held in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. The keynote speaker slot is sponsored by Biomerieux, a French medical company that reaped massive profits from COVID-19 test sales. The medical industrial complex continues to wield substantial power and influence.

Over a year after the COVID-19 pandemic was declared over, ACEP continues to require strict COVID-19 protocols that most of the nation rightfully has moved away from. It is unclear if this is extreme caution or fearmongering to keep the American public on edge. The ACEP 2023 website explains its COVID policies:

• All attendees must either have completed the initial vaccine series or has to have approved medical exemptions/waivers.
• All attendees must attest to vaccination status
• All attendees must attest to a negative COVID-19 antigen test performed less than 24 hours before the start of the convention
• Mask are strongly encouraged during the entire conference
• All attendees are encouraged to maintain social distancing, even while eating during breaks

For comparison, the author is a practicing ER doctor and attended a rock concert with over 40,000 unmasked fans two days ago without fear or hesitation.

The past year has seen many significant health issues plaguing Americans. Ongoing cardiovascular disease deaths, mental health issues, inner-city violence, and record drug deaths loom over America’s health. ACEP 23 has again chosen to largely ignore the most important health issues of 2023 and instead is showcasing an extensive lecture series on Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion. The following are all included in the program[:

Inclusive Cardiovascular Care: The Time for Equity is Now

Uncharted Waters: Navigating Post-Roe Practice (Colin C. Rorrie, Jr. Lecture)

ACEP DEI Annual Committee meeting

ACEP Spokesperson Media Training (2 separate sessions)

Description: Learn how to communicate and deliver key messages to both the media and other stakeholders. The session will include role-play scenarios for a variety of media interview formats and include topics such as crisis situations, policy discussions, and other critical issues facing today’s emergency physicians.

Belonging: The Intersection of Diversity, Equity and Inclusion and Physician Well-Being:

 Description: Diversity is key to the success of medicine, yet despite efforts, trends have not been reassuring. Underrepresented in medicine encounter barriers such as imposter syndrome, microaggression, and implicit bias…. Belonging is critical in efforts to advance equity and inclusion.

Diversity, Equity and, Inclusion: Where We Are, Where We Are Going, and Best Practices To Get There

Description: A diverse workforce is optimal for the success of teams and organizations. This course will review the progress that has been made in EM and the improvements in outcomes thus far. Techniques that can improve the diversity of EM physicians at your workplace will also be discussed.

Diagnosis: Medical Racism: What’s the Treatment?

Description: Implicit bias and racism have promoted health care disparities that affect emergency care. The speaker will present data illustrating the results of these disparities in addition to exploring actions you can take as a citizen, emergency physician, and neighbor to create and improve public health, hospital, and departmental policies aimed to eliminate healthcare disparities.  

 Emergency Care for Transgender Patients

Description: The ability to provide sensitive and effective care for transgender patients is a basic cultural competency for emergency physicians. Yet, emergency physicians receive little formal training on the care of this population which contributes to healthcare disparities.

How to Talk About Race and Medicine With Patients

Description: Our current climate has acknowledged racism in medicine, however, it can be difficult to have this conversation with patients when medicine is still majority white. This lecture will highlight the importance of emotional intelligence, cultural humility, and skills to use when having conversations about race in the emergency department.

Unlearning Implicit Bias

Description: Implicit bias is real and may be affecting our teaching and mentoring more dramatically than we realize. This course will teach learners to identify implicit bias and will provide techniques to unlearn these behaviors.

During the conference ,ACEP’s current president, Dr Christopher Kang will hand over the reins to the new ACEP President Dr Aisha Terry, who will likely continue the woke policies of ACEP. After being elected, she reposted the following tweet: “This is the roadmap to use existing quality measures to advance health equity and reduce disparities in emergency care - - could be implemented now!”

American health care needs non-partisan leaders to solve problems, not an endless stream of doctors weaponizing medicine to serve the Democrat Party and its agenda.

Image: American College of Emergency Physicians