Committee Participation and the Development of Policies and Procedures

Abstract

Emergency physicians are uniquely qualified to be decision-makers in our departments, hospitals, and communities. We interact with patients, administrators, a broad range of physician colleagues, and our communities on a daily basis and are trained to make decisions collaboratively and efficiently. While emergency physicians tend to avoid the board room in favor of action, hands-on patient care, and any place they can wear scrubs, if emergency physicians are not represented when decisions are made about our medical environments and our jobs, we often find ourselves unhappy and unsatisfied. We tend to like to be in control, and to do that we need to be at the table to provide others with our insider view of our departments and to help craft the workflow, resources, and policies that allow us to work efficiently and care for our patients. Additionally, working on committees and the development of policies and procedures can lead to and/or open up various other opportunities for emergency physicians, diversifying your career.