A graduate of Morehouse College, Cedric Dark, MD, MPH, FACEP earned his medical degree from New York University School of Medicine. He holds a master’s degree from the Mailman School of Public Health at Columbia University. He completed his residency training at George Washington University where he served as chief resident. Currently, Dr. Dark is an associate professor at the Henry J. N. Taub Department of Emergency Medicine at Baylor College of Medicine.
Dr. Dark is the 2017 recipient of the Texas Medical Association’s C. Frank Webber Award, a 2019 American College of Emergency Physicians Choosing Wisely Champion, the Emergency Medicine Residents’ Association 2021 Joseph F. Waeckerle Alumni of the Year Award, one of emergency medicine’s Top 45 Under 45, and on Elemental’s List of 50 Experts to Trust in a Pandemic. He is currently on the Board of Directors for Doctors for America and the medical editor-in-chief for ACEP Now, the official voice of emergency medicine.
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One Response to “Emergency Physicians Explore the Future of the Emergency Medicine Workforce”
October 27, 2021
Concerned ED DocWhile I appreciate the time and effort some of these doctors have put into conversing with the editor, I feel like they are quite out of touch from our major concerns.
NPs and PAs are in not “advanced practice.” They’re mid-level practice at best. Yes it would be great to use them in a team setting but in reality in most EDs around this country the volume and staffing doesnt permit the ED physician from in-time reviewing what they see and do. This leads to the façade of a team dynamic and physician led ED while in reality it just puts our licenses at risk.
The newer EM grads, especially those in the past 1-5 years of residency (not to mention those currently in residency) didn’t get into emergency medicine to do telemedicine. We became EM physicians because we appreciated the complexity, randomness, and high pace (at times) of emergency medicine. We wanted to do procedures while also being able to take care whatever came through the doors.
Yes, I agree we need to recruit and make wanting to work in a rural environment a priority but thats not going to solve the 9,000 additional grad problem in 9 years.
Do something to stop the proliferation of profit driven (ex: HCA) EM residency programs. Stop promoting the usage of NPs and PAs in place of physicians. Create standards that require staffing requirements and in-time supervision of patients with mid-levels. Promote transparency in billing practices in our names. Stop the “full practice authority” that has proliferated the NPs and created a false sense of equivalency with physicians.