Thank you for entrusting me with the mantle of Medical Editor in Chief of the “Official Voice of Emergency Medicine.” Assuming the reins of ACEP Now from my predecessor is a heady endeavor and one that I do not take lightly. Our award-winning publication, as the voice of emergency physicians, requires that ACEP Now represents a diverse swath of our colleagues. Under my forerunner’s leadership, our magazine has accomplished that feat with features like FACEPs in the Crowd, which has highlighted the devotion with which ACEP members pursue interests apart from medicine.

I am blessed to take over as the Medical Editor in Chief for a magazine that already has a tremendously great lineup of columnists who have kept emergency docs—myself included—up-to-date on the latest medical literature, risk management tips, ultrasound pearls, and life hacks. I have no plans to change what ACEP Now has done well over the years.

But I do think we can improve on showing the emergency medicine community what ACEP members do, whether it is in the grueling and often unnoticed committee work or the fascinating activities undertaken by sections where we make a difference for our patients and our profession away from the bedside.

I also feel that, as the “Official Voice of Emergency Medicine,” ACEP Now must represent multiple viewpoints and address myriad concerns. Whether you practice in a community or academic setting, a rural or urban environment, whether you live in a blue state or red, and regardless of whether you are a member of ACEP or not, you can expect an editorially independent perspective that respects the inputs of every emergency physician.

We are the protagonists of our own stories, and ACEP Now is our means of speaking—not only to ourselves but to the world. When patients complain that “the doctor didn’t do anything” and reporters claim that emergency docs are responsible for a $600 Band-Aid, it is our duty to focus that narrative on the burdens we face taking care of every person who walks through our doors, 24-7-365, regardless of their ability to pay. Our EMTALA mandate gives the emergency physician an ethical construct that no other physician—dare I say no other American—can rival.  Emergency physicians meet this challenge on every shift and for every patient, so whenever employers threaten to fire us for speaking out about the lack of safeguards to protect ourselves, our families, and our communities amid a hopefully once-in-a-lifetime pandemic, it is ACEP Now’s duty to be the voice of emergency physicians.