Ethics

The AAEM Ethics Committee is responsible for drafting and maintaining both AAEM’s Code of Ethics and Principles of Ethics. These policies are then approved and adopted by the AAEM Board of Directors.

Caring for coronavirus patients has brought unforeseen challenges into our practice of emergency medicine. From explaining visitor restriction policies to having daily goals of care conversations over the phone, COVID-19 has changed our practice and challenged our sense of what it means to do the “right thing” for our patients. AAEM wants to hear about your successes and struggles while caring for your patients during the pandemic. We are hoping to compile and share voices from all different practice environments in hopes of processing and learning from our experiences together as physicians.

• AAEM & AAEM/RSA Oppose the EDUCATE Act

  April 24, 2024

  Last year, The American Academy of Emergency Medicine (AAEM) and the AAEM Resident and Student Association (AAEM/RSA) proudly signed on, with eight other emergency medicine organizations, to the All EM DEI Vision Statement. In the wake of the Anti-DEI Medical Education Legislation, the Embracing Anti-Discrimination, Unbiased Curriculum, and Advancing Truth in Education  (EDUCATE) act (H.R.7725); […]

• Statement on Bias

  November 6, 2023

  The American Academy of Emergency Medicine strives daily to live our mission statement.  Multiple parts of this statement refer to our strong and unwavering belief that all people must be treated equally with respect and without discrimination in any form. Current geopolitical events, most recently in the Middle East, but also in many other parts […]

• Recommendations for the Navigation of Moral Dilemmas during the COVID Pandemic

  February 22, 2021

  Emergency Physicians are at potential risk for moral conflict and burnout when trying to accommodate the many challenges for caring for seriously ill patients in the ED. The patient care needs and what the physician “feels is right” have become more apparent with the large volume of patients requiring treatment during the COVID-19 pandemic. There […]

• AAEM Ethics Committee Position Statement

  November 12, 2020

  Chair: Al Giwa, MD MBA MBE FAAEMVice Chair: Jennifer Gemmill, MD FAAEM Position Statement Subgroup:Alfredo Urdaneta, MD FAAEM (Lead)Al Giwa, MD MBA MBE FAAEMDan Mayer, MD FAAEMMatthew Turney, MD FAAEM AAEM Ethics Committee Position Statement As professionals, physicians must aspire to live a morally upstanding life, both in our professional and personal spaces. Physicians must […]

• AAEM Position Statement on Ethical Expert Conduct and Testimony

  October 24, 2005

  The American Academy of Emergency Medicine believes the following principles to be essential to the ethical conduct of an expert offering opinions or testimony in medical legal matters. Violation of these principles constitutes a violation of the Academy’s Ethics policy and may be subject to sanctions as described there-in. Expert Testimony as Medical Practice Provision […]

• “First, Do No Harm” by Melissa Myers, MD FAAEM and Al Giwa, MD FAAEM, March/April 2023
• Respect for Autonomy by Melissa Myers, MD FAAEM and Alfredo Urdaneta, MD FAAEM, November/December 2022
• Not Burnout: Moral Injury in the ED by Melissa Myers, MD FAAEM, Jennifer Gemmil, MD FAAEM, and Al O. Giwa, LLB MD MBA FAAEM, November/December 2021
• Questions by Melissa Myers, MD FAAEM and Jennifer Gemmill, MD FAAEM, January/February 2021

If you are interested in joining our committee, apply today!

Appointments are confirmed on a quarterly basis (January, April, July, October).