Common Sense
Common Sense is a bi-monthly member magazine that reports on all AAEM activities and news from the world of emergency medicine. It is delivered to the AAEM membership* six times a year, which currently stands at over 8,000 emergency physicians, residents, and others with an interest in emergency medicine. * International members receive an online subscription only.
Submit an Article for Common Sense
View article submission guidelines, submit an updated copyright form, submit an article, and view article submission deadlines at the link below
Interested in submitting an article? Learn more.
Current Issue: September/October 2021
President's Message
September/October 2021
Perception is Everything
Author:
One of the principles I learned when, prior to medical school, I trained to be a psychotherapist is that when individuals are relating events, there is no objective truth. Each person will tell what happened through the lens of his own experience, based on her own perception, from his own vantage point, and may even see things differently years later when new life events have been experienced.
July/August 2021
The State of the Academy: It’s GREAT
Author:
When you read this, you will have returned, physically or virtually, from what I believe (writing this in early June) is going to be the most fantastic post-isolation reunion of emergency physicians. AAEM will have hosted the first in-person meeting in EM since March 2020.
From the Editor's Desk
September/October 2021
The Emergency Physician as Plaintiff
Author:
Political activism in support of emergency medicine can take many forms. Traditionally, political activism by physicians has taken the form of membership in county, state, and national medical societies who lobby various branches of state and national governments related to specific issues and bills, which are pending. Some more involved physicians write or call their state and national elected officials asking for their support or opposition to bills pending in the respective state legislatures or in our nation’s capital.
July/August 2021
The New Threat
Author:
Well another Scientific Assembly has concluded in St. Louis. The very fact that it was held at all was a minor miracle with all of the uncertainties and challenges which COVID presented. The discussion and decisions which had to be made to make this meeting happen were significant, but AAEM held a hybrid in-person and virtual meeting and over 400 emergency physicians gathered in St. Louis for the conference.
Dollars & Sense
July/August 2020
Disability and Life...Another Option!
Author:
Young doctors are the ripest of "low hanging fruit" for insurance sales agents. You will have, early in your training, friendly, affectionate, insurance sales people tracking you like a pack of slobbering hounds.
May/June 2019
Three Questions
Author:
As I progress in my career, I find myself getting busier and busier. Some of it is my own doing...
Featured Articles
September/October 2021
An Interview with Representative Troy A. Carter, Sr.
Author:
Welcome to the next installment of Common Sense’s Legislators in the News column. This column is designed to help you get to know your legislators, understand the legislative process and how you can influence it, and strengthen the Academy’s relationship with our lawmakers for the purpose of improving the working conditions of physicians and the health care of the nation.
July/August 2021
An Interview with Representative Mark Green, MD
Author:
Welcome to the second installment of our new Common Sense column, designed to help you get to know your legislators, understand the legislative process and how you can influence it, and strengthen the Academy’s relationship with our lawmakers for the purpose of improving the working conditions of physicians and the health care of the nation. This issue, we interview Congressman Dr. Mark Green (R-TN). Rep. Green is an emergency physician and has recently introduced health related legislation pertinent to emergency medicine.
Additional Articles
As the editor of AAEM's bi-monthly newsletter Common Sense, Dr. Mayer welcomes your comments and suggestions. You can easily reach Dr. Mayer by submitting letters to the editor using the online form.
The Master of AAEM Series
- Achieving Great Outcomes in Your Discharged ED Patients - Tom Scaletta, MD MAAEM FAAEM
- AAEM: Now More Than Ever! - Larry Weiss, MD JD MAAEM FAAEM
- Welcome to the Tribe: Thoughts on Starting Out in EM - Joe Lex, MD MAAEM FAAEM
- Where Would EM be Without AAEM? - Robert McNamara, MD MAAEM FAAEM
Medical Liability - State by State
- Part 1: Alabama-Florida
- Part 2: Georgia-Maine
- Part 3: Maryland-North Dakota
- Part 4: Ohio-Rhode Island
- Part 5: South Carolina-Wyoming
- The Final Summary
Cracking the Code: Fixing the Crowded Emergency Department
- Part 1: Building the Burning Platform
- Part 2: Creating the Analytic Model
- Part 3: Implementing the Solution