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: November/December 2021
President's Message
November/December 2021
The Principle of Moral Proximity
Author:
A character in a novel I recently read learned that a colleague was making defamatory statements about a senior member of their profession who had not selected the colleague for an important committee. The statements were untrue and were damaging to the senior person’s reputation. Should she, the novel’s protagonist, confront her colleague, who was making these statements? Should she tell the person who was being gossiped about unfairly? What was her moral obligation? Is this her business?
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.
From the Editor's Desk
November/December 2021
We Need To Take Care of Our Children
Author:
The statement above was made at a recent AAEM Board of Directors meeting. It may sound like a strange statement to be made at such a meeting but it carries great significance. Most physicians believe that there is a duty for each physician to encourage, mentor, educate, protect, and to take care of the next generation of physicians.
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.
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
November/December 2021
An Interview with Congresswoman Dr. Kim Schrier
Author:
Welcome to the next installment of Legislators in the News. In this issue, we interview Congresswoman Dr. Kim Schrier (D-WA, US House of Representatives) who is a board certified pediatrician and only one of twofemale physicians, and the only Democratic female physician, currently serving in Congress. The Congresswoman is a staunch advocate of children and public health and supports the role of women in public policy.
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.
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