ACCP Meets With American College of Emergency Physicians

October 07, 2020

In follow-up to the September 16 ACCP response to the joint statement issued by the emergency medicine physician community regarding the postgraduate training of nurse practitioners and physician assistants, ACCP was invited to meet with leaders of the American College of Emergency Physicians (ACEP). That meeting occurred earlier today by videoconference – ACEP was represented by Executive Director Susan Sedory, MA, CAE, and President William P. Jaquis, MD, MSHQS, FACEP. President Brian Erstad and Executive Director Michael Maddux attended the meeting on behalf of ACCP.

ACCP’s September 16 response expressed concern about the joint statement’s suggestion that the terminology used in residency and fellowship training be limited to medical school graduates and that physicians determine the standards for postgraduate education/training and scope of practice for other health care professions. ACEP subsequently released its own clarifying “Statement on Physician-Led Teams,” emphasizing its commitment to a “team approach” to delivery of high-quality patient care in emergency departments. Further, the statement reinforced ACEP’s belief in the valued role of other health care professionals as members of the emergency care team, a point that Dr. Jaquis stressed during the meeting.

Dr. Erstad acknowledged that ACCP recognized that clinical pharmacists were not the object of the joint statement, commenting, “We saw that pharmacists were not even mentioned.” However, he reiterated that ACCP was particularly concerned about the narrow definitions of residency and fellowship articulated in the joint statement. ACEP leadership pointed to its support of postgraduate pharmacy training, citing the June 2015 ACEP Statement, “Clinical Pharmacist Services in the Emergency Department,” wherein the organization “encourages emergency medicine rotations for pharmacy residents and clinical research regarding pharmacist access in the ED.”

Both organizations reiterated their commitment to high-quality, team-based care and agreed to keep the lines of communication open in order to continue to advance interprofessional practice and training.