This month JC is one week early, and I am happy to report that we have been invited back to Smartmouth Brewing. This also marks our last JC for the academic year, and I want to thank all of our presenters and  participants for your efforts in trying to keep JC a useful educational activity through the pandemic. We will be closing out the year with our amazing Academic Fellow, colleague and friend, Barbara Beauchamp who will be moderating our discussion regarding social disparities in EM. This topic encompasses the inequities that our patients face in the emergency department as well as in the prehospital setting. There have been many racial health disparities related to COVID-19 that we all have witnessed during this pandemic. Poorer outcomes have been shown to be associated with economic and health disparities. Many of you have demonstrated great passion for this topic throughout your residency training and have found ways to advocate for the less fortunate. The inequities we witness cannot be easily fixed, but there is a role for us to work towards improving these inequities and we look forward to sharing our experiences. 

This topic also encompasses the disparities in gender and ethnicity in the emergency medicine workforce. The articles for this JC do not include this topic, but it is also important to note. We have included some additional links for those interested in exploring the topic further.Hope to see you there! Charlie

For additional content:  

·       Disparities in Health and Health Care: Five Key Questions and Answers

       Health Care Disparities in Emergency Medicine

·       Unequal Treatment: Confronting Racial and Ethnic Disparities in Health Care

·        Prioritizing Equity: The Root Cause from the American Medical Association.

Kennel J, et al., Racial/Ethnic Disparities in Pain Treatment: Evidence From Oregon Emergency Medical Services Agencies. Med Care. 2019 Dec;57(12):924-929

Zhang X, et al.,Racial and Ethnic Disparities in Emergency Department Care and Health Outcomes Among Children in the United States. Front Pediatr. 2019 Dec 19;7

Lee P, et al., Racial and ethnic disparities in the management of acute pain in US emergency departments: Meta-analysis and systematic review. Am J Emerg Med. 2019 Sep;37(9):1770-1777.