The ACOEP-RSO has been proudly representing its members at the biannual All Emergency Medicine Residents Organization and Students (AEROS) group meetings, where we have collaborated on several projects to advocate for emergency medicine (EM) residents and students regarding many issues such as maintaining a broad definition of scholarly activity for EM residents and the independent practice of EM by non-physician practitioners (NPP), most often nurse practitioners and physician assistants.

The ACOEP-RSO Board maintains the ACOEP’s position that emergency departments should be staffed by an American Osteopathic Board of Emergency Medicine (AOBEM) or American Board of Emergency Medicine (ABEM) Board Certified, or board-eligible, Emergency Physician(s) at all times. While NPPs are an integral part of the EM workforce, they should not provide unsupervised care. While the working relationship between EM residents and NPPs is not well defined, the ACOEP-RSO Board believes that EM residents and NPPs should work together in multi-disciplinary teams. 

We look forward to continued discussion and collaboration regarding this issue with our colleagues within the AEROS group.

Best,

Dhimitri A. Nikolla, DO
ACOEP-RSO Immediate Past President

The All Emergency Medicine Residents Organization and Students (AEROS) group was formed in Spring 2018 to bring together resident and student leaders from multiple emergency medicine organizations to collaborate on advocacy issues important to their members and patients. There is representation within the group from the American College of Graduate Medical Education – Emergency Medicine Review Committee (ACGME-EM RC), American Academy of Emergency Medicine Resident and Student Association (AAEM-RSA), American College of Osteopathic Emergency Physicians – Resident Student Organization (ACOEP-RSO), American Medical Association – Resident & Fellow Section (AMA-RFS), American Medical Association – Medical Student Section (AMA-MSS), Association of American Medical College (AAMC-ORR), Council of Emergency Medicine Residency Directors (CORD), Emergency Medicine Residents’ Association (EMRA), and the Society for Academic Emergency Medicine – Resident and Medical Students (SAEM-RAMS).