Newsletters

POSTED: June 17th, 2022
POSTED IN: EM Pulse - The Official Newsletter of MOCEP, May/June 2022,

All I can say is what a wild ride the past two years have been. It is hard to believe, but the end of my presidential term has arrived.  I would never had guessed that Covid-19 would encompass my entire presidency, but it appears to have done that and still lingers. Despite the pandemic, I worked hard to ensure MOCEP continued to focus not just on Covid-19 issues, but other areas important to EM Physicians in Missouri.  The issues of downcoding and expanded scope of practice for nurse practitioners did not go away just because of a pandemic, but was used by some to further advance their issues. We also finally saw the passage of a statewide PDMP law, something we have been fighting for a very long time in Missouri.

I would like to commend the Educational Committee leadership, Drs Koboldt and Chukwuanu on a successful in-person event at the Margaritaville Resort at the Lake of the Ozarks.  The educational offerings were diverse and it was great to see many previous board members and executive leadership return to receive legacy awards. We were also sad to see Ted McMurray end a 30-year run on the MOCEP board. His years of service and providing a voice for EM Physicians in Southwest Missouri will be missed.

I recently read a book from 1980 that detailed the history of Shock Trauma at the University of Maryland. The founder of Shock Trauma R Adams Cowley is quoted as saying “The God’s truth is that most emergency rooms are awful…Even today you live or die depending on where you have your accident.” That quote may be over four decades old and in the interim we have seen the rise of our specialty but we must remain vigilant against erosions in scope of practice that can potentially harm our patients. This will always remain a priority for MOCEP.

I leave MOCEP leadership in very capable hands. I know Brian Bausano brings many new ideas and will keep MOCEP moving in the right direction for the next two years.

Sincerely,

Christopher Sampson, MD, FACEP