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Editor's Choice: Speaking of the gender gap
The fall is conference season for emergency medicine—RCEM, EuSEM, ACEP all hold their major scientific meetings in September and October. At these meetings we learn from experts in our field about how to improve our practice. In this month's Editor's Choice article, Carley and colleagues report that the gender balance of the experts at EM meetings is a bit lopsided. Only 30% of presentations at 8 major EM conferences in 2014–2015 were given by women. At first this seems an appalling bit of sexism; these days, medical school graduates are about 50% female. However, women represent only 26% of the workforce in EM in the countries holding these conferences. Problem solved? As Kass and Choo write in their accompanying commentary, mirroring the gender imbalance simply perpetuates it, by depriving women of role models. So in a year where, for the second time, a woman is Britain's Prime Minister, and the US has its first woman presidential candidate, EM needs to take a look at the hidden lessons our conferences impart.
Can I PERC this patient?
One of the first patients I ever diagnosed with a PE was a fit 25 yo male …