The 2011 Vietnam Emergency Medicine / EMS Symposium is now scheduled for
March 28 - April 1, 2011
Hosted by Hue College of Medicine & Pharmacy and Hue Central Hospital
Hue City, Vietnam
Please check back in the near future for more details.
2010 Closing Remarks
by
Joseph Lex, M.D. - Symposium Chair
Emergency Medicine is the specialty of "now" and not just because is it the newest specialty in the house of medicine. It's the specialty of "now" because whatever we do must be done now. While the concept of emergency medicine has existed as long as one human being cared for another, it was a long time in being recognized as its own distinct entity, with a specific anatomy and physiology.
As Dr. Suter so accurately noted in his keynote address, Emergency Medicine is the people's specialty. It developed because the people wanted medical care when they wanted it, and the founders of the specialty responded. In doing so, they not only changed medicine, but they changed the people's expectation of what medicine should and could be, and then there was no turning back. And nurses were very much a part of that process; they demanded qualified physicians to care for their patients in the emergency department.
You heard Dr. Blumstein give his "selfish" reason for wanting emergency medicine in Vietnam. When his two children travel the world and explores its wonders, he wants them to have access to the same high quality emergency care they would receive in the United States, Canada, and the many other areas where emergency medicine has grown and matured.
Dr. Blumstein is not alone. At this meeting, you have heard and seen more than 60 emergency physicians and nurses from around the world - United States, Canada, The Netherlands, Australia, Thailand - who feel this way. They know the power of emergency medicine to save and change lives, and they know that the power gets stronger first and foremost through sharing. That is why they came on their own time to help you, taking away nothing but memories and the knowledge that emergency medicine is one step closer to being a worldwide specialty.
Ask any one of them, and they will tell you that practicing emergency medicine is the best job in the world. I hope these teachers have opened your eyes to the possibilities of emergency medicine. I hope they have opened your heart to the necessity of emergency medicine. And I hope they have opened your mind to the power of emergency medicine to change people's lives for the better.
The journey to emergency medicine is long and difficult, but you have taken the first steps. With the commitment to a training program at Hue College of Medicine and Pharmacy, they are strong steps. With contributions of a textbook from Dr. Cameron, free subscriptions to EMedHome from Dr. Nunez, and free access to invaluable educational materials from Emergency Medicine Reviews and Perspectives (thank you Dr. Herbert), CME Download (thank you Drs. Mandavia), Challenger Inc (thank you Mr. Sweeney), Emergency Medical Abstracts (thank you Dr. Bukata), and Audio-Digest Emergency Medicine (thank you Mr. Osmond), you have been given a wealth of information to use to improve the care of your patients. By using free downloads from www.FreeEmergencyTalks.net, you can educate yourself whenever you like.
I too have a selfish reason: in 1968 as a medic with the 25th Infantry Division, I practiced emergency medicine in Vietnam. It is one of the great joys of my life to return 42 years later and help you on your journey to establishing emergency medicine as a specialty.
You have complex times facing you, but the conclusion is inevitable. You will change the way medicine is practiced, and you will change expectations for what medicine can be for the people of Vietnam. Welcome to the best job in the world - emergency medicine.
