UC San Francisco Department of Emergency Medicine Shines at ACEP25

The Department of Emergency Medicine at UC San Francisco had another strong year at the American College of Emergency Physicians' (ACEP's) Scientific Assembly, held at the Salt Palace Convention Center in Salt Lake City from September 7 – 10. There, UCSF faculty and trainees delivered 14 presentations on topics ranging from clinical practice to systems innovation.

This year’s conference also brought notable recognition to UCSF faculty and the UCSF Helen Diller Medical Center at Parnassus Heights' Emergency Department:

• Starr Knight, MD, received ACEP’s Outstanding Speaker of the Year Award. This award is given annually to “a single faculty member who has consistently demonstrated teaching excellence through performance, versatility, and dependability during ACEP educational meetings throughout the year.”

• Joe Graterol, MD, received the ACEP-Young Physicians Section’s (YPS’) 2025 Golden Blade Award – the highest honor the YPS bestows. This award honors “an exceptional young emergency physician who has completed residency training and entered practice within the past 10 years. It recognizes individuals demonstrating exceptional merit, outstanding clinical acumen under pressure, unwavering professional integrity, deep commitment to the specialty, and a capacity for leadership or significant impact in their field.”

• ACEP’s Quality & Patient Safety Committee and the Section of Quality Improvement and Patient Safety (QIPS) named the UCSF Helen Diller Medical Center Emergency Department’s Psychiatric Model of Care a winner of the 2025 ACEP QI Challenge Award. ACEP’s QI Challenge recognizes and spotlights quality improvement and patient safety projects within emergency medicine. Learn more about the care model in our 2024 Annual Report feature story.

The department also hosted its annual Faculty, Fellow, and Resident Dinner at Caffe Molise, bringing attendees together for an evening of connection and celebration.

In addition to the awards presented at ACEP25, two UCSF faculty were recently recognized by the California Chapter of ACEP:

• Shruti Kant, MBBS, received CalACEP's 2025 Education Award. This award is given to an individual “who has made an outstanding contribution to education within the specialty of emergency medicine.” 

• Evelyn Porter, MD, MS, received CalACEP's 2025 Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) Award. This award is given annually to “an individual or to an emergency medicine department that has advanced DEI initiatives in the emergency medicine community.”
   

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DEM Presentations at ACEP25

Sunday, September 7

1. Literature Review: Trauma 2025
   DEM participant: Christopher Colwell
2. A Catalyst for Change: Reimagining the Role of Scribes in the Age of AI
   DEM presenter: Nick Stark
3. Case-Based Controversies in Atrial Fibrillation
   DEM participant: Jeffrey Tabas
4. Leadership Lessons: Making an Impact Throughout Your Career
   DEM participant: Christopher Colwell
5. Preliminary Post-Dobbs Trends in Emergency Department Visits for Early Pregnancy Conditions
   DEM participant: Emily Ager
6. Vaccine Knowledge and Uptake in Undocumented Latino Immigrants in the Emergency Department
   DEM participant: Karen Reyes
   DEM co-authors: Robert Rodriguez (now at UC Riverside)

Monday, September 8

1. “It creates a culture of substandard  care”: Evaluating boarding's impact on physicians and learners
   DEM participant: Marlena Skrabak
2. Palliative Care for Emergency Medicine Residents: Assessing End-of-Life Simulation-Based Cases
   DEM participant: Thaouyen Emily (Em) Pham
   DEM co-authors: Caroline H. Lee, Jeanne Noble

Tuesday, September 9 

1. Translating Digital Support Tools from Academic to Community Hospital Systems
   DEM presenter: Nick Stark
   DEM co-authors: Toff Peabody, Isaac Kim
2. The Humanistic Charting Tool: Incorporating Person-Centered Care into the Electronic Health Record
   DEM presenter: Namrata Garg
   DEM co-authors: Omid Boozarpour, Jose Alaras, Nicholas Stark
3. Improving Pediatric Emergency Department Throughput and Provider Satisfaction with a Novel Waiting Room Workflow
   DEM presenters: Elaine Kim, Carol Chen
   DEM co-authors: Malini Singh, Steven Straube, Christopher Colwell
4. EMS Clinician Perspectives on Writing Involuntary Psychiatric Holds
   DEM presenter: Tomas Alamin
   DEM co-authors: Mary Mercer, Newton Addo, Bryan Fregoso, Joe Graterol

Wednesday, September 10

1. Diagnostic Dilemma: Gray Issues in Older Adults
   Presenter: Nida Degesys
2. How to Succeed in Your First Year in a Leadership Role
   Presenter: Nida Degesys 

In addition to formal presentations, UCSF faculty and trainees were active in a number of interactive events that fostered innovation, connection, and professional development. At the Innovator Meetup + PitchER, Drs. Nick Stark, Christopher (Toff) Peabody, and Jaskaran (Karan) Bains participated in the second annual “PitchER” competition, which gives early-stage startups the opportunity to showcase their companies. Dr. Stark also helped lead the EMIC Team Hangout, a casual gathering designed for innovators to connect and share ideas.

Members of our department engaged in several other key ACEP networking events, including the Resident Teaching Fellowship (September 5 – 6), the Program Fair (September 6), and the Job and Fellowship Fair (September 7), with representation from our chief residents, residency leadership, and fellowship directors.