If you work in Emergency Medicine, you know that social and environmental factors greatly impact our patients’ health. This may not be a novel concept, but it is a relatively new field of study. Social Emergency Medicine is a growing branch of EM focused on identifying and studying how social factors affect health. We are especially interested in this topic as many of our episodes explore social issues, such as housing instability, substance use, firearm violence, and human trafficking. In this Heartbeat, we hear from Social EM expert, Dr. Harrison Altar, on what Social EM is all about. You might recognize Dr. Alter from a short segment on our WR SAEM Day 2 Wrap-up episode - now we’re back with his expended interview!

What social factors most impact your patients? How do these issues affect you as a physician or provider? Send us your comments and feedback on social media at @empulsepodcast, or on our website, ucdavisem.com. 

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Hosts:

Dr. Sarah Medeiros, Assistant Professor of Emergency Medicine at UC Davis

Guests:

Dr. Harrison Alter, Research Director for the Highland Department of Emergency Medicine and Founder and Executive Director of the Levitt Center

Resources:

The Andrew Levitt Center for Social Emergency Medicine

ACEP Social Emergency Medicine Section

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Registration is now open for UC Davis Emergency Medicine Update: Hot topics 2019!

November 5-9 at the Kahala Hotel and Resort in Honolulu, Hawaii 

Thank you to the UC Davis Department of Emergency Medicine for supporting this podcast and to Orlando Magaña at OM Audio Productions for audio production services.