Adaira Landry

Gender disparities in academic promotion persist despite decades of research documenting their scope. Women remain underrepresented at senior academic ranks in Emergency Medicine, with only 19% of full professors identifying as women. Existing literature has largely cataloged the barriers driving this gap—disproportionate clinical workloads, non‐promotable labor burden, sponsorship deficits, and caregiving responsibilities—but has devoted comparatively little attention to the strategies women use to successfully navigate these barriers. This commentary proposes a shift in research focus: From documenting the problem to systematically studying the hidden determinants of advancement among women who have achieved promotion. We introduce PROMOTED‐EM, a qualitative research framework organized across 14 domains of academic career life, designed to elicit the tactical, behavioral, and relational strategies that enabled promotion. By centering the experiences of successfully promoted women in Emergency Medicine while explicitly attending to intersectionality and the limitations of survivor bias, this agenda aims to generate actionable, evidence‐based guidance for women faculty, department leaders, and institutions committed to closing the promotion gap.

Peer review is central to scholarly publishing and academic advancement in medicine. However, many authors, particularly residents and early‐career faculty, receive limited formal training in navigating the peer review process. This Educator's Blueprint provides seven strategies to optimize journal publication success by improving submission quality and reframing rejection as part of the growth process, while also discussing how to build upon the experience to enhance long‐term scholarly productivity and impact. These include identifying potential journals, tailoring the manuscript to the target journal, crafting a compelling cover letter, responding to reviewer comments, turning rejection into progress, disseminating findings to broaden reach, and leveraging the experience to build a cohesive scholarly portfolio.

Introduction: Competency‐based medical education (CBME) focuses on the attainment of defined skills independent of the time spent in training. Emergency Medicine (EM) is starting the long process of CBME implementation. Methodology: In preparation for the 2025 Society for Academic Emergency Medicine (SAEM) Consensus conference whose goal is to define the research agenda around CBME, a diverse workgroup of expert educators convened. They conducted a literature review and developed a large roster of potential research questions. Analysis: Through a modified Delphi process, they prioritized 10 research questions related to CBME implementation. The final group of questions fell into three broad categories: (1) Program evaluation, (2) Change management, and (3) System needs and resources. Implications: Implementation of CBME in EM will require intentional incorporation of change management strategies and systematic development of program evaluation. This will minimize the risk of negative outcomes resulting from ineffective implementation strategies and promote the successful uptake of CBME within the specialty.

Research is important to advance the field of emergency medicine and improve patient care. As such, emergency medicine residents are required to complete a scholarly project during their training. This experience provides an opportunity to enhance their exposure to research, expanding their skillset as both producers and consumers of the medical literature. However, the process may be overwhelming to launch, especially for residents. This Educator's Blueprint will provide 10 strategies for navigating and optimizing the resident research experience. These strategies include providing structured training, creating a research‐supportive environment, selecting a project using resident‐centric FINER criteria, identifying a research mentor, creating mosaic research experiences, setting expectations, empowering residents, selecting team members for sustainability, providing scaffolding and support during the writing stage, and explaining the peer review process and normalizing rejection or revisions. These strategies will help guide faculty seeking to enhance their learners' research experience.

In 2024, over 50,000 applicants submitted their rank order list (ROL) to the National Resident Matching Program (NRMP, The Match), which uses these rankings to match candidates with residency programs. Recent years have shown that many applicants find emergency medicine (EM) a desired speciality. In 2024 and 2025, 95% and 98% of EM residency spots were filled, respectively. To match, applicants must understand every aspect of the application process, including rank order strategies. The ROL is an essential step in the residency application process where applicants rank programs based on personal and professional priorities. Applicants weigh both tangible factors—such as program size, location, and salary—and intangible factors—such as work–life balance, faculty support, and the overall “feel” of a program. Virtual interviews have limited opportunities to assess both tangible and intangible factors hindering the more comprehensive evaluation EM applicants previously had with in‐person interviews. We offer strategic advice to medical students and their mentors, on an approach to creating a ROL, evaluating the intangible and tangible aspects of each program, additional considerations for less common scenarios, and effective communication with program directors.

Academic advising in medical schools is crucial for student success, offering support in academic, professional, and personal development. This paper examines the advisor’s role, highlighting challenges such as blurred boundaries, increased expectations, and the impact of digital communication. Despite high student satisfaction, advisors face time constraints and insufficient compensation. The paper calls for a better understanding of the advisor role and strategies to support them effectively.

Purpose To avoid overreliance on metrics and better identify candidates who add value to the learning environment, some medical schools and residency programs have begun using holistic review for screening and selection, but limited data support or refute this use. This scoping review examines holistic review definitions and practice in medical education, summarizes research findings, and identifies gaps for future research. Method The authors searched 7 databases using the keywords holistic, attributes, mission-based, mission-centric, and socially accountable for articles on holistic review within undergraduate medical education (UME) and graduate medical education (GME) published from database inception through July 5, 2024. Author pairs independently screened articles for inclusion and extracted data. Discrepancies were resolved via discussion. Quantitative and qualitative synthesis was performed. Results A total of 6,511 articles were identified, with 33 included in this review. Twenty-five studies (76%) focused exclusively on GME, with only a few assessing holistic review in UME. Holistic review was implemented at 3 main stages: screening, interviewing, and ranking. Common rationales included service patterns, patient-physician identity concordance, enhancing patient trust, professional advocacy, and educational benefits. Holistic review elements varied, with most falling within the Association of American Medical Colleges experiences, attributes, and metrics framework. Nearly all studies reported an increase in the percentage of underrepresented in medicine trainees interviewed or selected. Several studies also demonstrated increases in other groups (e.g., women, lower socioeconomic status). Many studies included additional interventions to promote diversity, limiting the ability to assess holistic review in isolation. Conclusions This scoping review summarizes the literature on rationale, development and implementation process, structure and components, outcomes assessed, barriers, and strategies for success for holistic review. This work can inform institutions and departments seeking to develop or refine their own holistic review systems and serve as a nidus for future research.

Background: Increasing diversity in the health care workforce has been shown to improve patient health care and create psychological safety for employees who feel marginalized and underrepresented. While several measures exist for increasing racial and ethnic diversity in the physician workforce, few programs target expanding representation among physician assistants (PAs). Despite increasing the role and responsibility of PAs in the emergency department (ED), there remains a significant lack of diversity within this group. The SPARK mentorship program, a combined mentorship and educational opportunity for emergency services assistants (ESAs; also called aides and technicians) who are underrepresented in medicine (UiM), may create a pathway to recruiting diverse individuals to PA careers in emergency medicine.Methods: Our goal was to implement and evaluate a combined didactic and mentorship curriculum focused on recruiting ESAs UIM to become PAs in the ED. Using Kern's framework, an interprofessional group created a 3‐month mentorship program including individualized mentorship from senior PAs, didactic content covering the roles of PAs in the ED, and strategies to apply to PA school. This curriculum was implemented in 2022 for five ESAs following an application process. Outcomes were measured using the NIH Mentoring Evaluation Form and Munich Evaluation of Mentoring Questionnaire as well as longitudinal monitoring after the program to determine progress of ESAs toward a career as PAs.Results: All five mentees completed the mentorship program. Postprogram surveys showed all participants described the program as meeting their expectations and being goal oriented. One‐year follow‐up demonstrated progress in all participants along their desired career path.Conclusions: The SPARK mentorship program appears to be a feasible approach to creating a pathway for recruitment of ESAs UIM into the PA profession. Preliminary outcome data suggest that this curriculum was highly acceptable to participants and may have a positive impact on recruiting ESAs to become PAs. Continued evaluation is needed to determine what effect programs such as this one have on increasing diversity in the PA workforce.