ORLANDO, FLA. -  Florida College of Emergency Physicians Balloting for Board of Directors positions is now open and will conclude at the close of the business day on Tuesday, July 31, 2007. There are six candidates vying for five positions on the Board of Directors, with the incumbents in two seats seeking re-election. FCEP Members are asked to submit their ballots by mail or fax (email is acceptable if it is a scan of an actual ballot with signature included). The ballot is available here or in the July/August issue of EMpulse magazine.

Here are the six candidates and brief remarks by/about each:

Miguel A. Acevedo, MD, FACEP

     I have been a member of ACEP for the last 20 years. The first three years I was part of the Puerto Rico Chapter, where I was the EMRA representative and Chair of the Education Committee for two years. Then I transferred to the Government Services Chapter during my Active Duty in the Air Force. I was in Biloxi, Miss., and served as Chief of the Emergency Department of the second largest Air Force hospital in the nation. I came to Florida in 1997 to serve as Medical Director of the Florida Hospital East Orlando ED. For the last 10 years I have served in many capacities with FEP, Florida Hospital and FCEP. For FEP I have been Medical Director, Managing Partner, Board member, and Executive VP. With FCEP I have participated in many EM Days, on the Governmental Affairs Committee and the Medical Economics Committee, which I have served as Co-Chair with Dr. Andre Landreville for the last year. I am committed to serve the cause of Emergency Medicine in the state of Florida. I know the issues well, and have been very involved in the past and will continue to serve in the future. I am a practicing ED doctor, who understands the business of Emergency Medicine, and I am willing to serve this College that has done so much for us over the years.

Fred Epstein, MD, FACEP

I completed emergency medicine residency training at the University of Cincinnati, and I've certified/recertified ABEM three times. I've served our journals as editorial consultant/peer reviewer and was named Outstanding Consultant in 1996 and Top Peer Reviewer in 2004 by the Annals of Emergency Medicine. I've worked with a 'mega-group'/CMO, and am currently a partner in a single-hospital group. I've served two terms as President of the Medical Staff. I've been Medical Director for Bay County EMS for 22 years. I spend most of my time in direct ED patient care. An ACEP member since 1982, I've served on its Section Affairs and Practice Management Committees. An FCEP member since 1984, I was effective as key contact to House Speaker Alan Bense, spending hours promoting emergency medicine's hard-won cap on non-economic damages. I would be honored to serve on the Board of Directors of FCEP. I believe the critical issues confronting our specialty have become uniform access to surgical and subspecialty consultative care; ED crowding; and our perennially uncompensated care.

Mylissa Graber, MD, FACEP

I have very much enjoyed my term on the Board and would like to continue my commitment to move FCEP and Emergency Medicine forward. FCEP has reached a new status in Tallahassee and I will use the experience I’ve gained and contacts I’ve made to further our goals and bring our hard work to fruition. We have some exciting projects and opportunities ahead. I served this past year on the executive committee as the Secretary-Treasurer, and over the past three years as an FCEP Councilor to ACEP and as the Editor-in-Chief of EMpulse, as well as founding and serving as liaison to EMRAF. I worked hard for you these past few years meeting with legislators on several occasions and making sure they understand our issues. Last year I was honored by my colleagues with the William T. Haeck FCEP Member of the Year Award. In addition to serving on the FCEP committees, I serve on the ACEP Finance Committee, ACEP Audit Committee, and ACEP Council Steering Committee and have previously served on Federal Government Affairs, Membership, Board Nominating, Council Reference, Tellers and Credentials committees. I also served on the ACEP Publications Editorial Board, EM Core Content Task Force, and was EMRA President. Thank you for your trust in me and I hope you continue to support me as a member of the Board.

Beth A. Longenecker, DO, FACOEP, FACEP

Dr. Longenecker is a graduate of the Ohio University College of Osteopathic Medicine and completed an emergency medicine residency at Newark Beth Israel Medical Center. Before taking the reins of the residency program at Mount Sinai Medical Center in Miami Beach in August of 2005, she was an attending physician at Brookdale University Medical Center in Brooklyn, New York and then a core faculty member and director of the residency program at Saint Barnabas Hospital in the South Bronx for over 4 years. Dr. Longenecker currently serves FCEP as a member of the Academic Affairs Committee. Also a member of the national board of directors of the American College of Osteopathic Emergency Physicians (ACOEP), she has served as the vice-chair for the research and CME committees, as course director for the COLA Essentials Course for the past four years (the COLA is the osteopathic version of the LLSA), and is currently the board liaison for the student chapter of the ACOEP. Dr. Longenecker would like to serve on the board of FCEP to help guide and develop graduate medical education and continuing medical education in emergency medicine in the state of Florida.

Michael Lozano Jr., MD, FACEP

I'm a graduate of the Mt. Sinai Medical School in New York and have completed residencies in both internal medicine and emergency medicine, as well as a fellowship in EMS. I have been active in the Florida College of Emergency Physicians since moving to Florida in 1994. My interests have been primarily in the areas of EMS and disaster medicine, and to that end, I have on several occasions served as chair for the EMLRC’s ClinCon and International Disaster Management conferences. I have been active on the Governmental Affairs Committee, and recently revived the FCEP EMS/Trauma Committee. Communication and Cooperation are keys to the continued success of the Florida College of Emergency Physicians. Communication is necessary both among our members to establish consensus, and with external groups to promote our positions. Cooperation is essential. We need to identify allies to chart the course with us in the stormy seas that are the current state of medicine in Florida. I will bring this vision to the Board, as well as thirteen years of experience in the College, and I respectfully request your vote.

David Soria, MD, FACEP

I’d like to continue to serve you as a member of the FCEP Board of Directors for another term. I am currently Medical Director of Emergency Specialists of Wellington, at Wellington Regional Medical Center in West Palm Beach. My background consists of a large breadth of medical director experience in various emergency departments throughout Florida, as well as Ohio, Texas, and Louisiana. I have worked clinically and administratively in 48 different EDs in nine different states during my career, which allows me to bring a unique, diverse perspective to our roundtable. I have resided in Florida since completing my chief residency in Cleveland, Ohio in 1996, and it has always been my goal to be involved in the state of affairs of our specialty at the level of the FCEP Board of Directors. For the past couple of years, I have served as Co-Chair of FCEP’s Professional Development Committee and have been active on other committees and at EM Days in Tallahassee as well. You have my committment that I will continue to serve our EM community to improve the lives our all our colleagues within our great state

The Florida College of Emergency Physicians (FCEP) represents more than 1,100 emergency physicians in the state of Florida. FCEP members represent the health care safety net of Florida’s residents and visitors. More than seven million patients seek care annually in Florida emergency departments. FCEP was founded on Oct. 15, 1971 and is headquartered in Orlando.