Dear Director,
I rarely see women in leadership roles in emergency medicine. Why do you think this is and what can I do to get an administrative position down the road?
-Jane Whitecoat

Dear Director,
Our physician assistants are fantastic and have functioned independently for a long time, but recently we had a bad outcome and now the hospital wants us to supervise all PA cases. This seems like a waste of time and it will slow down our docs. What do we do?

Dear Director,
I’ve served as the associate medical director in a few different ERs, only to be passed over when the department needed a new chairman. What am I doing wrong and how do I find out how to reach that next level or should I just count on being an associate director forever.

My hospital is spending a lot of time talking about 30-day readmissions and how the ER needs to stop admitting people. Frankly, I don’t understand how a readmission is an ER problem. Aren’t we taught that a patient returning to the ED is like a red flag warning giving us an opportunity to correct something?

Dear Director,
I’ve been in my position for a while and while I’ve been able to make some improvements with projects, I don’t feel like our ED has hit its potential yet. Are there any secrets to getting my agenda moved forward throughout the hospital?

Before I had kids, the only people who truly needed me as a matter of life or death were my patients. Looking back, life was relatively easy. When I was working, all my energy was focused on the ED. When I was off work, I did whatever I wanted.

The long term benefits of breastfeeding your child – and of creating a family-friendly ED environment – outweigh the perceived problems.

Dear Boss,
One of our group members recently came back from maternity leave. We are all very happy for her and her family. The problem is that due to the fact that she is currently breastfeeding, she has to “go in the back to pump” 2-3 times per shift. While she is gone, the charts pile up, her residents have no direction, and throughput stops for her patients.

Dear Boss,
As a senior resident, I was hoping to make a final decision about my future job by the end of the year. The problem I’ve found is that all  the offers I’ve gotten look similar.  What intangibles do I need to consider to be sure I make the best choice?

Dear Boss,
I was recently asked to resign from a job I had been at for years. My director told me he had been giving me hints for months that I needed to find a new job but I guess I didn’t pick up on it. What did I miss?