St. Barnabas Health Fellowship in Social Emergency Medicine

Dr. Jeffrey Lazar is the Vice Chair and Medical Director of Emergency Medicine at the St. Barnabas Medical Center, a safety-net hospital in the South Bronx. He is the director for the new St. Barnabas Health Fellowship in Social Emergency Medicine, a program designed to equip graduates with the skills necessary to promote health equity and eliminate health disparities.

Interviewed by Bailee Jacobsen, DO, 2nd year emergency medicine resident at Loyola University Medical Center

Edited by Kian Preston-Suni, MD, MPH

Additional Fellowship information is available at: 

https://www.sbhny.org/EMResidency/fellowship-in-social-emergency-medicine/

Can you tell us a bit about yourself and what drew you to the role of director of the fellowship at St Barnabas?

I am the medical director and vice chair of the emergency department here at St. Barnabas hospital in the Bronx.  I have a background in public health with an MPH, and have done some work internationally with an interest in global health. Five years ago, when I arrived here as the medical director, I first became aware of the subspecialty of social emergency medicine, and was very much living it in our emergency department. We serve a socioeconomically disadvantaged community here in the Bronx, and the impact of social determinants of health was very apparent to me in our emergency department. The more I practice, the more I am convinced that it needs to be a part of our specialty. 

Can you give a short description of your vision for this fellowship?

This is a newly created fellowship, we have yet to match our first fellow. We have an affiliation with SUNY SOM. Our goal for the fellow is to gain exposure through training in the subspecialty of social EM, to play a leadership role in our department, increase consciousness and awareness of social EM through spearheading research efforts in the department, engaging our residents and faculty, working with community organizations (some of whom we already partner with), and engaging in social EM initiatives nationally.

Can you briefly describe what makes an ideal candidate for your fellowship?

The quality we are looking for in our fellow is simply passion. This is such a ripe and nascent area in EM with many opportunities, especially where we are in the Bronx. For better or for worse, our emergency department is a hot spot, and we are looking for someone that is eager to take advantage of the opportunities in our department that are shouting for attention.  It has great potential to impact and improve the health of members of our community. 

Have there been any changes to the application process secondary to COVID?

No, the application process is unchanged. It is described in the SAEM fellowship catalog and on our website. 

Any additional information you would like potential applicants to know?

I am super excited that there is growing awareness of this subspecialty. I think EM has an ability to be leaders in public health through social EM initiatives. I hope to see our hospital as one of these leaders.