SOEM Awards

The purpose of this scholarship is to foster advocacy for Pediatric Emergency Medicine and the emergency care of children by supporting attendance at the AAP Legislative Conference in Washington, DC. ($1,000)

Babble Royale is the AAP Section on Emergency Medicine's emerging speaker competition, showcasing best practices in science communication and education. Four contestants give 8-minute presentations during the SOEM program. Section on Emergency Medicine members vote for their favorite presentation and determine who takes home the title belt and a $250 prize. The winner is invited to defend their title the following year.  

Presented to a Section on Emergency Medicine scientific abstract presenter for Overall Best Paper Presentation in Pediatric Emergency Medicine at the AAP National Conference & Exhibition. ($250)

Presented to a Section on Emergency Medicine scientific abstract presenter for Best Quality Improvement in Pediatric Emergency Medicine paper at the AAP National Conference & Exhibition. The project should be prospective and address a gap in quality. ($250)

Presented at the annual Section on Emergency Medicine meeting to the best research poster presentation in pediatric emergency medicine. ($250)

This award recognizes innovations and/or clinical decision making  that result in measurable changes addressing a significant problem in Pediatric Emergency Medicine including but not limited to: quality, safety, equity, clinical care, administration, systems, technology, education, evidence-based medicine, and research. The inaugural award was given to the Pediatric Shock Collaborative in 2014. It was changed from an annual to a biennial award in 2020. The award is sponsored by DynaMed and EBSCO Clinical Decisions and presented during the SOEM reception at the AAP National Conference. ($5000 award includes $500 biennial cash prize and balance for annual reception.)

These awards are presented in recognition of the Best Case Presentation and the Best Discussion of an Unknown Case in emergency medicine. Four cases selected for presentation will be published in Clinical Pediatric Emergency Medicine. ($250 each)

This award, established in 2022, was created to enhance the diversity, equity and inclusion of SOEM awards by recognizing the contributions and potential of emerging physician leaders in pediatric emergency medicine. The award is presented to an individual who has demonstrated excellence as a leader early in their career, defined as occurring during the first 10 years post completion of their fellowship training. The individual should have made outstanding contributions to the field of PEM in any area including, but not limited to, education, research, clinical, administration, and/or advocacy as well as demonstrate potential to continue to be a future leader in PEM. It is named in honor of Jane Knapp, MD, FAAP, a leading PEM pioneer, in recognition of her decades of service to the PEM community, the Section on Emergency Medicine, and her numerous contributions to supporting, mentoring and sponsoring young PEM colleagues who developed into future leaders in PEM. Dr. Knapp was one of the first two PEM fellowship trainees in the nation, having trained at Children’s Mercy Hospital in Kansas City, MO and subsequently served as its fellowship director for over 10 years. In the early 80s shortly after the Section was established in 1981, she collaborated with a small group of PEM fellowship directors to form a PEM Fellowship Directors Group. Dr. Knapp chaired SOEM from 1992-1994 and was co-editor of the AAP “Bluebook" on Childhood Emergencies in the Office, Hospital and Community – published in 2000. She received SOEM’s highest award, the Jim Seidel Distinguished Service Award, in 2002 and served as Chair, AAP Committee on Pediatric Emergency Medicine from 2000-2004. Dr. Knapp continued to make significant contributions in the field, foster collaborations internally and externally with the federal EMSC program and other key stakeholders, and to serve the Academy and the Section on Emergency Medicine even after her retirement in 2016. ($500 honorarium)

This award, originally established in 1988 and renamed in 2004, recognizes a physician who has made outstanding contributions to the field of Pediatric Emergency Medicine. As a “lifetime achievement award”, it is the highest award presented by the AAP Section on Emergency Medicine and is given to an individual who has demonstrated contributions in any area in the field of PEM locally, regionally and nationally over a long and distinguished career. The award celebrates the career achievements of James (Jim) S. Seidel MD, PhD, FAAP, who was an early pioneer, leader, mentor and teacher in the field of PEM. Dr. Seidel led the Division of Academic General Pediatrics and Emergency Medicine at Harbor-UCLA Medical Center, UCLA School of Medicine and was Director of the PEM Fellowship Program. Dr. Seidel envisioned a field of PEM that promoted the highest standards in pediatric resuscitation education and was on the original national faculty for the AHA PALS course and was an original member of the Task Force to develop APLS. He co-edited the AAP “Bluebook” on Childhood Emergencies in the Office, Hospital and Community in addition to many other sentinel publications. Dr. Seidel’s tireless advocacy for improving the emergency care of children at every level and work with Dr. Cal Sia and Senator Dan Inouye helped to bring about authorization and funding for the federal Emergency Medical Services for Children (EMSC) grant program. This program has benefited the emergency care of children in all 50 states and internationally. Dr. Seidel was also instrumental in securing federal funding for several of the early national PEM Fellows Conferences. In Los Angeles County he conceptualized and developed the Emergency Department Approved for Pediatrics (EDAP) program that set standards to improve the emergency care of children and has been used as a national model. Dr. Seidel was a remarkable person of boundless energy, tireless dedication, and fearless advocacy whose work was foundational to the specialty of PEM. ($1,000 honorarium)

This award is for a research project that addresses issues pertinent to the acutely ill or injured child. The first award was sponsored by Roche Laboratories in 1999. In 1995, Ken Graff, MD, a talented young PEM physician and investigator, failed to arrive for his evening shift in the emergency department. He had been skiing in the back-country of Colorado and was the victim of an avalanche. His professional accomplishments in his brief career included receiving the 1994 AAP Willis Wingert Award for outstanding research on pediatric procedural sedation, and receipt of an EMSC grant on the same topic. The Ken Graff Award was established to honor Dr. Graff's memory and support young investigators in their pursuit of quality PEM/EMSC research. The Section has been able to fund junior investigators with the Graff Award annually, with the exception of 2001. Each year, a dozen or more excellent applications from fellows and junior faculty are received, making this grant funding more competitive than the NIH! Thanks to the generosity of donors, the Graff Endowment can now support a larger award, increased in 2012 from $10,000 to $12,500 and in 2019 to $15,000. ($15,000; additional travel stipend of $650 to present project results 2 years later during SOEM program at AAP National Conference)

This award, established in 2011, recognizes a pediatric emergency physician who has demonstrated personal excellence and proven efforts in promoting human welfare throughout their career. Importantly, nominees should have evidence of excellence in their involvement and dedication to the community through voluntary service. Other criteria for this award include demonstrated excellence in clinical care, mentoring of peers and trainees, didactic and bedside teaching, and performance of scholarly activities. The award is in celebration of the career achievements of Michael Shannon, MD, FAAP, whose untimely death in 2009 followed a career as an exceptional toxicologist and pediatric emergency medicine provider. He was a consummate clinician, prominent academician and a children’s advocate nationally and internationally. Dr. Shannon served as the PEM Fellowship Director, Toxicology Fellowship Director, and PEM Division Chief at Boston Children’s Hospital. Nationally, he served as the President of the American College of Medical Toxicology, Chair of the SOEM PEM Fellowship Directors Committee and Chair of the Sub-board of Pediatric Emergency Medicine. ($500 honorarium) 

This award is to recognize outstanding research in Emergency Medical Services in the pediatric prehospital care setting. The first award was presented in 2002 and funded by Baylor College of Medicine. Future awards will be supported by the Section on Emergency Medicine, pending submission of a minimum of 3 pre hospital care abstracts. ($250)

Presented to a Section on Emergency Medicine scientific abstract presenter for Overall Best Paper Presentation in Pediatric Emergency Medicine at the Pediatric Academic Societies Annual Meeting. ($250)

Note: Suspended beginning 2018 until further notice.

PEMPix is the AAP Section on Emergency Medicine's visual diagnosis competition. Entries are traditionally viewed during the SOEM program as well as online at PEMPix.com. Section on Emergency Medicine members vote for their favorite case and select the Audience Award, which includes a $250 prize. A panel of judges is responsible for selecting the finalists, and they choose their favorite case and this winner is awarded a $150 honorarium. 

This award, established in 2012, recognizes an individual who has made substantial educational and mentorship contributions in pediatric emergency medicine. Contributions should have impacted education of PEM physicians at regional, state, national, and/or international levels. Demonstration of excellence in education and mentorship may include preparation of teaching-and curriculum-related materials, participation in the scholarship of teaching and learning, development and communication of innovative instructional techniques, leadership in education-related workshops and symposia, involvement in innovative program development, and contributions to the enhancement of teaching including excelling as a mentor to others in the field of PEM. This award celebrates the life of Steven Miller, MD, FAAP who died unexpectedly in 2004. Dr. Miller was a consummate and inspirational educator who taught locally, regionally, and nationally.  Serving as the Director of PEM at the Morgan-Stanley Children’s Hospital of New York-Presbyterian Hospital, he received numerous teaching awards in his illustrious career, including the Columbia University Presidential Award for Outstanding Teaching, while being named four times as Teacher of the Year by medical students. He was known for teaching his students to not only be “good doctors” but also to be “compassionate people”, and to embody the highest standards of humanism and kindness in every interaction. ($500 honorarium)

These awards are intended to support attendance by PEM Fellowship Trainees at the SOEM program and Committee for the Future meeting held each year in conjunction with the AAP National Conference & Exhibition. PEM Fellowship Program Directors who plan on having PEM Fellows attend the conference may submit the name of their programs into a lottery for these awards. Directors from the programs selected will have discretion to choose one Fellow from their program to utilize the travel grant. The recipient must be a SOEM member, should not be presenting an abstract at that meeting, and is required to attend the Committee for the Future meeting. Up to 2 awards will be selected from Fellowship Programs and 1 by the Committee for the Future. ($500 each)

The Willis Wingert Award is presented at the annual meeting to a physician in training for outstanding research in the field of Pediatric Emergency Medicine. ($250)