In 1998, Kathleen Clem, MD, FACEP, became the first chief of an academic Division of Emergency Medicine in the Duke University School of Medicine. Dr. Clem was the first female division chief in Duke’s Department of Surgery, which at the time had an almost 70-year history. She served as chief for nine years.
Dr. Clem recruited only Emergency Medicine board-certified faculty as a priority, as this was required to establish the now mature accredited Duke Emergency Medicine (Duke EM) residency training program. She recruited faculty with strong track records for research and teaching, and led with a focus on diversity, equity, and inclusion. Dr. Clem also led the design and expansion of the physical emergency department workspace that opened during her tenure. Many of the current faculty members were recruited by Dr. Clem and they have been instrumental in completing the work she began to establish full departmental status for Duke Emergency Medicine.
"Serving as the inaugural Chief of Emergency Medicine at Duke is one of my proudest achievements. I am so pleased with the work that has been accomplished following the foundation established during my tenure. The Duke EM faculty, both past and present, are outstanding and have achieved even more than I dreamed possible when I accepted the position as Division Chief."
- Kathleen Clem, MD, FACEP, First Chief of Duke EM
Dr. Clem’s legacy continues at Duke EM through its national reputation as an outstanding residency training program, and the department’s focus on diversity, physician well-being, and global emergency medicine, some of Dr. Clem’s areas of specialty focus. She is now at Dartmouth, Geisel School of Medicine, where she serves as a professional coach and mentor, and has the honor of being their first professor of Emergency Medicine.
"Serving as the inaugural Chief of Emergency Medicine at Duke is one of my proudest achievements,” says Dr. Clem. “I am so pleased with the work that has been accomplished following the foundation established during my tenure. The Duke EM faculty, both past and present, are outstanding and have achieved even more than I dreamed possible when I accepted the position as Division Chief. Duke EM residency graduates are remarkable clinicians, national leaders, and researchers. Duke is a world-class institution and Emergency Medicine contributes in many important ways to keep that well-deserved reputation."