Dr. Jane O'Shaughnessy
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A long-time EMF donor, ACEP Fellow Jane O’Shaughnessy asks with a laugh, “You want to know my system? Here it is: Every month when I pay my bills I write a check to a different charity, just like another bill. I support a number of charities, but the most important donation for me is to the Emergency Medicine Foundation, and that’s been the largest contribution over the years. I’ve seen the fruits of [EMF-funded] research put into clinical practice many, many times”
O’Shaughnessy was a pioneer in emergency medicine. She began practicing emergency medicine in 1979 at a small beach-front hospital on Long Island, after beginning her career in internal medicine. In the early 80s she became an examiner for the American Board of Emergency Medicine.
O’Shaughnessy was chairperson of the Department of Emergency Medicine at St. Vincent’s in Staten Island, a Level I trauma center whose annual ED volume grew from 40,000 to 70,000 during her tenure there from 1985 to 2001, when she retired. She held faculty appointments at both New York Medical College and the New Jersey College of Medicine, and reports that she particularly enjoyed teaching.
She notes that in the early years “emergency physicians didn’t get much respect. I perceived that ACEP was really the main engine, along with the American Board of Emergency Medicine, of course, for creating the consciousness of emergency medicine as a specialty and for gaining respect as a specialty. That had a major impact on my career and the satisfaction I obtained.”
Thoroughly enjoying her retirement, O’Shaughnessy, says “I max out my library card and spend a lot more time with family and friends.” She and her husband of 30 years like to hike, bike, and travel, and she is attending the 2006 ACEP Scientific Assembly in New Orleans. “I’m determined to go to support New Orleans, because I remember, living in New York City, how important it was when our tourists started coming back after 9/11.”
