Social emergency medicine is an evolving branch of medicine that explores the interplay of social forces in the emergency care system, and how these act together to affect the health of individuals. Social emergency medicine encompasses many environmental and behavioral factors that affect health. These factors include but are not limited to, housing and food insecurity, the use of drugs and alcohol, community and interpersonal violence, the public health impact of firearms, human trafficking, and disparities based on race, gender, and sexual orientation.

In 2019, the health justice symposium was renamed the Tamara O’Neal health justice symposium after the untimely death of UIC EM graduate Dr. Tamara O’Neal while on shift at Mercy Hospital. Both Dr. Morkovin and Dr. O’Neal were passionate advocates of patient health who often stressed the importance of addressing the social aspect of a patient’s life.

Today, the health justice symposium has an audience that extends well beyond emergency medicine including all medical specialties at University of Illinois and extending into neighboring hospitals including Cook County, Illinois Masonic, and University of Chicago. The cutting edge conversations led by local and national experts in emergency medicine have had a positive impact on the delivery of holistic emergency care.

This year, the emergency medicine department will provide the very first “Morkovin & O’Neal” Health Justice award”. This award is bestowed upon the individual or group that exudes the principles of social emergency medicine to promote the care of patients in the community.

The symposium will be held on Thursday November 4th, 2021.