Sex and Gender in Emergency Medicine (SGEM)

Mission of Sex and Gender in Emergency Medicine (SGEM)

The mission of SGEM is to establish educational and research endeavors that further the understanding of sex and gender specific medicine and women’s health with a focus on acute aspects of disease.

SGEM Objectives

  1. To advance knowledge of sex and gender differences in health and disease between individuals and across populations throughout the health education continuum.
  2. To promote health equity through the lens of evidence-based research with a focus on populations with known disparities including women, women of color, and individuals who identify as lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer, intersex, and/or asexual.
  3. To promote equity and diversity in the physician workforce with respect to gender and race in order to better serve our diverse patient population.

The division includes Brown emergency medicine faculty members and a multidisciplinary panel of advisors from the medical school and other institutions around the country. Meet the SGEM team »

Advancing Care through Person-Specific Research, Education and Advocacy

Emergency physicians have the unique opportunity to inform the study of sex-and-gender-specific acute clinical care and are positioned to translate research into lifesaving outcomes.

In 2010, the department of emergency medicine at The Warren Alpert Medical School of Brown University established a division of women’s health in emergency care (WHEC) and a two-year WHEC fellowship to train a new generation of physicians in sex and gender-specific emergency medicine.

In 2014, WHEC updated its name to the division of sex and gender in emergency medicine (SGEM) to align itself with growing research in sex differences and the national emphasis on examining the health of women and men to help understand diseases.

Sex and Gender Research and Education

Learn more about SGEM:

Image still for video of Alyson McGregor, MD.

Get the Best Care

Alyson McGregor, MD, director of the Sex and Gender in Emergency Medicine program, discusses gender bias in medical research and steps both women and men can take as patients to get the best care.

Watch Dr. McGregor in this TED Talk

The cover of the book "Sex Matters."

Gender-Based Health Disparities

Dr. McGregor authored the book, Sex Matters, that explores gender-based health disparities in depth. She says, "Changing the system from within is only half the battle. The other half is educating the women whose lives and health are being impacted by that system every single day."

Sex and Gender in Emergency Medicine (SGEM) Locations