Aaron Lacy MD, MHPE

My passion for mentorship is helping junior faculty discover, develop, and define their academic identity. I believe that academic medicine does not have a single roadmap to success, and some of the most fulfilling careers are created by physicians who identify their own path rather than simply follow an established one. I enjoy helping faculty discover their academic plus-one, the unique area of interest, expertise, or passion that complements their clinical practice and becomes the foundation for their career identity.

I am particularly interested in mentoring faculty who are exploring how to build a meaningful and sustainable academic career outside of a traditional track. This includes helping faculty identify their strengths and interests, develop scholarly projects, build expertise as educators, find opportunities for academic contribution, and navigate the challenges of balancing clinical medicine with the demands of academic emergency medicine.

My own academic interests include medical education, airway management, and procedural competency. My scholarly work has focused mainly on improving how we teach and evaluate emergency physicians in airway management, including the use of video-based feedback and performance improvement strategies. I also enjoy creating and disseminating medical education content through my work as a writer for Journal Feed and podcast host for Hippo Education.

I believe the most successful academic careers are built when physicians align their interests, strengths, and values with opportunities for impact. I enjoy partnering with junior faculty (and residents) as they explore their professional identity, create their own academic lane, develop confidence as educators and scholars, and build a career in academic emergency medicine that is both personally fulfilling and sustainable.

On a personal note, I was born raised and educated in Iowa before moving and completing my emergency medicine residency at Vanderbilt. I then joined the team at WashU and earned a Master of Health Professions Education from the University of Missouri-Kansas City. I am married to Amy, one of our respiratory therapists in the WashU Emergency Department. Outside of medicine, we enjoy soccer, reading, spoiling our dog (Maggie) and exploring the many great restaurants around St. Louis.