“I’m one of the lucky ones who never thought about anything else [than emergency medicine] as a career in medicine.”
Dr. Mike Abernethy’s journey into emergency medicine began in his teenage years during the mid-1970s, when he volunteered as an ambulance attendant and later became an emergency medical technician. His experience cemented his decision to pursue a medical career focused on emergency medicine. By the time Abernethy entered medical school, there was no doubt in his mind about his path.
This clarity carried him through his emergency medicine residency at the University of Chicago, where he served as Chief Aeromedical Resident and honed the skills that would shape his contributions to emergency and prehospital care.
Throughout Abernethy’s decades-long career—he likes to say he is a PGY-37—he has been a steadfast advocate for providing care to all patients, without conditions. “The emergency department is the safety net for the entire healthcare system,” he explains. His perspective is rooted in a deep sense of duty and compassion, qualities that he has carried into every role he’s taken on. Whether caring for chronic pain patients or those suffering from psychiatric issues or addiction, he approaches each case with empathy, encouraging junior physicians to “imagine what patients’ day-to-day existence is like.”
Abernethy is a clinical professor of emergency medicine at the University of Wisconsin School of Medicine and Public Health and Chief Flight Physician for UW Health Med Flight. As part of a world-class academic medical center and department, he often works with medical students, residents and fellows. Abernethy finds that being a natural storyteller helps him with teaching and being able to connect with young trainees.
“I want to be the guy that’s still up and current on a lot of things,” he says. “To do that, combined with my experience, I can serve as a valuable asset for prehospital education.”*
Abernethy’s work extends well beyond the emergency department. His leadership roles have also taken him onto national and international stages. Abernethy has served as a consultant for the U.S. Department of Transportation, where he contributed to the development of national standards for patient billing and disclosure of charges for air ambulance services.
Internationally, he serves as a faculty instructor with the renowned Anesthesia Trauma and Critical Care (ATACC) group in the U.K. training healthcare professionals in the most advanced trauma care. His contributions earned him the Distinguished Physician Award from the international Air Medical Physicians Association in 2017, one of the highest honors in the Air Medical community. He was also the first American to earn a Diploma in Retrieval and Transfer Medicine (DRTM) from the Royal College of Surgeons of Edinburgh (RSCE), and the first American examiner in RSCE’s section of Pre-hospital Care.
For Abernethy, moments of professional pride often stem from personal connections. He recalls one instance when a retired emergency nurse drove her sick grandchild past several other hospitals to the emergency department where Abernethy was working, confident in his ability to deliver the highest level of care. His clinical passions align with this commitment to patient trust and exceptional care, particularly Abernethy’s focus on aggressive analgesia for severe traumatic pain—a critical yet sometimes overlooked area in emergency medicine.
Balancing such a demanding career is no easy feat, and Abernethy acknowledges the trial-and-error process involved in achieving work-life harmony as someone who thrives on the very edge of high-stakes medicine. Outside the hospital, he enjoys rural life, spending time with his grandchildren, and indulging a fascination with farm machinery—a welcome counterbalance to the high-pressure nature of his daily work.
It’s no surprise then that despite his extensive credentials and international recognition, Abernethy remains deeply connected to what first drew him to emergency medicine: variety, flexibility, and an unwavering commitment to remarkable patient care.
For him, the specialty’s greatest strength is its ability to provide care “anywhere, anytime, for any patient.” Whether training future physicians, advancing air medical safety or delivering bedside care, Abernethy is grateful for the opportunities his career has provided him. “It is a profound privilege to be doing what I’m doing.”
*Parts of this article were adapted from The Nocturnists podcast episode, “Encounter on Aisle 9,” which aired in March 2023. The Nocturnists is an award-winning medical storytelling podcast. In the episode, Dr. Abernethy recounts an unexpected run-in at his local supermarket that made him feel as if he’d seen a ghost. Listen to the episode online 
or wherever you get your podcasts.