Emergency medicine in undergraduate education

Abstract

Society has a right to expect that all physicians possess basic knowledge of emergency care and the skills to manage acute problems. Competency in the care of acutely ill and injured patients is one of the fundamental exit goals of most medical schools as mandated by the Liaison Committee on Medical Education. Several groups have called for strengthening the general components of undergraduate medical education, and surveys during the early years of the development of the field of emergency medicine (EM) showed that only a small percentage of schools required significant education in EM. This paper defines the goals and objectives of undergraduate EM education in order to help guide the development of curricular offerings as the role of EM in undergraduate medical school education increases. This paper was developed by the SAEM Education Committee and presents this committee's beliefs on what all graduating medical students should know about assessment and treatment of acutely sick and injured patients. It also suggests methods by which acquisition of this information can occur in medical school education.