Emergency Medicine Training and Practice in Canada: Celebrating the Past & Evolving for the Future

Abstract

Postgraduate Emergency Medicine (EM) training and certification in Canada currently consists of two separate training pathways that are overseen by two autonomous national colleges. The Royal College of Physicians and Surgeons of Canada (Royal College) and the College of Family Physicians of Canada (CFPC) independently offer EM residency training programs with differing training requirements and objectives (FRCPC-EM and CCFP(EM), respectively). Each program was originally intended to fulfill differing societal and healthcare needs. In reality, the products of these training programs significantly overlap, and have evolved to meet population needs differently than their initially intended roles as outlined by the two colleges, leading to substantial debate within the Canadian EM community.