Academic emergency medicine : official journal of the Society for Academic Emergency Medicine
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The 2012 Academic Emergency Medicine (AEM) consensus conference "Education Research In Emergency Medicine: Opportunities, Challenges, and Strategies for Success" convened a diverse group of stakeholders in medical education to target gaps in emergency medicine (EM) education research and identify priorities for future study. A total of 175 registrants collaborated in preparatory and conference-day activities to explore subtopics in educational interventions, learner assessment, faculty development, and research funding and infrastructure. The conference was punctuated by didactic sessions led by key international medical education experts and ended with consensus formation in many domains. This issue of AEM presents the exciting results of this process.
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The 2012 Academic Emergency Medicine consensus conference on education research in emergency medicine (EM) addressed various issues, including that of ethics in medical education research for EM. Education research in EM is essential to patient care and safety, and with recent advances in simulation and the advent of the Milestones project, it will become even more vital. Education research in EM is guided by the same principles that guide the ethical conduct of all human subjects' research: respect for persons, beneficence, and justice. ⋯ To ensure patient and trainee safety and to maintain the integrity of new knowledge, ethical considerations should remain at the forefront of EM education research. For EM education researchers, recognition of the vulnerability of residents, medical students, and others as research subjects is paramount. This article fills an important gap by outlining the principles guiding education research in EM, exploring the ethical challenges and approaches to education research, and offering a framework and future directions for the ethical conduct of education research in EM.
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This article describes opportunities for scholarship in medical education, based on a brief overview of recent changes in medical education. The implications arising from these changes are discussed, with recommendations for focus, and suggestions and examples for making progress in this field. The author discusses 1) the historical context of the current shift toward competency-based medical education, 2) the potential contribution of social and behavioral sciences to medical education scholarship, 3) methods and approaches for supporting scholarship in medical education, and very briefly 4) trends in simulation. The author concludes with a call for quality in medical education scholarship and argues that the most promising and fruitful area of medical education scholarship for the future lies in the field of assessment of individual competence.
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In just a few decades, emergency medicine (EM) has assumed a leadership role in medical education across many academic medical centers. This rapid evolution suggests medical education as a natural priority area for EM scholarship. This year's Academic Emergency Medicine consensus conference provides an ideal forum to focus on educational research as a core element of the specialty's academic portfolio.