Emergency Medicine Enrichment

What is the Emergency Medicine Enrichment (EME) program?

The emergency medicine enrichment (EME) program is a part of the RPAP enrichment program.

It provides an opportunity for rural physicians to acquire between 1 - 6 months of emergency medicine training in Edmonton area hospitals. One-month traineeships will occur in either the Royal Alexandra Hospital or the University of Alberta Hospital. Longer traineeships will also include one month experiences in the other emergency departments within the Edmonton area.

The general objective of the program is to provide formal emergency medicine training to rural physicians in order to enable them to competently and confidently deal with rural emergency patients from assessment and management through to appropriate referral and transport as needed. Specific objectives are available as a separate document. Some flexibility may be available in order to meet specific trainee identified objectives.

In addition to the 14-16 shifts per month in an emergency department, the trainee will have the opportunity to participate in STARS ride-a-longs and to follow the Trauma Team Leader at the RAH or the UAH. Furthermore, the trainee will be expected to attend weekly emergency academic rounds, monthly trauma rounds, journal club and will also have training/evaluation opportunities with the human patient simulator.

Who should apply?

• Rural physicians who work in their community's emergency department, who want additional training in emergency medicine, and who are planning on returning to rural practice.
• Rural physicians who are willing to apply for locum coverage during their period of traning and who are willing to commit to the substantial time requirement and fiscal limitations of the EME program.
• Rural family physicians that have recently taken or will be taking ATLS, ACLS, and PALS. Special consideration may be given to those without the full complement of courses.

Application Process

• As for other Enrichment Programs offered through the RPAP, the RPAP Skills Broker should be contacted for those physicians interested in participating in the EME program. Please refer to the main Enrichment Program web page.
• Once the RPAP Skills Broker has assisted the rural physician in completing the application process, the application will be forwarded to the Emergency Medicine Enrichment Program Coordinator (EME PC). The EME PC will then approach the UofA Emergency Medicine Residency Training Committee (RTC) to request approval for the training.
• The RTC reserves the right to use certain application procedures (i.e. review of application documents, interview, etc.) for the processing of applications and the right to deny applications if necessary. The availability of traineeships is also subject to resource limitations.

Evaluation

• Each trainee will fill out a daily evaluation form and maintain a procedure logbook. Overall evaluation will occur between the trainee and the EME PC at regular intervals.
• The Human Patient Simulator may also be used by the EME PC for evaluation purposes.
• The trainee will be expected to provide feedback, both written and verbal, to the EME PC on a regular basis.

Additional Information

• The time spent in the EME program may or may not be credited towards the practice eligibility requirements for writing the CCFP-EM exam. This detail is to be negotiated by the trainee with the College of Family Physicians of Canada (CFPC) directly.
• In rare circumstances difficulties may arise in the course of the traineeship that cannot be resolved on an interpersonal basis. Such problems should be brought to the attention of the EPC who will attempt to resolve the issue. If this is not possible, then the RTC or its delegates will have ultimate authority in conflict resolution.
• The trainee will not be able to bill the Alberta Health Care Insurance Plan (AHCIP) for emergency medical services provided during their traineeship.