Resident Research
Emergency Medicine is a relatively new specialty. Canada's first residency programs started in the 1980s, and focused largely on teaching, administration, and clinical service. Since then, the Emergency Department has gained more recognition as an important interface between community and inpatient care. Emergency Departments are also playing a much bigger role in emergency care and timely therapy for many conditions (eg. sepsis, acute cardiac conditions, airway control, and trauma care).
Emergency Medicine has an excellent, though relatively small, community of researchers in Canada. The field has gained greater traction in the past 15 years; however, the University of Alberta has emerged as one of Canada's top two centres for Emergency Medicine research and ranks among the leaders internationally.
Research Educational Objectives
All residents are expected to take part in some form of scholarly project throughout their programs. These projects are defined as "the production and dissemination of academic education or research materials to staff or the medical community" and receive support from the Emergency Medicine Research Group. Residents require a basic appreciation of research methods in order to conduct audits and provide feedback in their future careers.
Knowledge
Residents should acquire a detailed understanding of evidence-based emergency medicine (EBEM), including the following:
- Basic concepts of critical appraisal of literature
- Study design and methodology
- Ethical issues in research
- Basic statistics used in Emergency Medicine research
Enabling Activities
Residents should be able to do the following:
- Generate a hypothesis/research question using PICOD methods
- Critically appraise the literature on topics relevant to Emergency Medicine
- Complete a literature review
- Participate in a study design, data collection, data analysis and presentation
- Participate in a quality assurance/risk management project
- Resident Research Requirements as necessary