Are pediatric emergency medicine training programs adequately preparing graduates for involvement in EMS?
OBJECTIVE
To examine the level of involvement in pre-hospital care for children by faculty and fellows of teaching hospitals with a Pediatric Emergency Medicine (PEM) fellowship. In addition, we hypothesized that a divisional faculty member's involvement as principal investigator (PI) on an EMSC grant would not impact divisional involvement in on or off-line medical direction.


METHODS



METHODS
Cross-sectional national survey.


METHODS
PEM fellowship directors.


METHODS
Self-administered questionnaire.


METHODS
Descriptive and Chi-square analysis to study null hypothesis.


RESULTS
The response rate to the survey was 62% (53/85). Of the programs responding, 53 % provided on-line pediatric medical direction for pre-hospital providers, 77% were involved with paramedic education other than PALS, and 58% of systems had pediatric specific protocols. In 87 % of the programs, a designated faculty member functioned as an EMSC liaison. A division faculty member was or had been the PI on an EMSC grant in 18 programs (34%). There was no significant difference in the provision of on or off-line medical direction comparing programs with or without involvement in an EMSC grant. Only 34% of the responding program directors felt that the current level of exposure to EMS was adequate for PEM fellow training.


CONCLUSIONS
The current level of involvement in EMS of PEM faculty and fellows has significant room for improvement. It does not appear that grant support translates into increased local involvement in EMS. Current PEM fellowship curriculum guidelines for training in EMS are not being met by the majority of responding training programs.
Pershad
J
J
Division of Emergency Medicine, LeBonheur Children's Medical Center, Memphis, Tennessee 38103, USA. poppy@netten.net
Redden
D
D
Glaeser
P
P
D001291:Attitude of Health Personnel; D016009:Chi-Square Distribution; D002648:Child; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D004632:Emergency Medical Services; D004634:Emergency Medical Technicians / Q000193:education*; D006801:Humans; D010372:Pediatrics / Q000193:education; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D014481:United States