A qualification course in an international emergency medicine intervention.
BACKGROUND
The Tuscan Emergency Medicine Initiative is a comprehensive training program for physicians designed to create a lasting infrastructure for training in emergency medicine (EM) in a region of Italy. A "Train-the-Trainers" model was utilized to prepare physicians who were working in the emergency department (ED) to become the teachers of EM, and a master's program was created to train the next generation of emergency physicians as well as to put in place a structure into which residency training in EM will be placed. This model has been used in other projects as well; however, the dilemma of what to do with physicians who are already in practice remained an unsolved problem.


OBJECTIVE
We wished to create a qualification course in EM for this important group of physicians.


METHODS
Didactic lectures, workshops, simulations, and clinical rotations were utilized to standardize current emergency care delivery in the region's EDs.


RESULTS
Between 2005 and 2008, 488 physicians completed the program.


CONCLUSIONS
We propose this model as a way of training and including the physicians caught in the transition to specialty training in any area developing the specialty of EM.
Weiner
Scott G
SG
Department of Emergency Medicine, Tufts Medical Center, Tufts University School of Medicine, Boston, Massachusetts 02111, USA.
Sanchez
Leon D
LD
Rosen
Peter
P
Lanigra
Michele
M
Bellesi
Roberta
R
Caneschi
Alessandro
A
Galli
Laura
L
Ban
Kevin M
KM
D003479:Curriculum; D004502:Education, Medical, Continuing / Q000379:methods*; D004635:Emergency Medicine / Q000193:education* / Q000592:standards; D006801:Humans; D007558:Italy