title: Ready for Discharge? A Survey of Discharge Transition-of-Care Education and Evaluation in Emergency Medicine Residency Programs.
abstract: This study aimed to assess current education and practices of emergency medicine (EM) residents as perceived by EM program directors to determine if there are deficits in resident discharge handoff training. This survey study was guided by the Kern model for medical curriculum development. A six-member Council of EM Residency Directors (CORD) Transitions of Care task force of EM physicians performed these steps and constructed a survey. The survey was distributed to program residency directors via the CORD listserve and/or direct contact. There were 119 responses to the survey, which were collected using an online survey tool. Over 71% of the 167 American College of Graduate Medical Education (ACGME) accredited EM residency programs were represented. Of those responding, 42.9% of programs reported formal training regarding discharges during initial orientation and 5.9% reported structured curriculum outside of orientation. A majority (73.9%) of programs reported that EM residents were not routinely evaluated on their discharge proficiency. Despite the ACGME requirements requiring formal handoff curriculum and evaluation, many programs do not provide formal curriculum on the discharge transition of care or evaluate EM residents on their discharge proficiency.
authors.affiliation: The University of Washington, Division of Emergency Medicine, Seattle, Washington.
authors.forename: Fiona E
authors.initials: FE
authors.lastname: Gallahue
authors.affiliation: The University of Washington, Division of Emergency Medicine, Seattle, Washington.
authors.forename: Amy E
authors.initials: AE
authors.lastname: Betz
authors.affiliation: The University of Colorado, Department of Emergency Medicine, Aurora, Colorado.
authors.forename: Jeffrey
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Druck
authors.affiliation: The University of Mississippi Medical Center, Department of Emergency Medicine, Jackson, Mississippi.
authors.forename: Jonathan S
authors.initials: JS
authors.lastname: Jones
authors.affiliation: The University of Oklahoma School of Community Medicine, Tulsa, Oklahoma.
authors.forename: Boyd
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Burns
authors.affiliation: Alameda Hospital System-Highland Hospital, Department of Emergency Medicine, Oakland, California.
authors.forename: Gene
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Hern
mesh_terms: D003479:Curriculum / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D004521:Educational Measurement / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D004635:Emergency Medicine / Q000193:education*; D006801:Humans; D007396:Internship and Residency / Q000379:methods* / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D010351:Patient Discharge; D062209:Patient Handoff; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D014481:United States