CJEM
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Review
Call to action: equity, diversity, and inclusion in emergency medicine resident physician selection.
This call to action seeks to improve emergency care in Canada for equity-deserving communities, enabled by equitable representation among emergency physicians nationally. Specifically, this work describes current resident selection processes and makes recommendations to enhance the equity, diversity, and inclusion (EDI) of resident physician selection in Canadian emergency medicine (EM) residency programs. ⋯ We call on Canadian EM training programs to implement these eight recommendations to strengthen EDI practices in EM resident physician selection and, in doing so, help to improve the care that patients from equity-deserving groups receive in Canada's emergency departments (EDs).
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The purpose of this study was to identify the learning needs of emergency physicians returning to Emergency Medicine (EM) practice after clinical leaves of less than 2 years, summarize existing return to practice programs, and propose recommendations regarding ideal educational and support structures for these physicians both during their practice gaps and upon return to EM. ⋯ We have developed a set of recommendations regarding ideal educational and support structures for physicians experiencing gaps in practice of less than 2 years. This set of recommendations was informed by review of existing and exemplar programs, policies and experience of regulatory bodies, interviews with EM Department Heads across Canada, and a subsequent process of consensus at the 2022 CAEP conference academic symposium. It is hoped that this set of recommendations will inform discussions and potential strategies employed by departments to facilitate the smooth and effective return to EM practice for individuals experiencing gaps.
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Multicenter Study
The impact of alternate level of care on access block and operational strategies to reduce emergency wait times: a multi-center simulation study.
Lengthy emergency department (ED) wait times caused by hospital access block is a growing concern for the Canadian health care system. Our objective was to quantify the impact of alternate-level-of-care on hospital access block and evaluate the likely effects of multiple interventions on ED wait times. ⋯ A moderate reduction in alternate-level-of-care hospital days for medical patients could alleviate access block and reduce ED wait times, although the magnitude of reduction varies by site. Increasing ED physician staffing and aligning physician capacity with inflow demand could also decrease wait time. Operational strategies for reducing ED wait times should prioritize resolving output and throughput factors rather than input factors.
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Randomized Controlled Trial
Health care impact of implementing a clinical pathway for acute care of pediatric concussion: a stepped wedge, cluster randomised trial.
To test the effects of actively implementing a clinical pathway for acute care of pediatric concussion on health care utilization and costs. ⋯ Implementation of a clinical pathway in the ED increased outpatient follow-up and reduced the time from physician initial assessment to disposition, without increasing physician costs. Implementation of a clinical pathway can align acute care of pediatric concussion more closely with existing clinical practice guidelines while making care more efficient.
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Transition from residency to unsupervised practice represents a critical stage in learning and professional identity formation, yet there is a paucity of literature to inform residency curricula and emergency department transition programming for new faculty. ⋯ The Canadian EM community used a structured process to develop 14 best practice recommendations to enhance the transition to practice phase of residency training as well as the transition period in the career of junior attending physicians.