EDUCATION IN EMERGENCY-MEDICINE

The concept of a progressive assimilation of knowledge through undergraduate and postgraduate training is increasingly acknowledged and applied in the emergency department. Here is an ideal environment in which to teach many aspects of undergraduate medicine. The didactic, approach to cardiac arrest management is contrasted with the informal 'problem-orientated' investigation of those who are not critically ill. The use of teaching aids is increasing and the importance of education objectives emphasized. Only by standardizing teaching in this way can performance be measured, providing a rational base for the development of new ideas. Postgraduate training programmes in North America, Australasia and the United Kingdom have developed along broadly similar lines, but there are major differences in continental Europe. The more dominant role of anaesthetists in emergency medicine in France, Germany and Belgium raises interesting possibilities for the integration of some aspects of training in the two specialties. Closer cooperation, particularly between emergency medicine and intensive care, should provide better opportunities for postgraduates and better care for their patients. © 1992 Baillière Tindall.