TY - JOUR
T1 - Conceptual Framework for International Pediatric Emergency Medicine Physician Exchange Programs
AU - Hennes, Halim
AU - Bandyopadhyay, Subhankar
N1 - Funding Information:
For pediatric emergency medicine (PEM) the picture is a slightly different, as it is a relatively newer subspecialty. However, PEM had seen tremendous growth over the past two decades in the United States. Well established fellowship programs, board certification, recognition by professional organizations, and a funded infrastructure to promote high quality and meaningful multi-center research, such as the Pediatric Emergency Medicine Applied Research Network (PECARN). On a global scale, PEM as a sub-specialty is not widely recognized or developed in many countries outside North America. In many underdeveloped countries the care for acutely ill and injured children is provided by generalists with limited resources. The involvement of the PEM community in international activities to exchange knowledge and promote the development of the subspecialty is a worthy goal for our professional community. We have a responsibility to learn from our EM colleagues and help improve the care for acutely ill and injured children in other nations where resources may be limited. This may be achieved through opportunities to train their physicians interested in PEM. In 2005, Babl and colleagues presented a comparison of PEM training in the United States, Canada, United Kingdom, and Australia. The authors presented a valuable description that serves as an excellent resource for physicians from other countries. 6 In this article we will provide a brief review of IPEM activities to date, propose a conceptual framework for a physician exchange program, and discuss barriers to implementation.
Funding Information:
Hennes and colleagues from the Medical College of Wisconsin, supported by a grant from Project Hope USA, evaluated emergency services in Egypt, developed a training program for pediatric emergencies, and authored a training manual with a group of pediatric surgeons to carry the training forward. The same group also hosted a PEM physician from Adana University who spent 3 months in the emergency department at Children's Hospital of Wisconsin. In June 2011, he received university approval to start the first pediatric emergency medicine fellowship in Turkey. Dr. Nathan Kupperman has been actively involved in Latin America and there are many other PEM specialists who provide education and assistance in underdeveloped countries. These efforts are largely achieved through personal contact and the individual's desire to help. While most of these activities have been limited to individual efforts of PEM physicians there are some related activities by other organizations.
Copyright:
Copyright 2012 Elsevier B.V., All rights reserved.
PY - 2012/3
Y1 - 2012/3
N2 - The global interest in emergency medicine (EM) is driven by economic expansion, growing population needs for urgent and emergent outpatient care, and advances in medical technologies. This interest facilitated establishment of EM as a specialty in many countries across the globe. International emergency medicine (IEM) is now incorporated into many EM residency training programs. On the other hand, pediatric emergency medicine (PEM), an established subspecialty with well funded infrastructure for research and education in the North America, has limited global involvement. To date, the care of acutely ill or injured children in many developed and underdeveloped countries is delivered by generalists with limited resources. While many PEM physicians are involved, on a personal level, in providing education and training to improve pediatric emergency care in underdeveloped countries, there is no organized and well funded infrastructure to support these activities. Furthermore, there is no outcome data to demonstrate the value of these interventions. International pediatric emergency medicine (IPEM) has already been conceptualized through various collaborative efforts. This article describes a physician exchange program as a tool to develop IPEM further. If developed systematically with proper infrastructure in place, a physician exchange program may lead to successful creation of dedicated PEM programs being led by physicians from their own countries. Furthermore, this would create a global network of PEM community with reciprocal exchange of thoughts, ideas, protocols, pathways implementable for developing infrastructure, and research.
AB - The global interest in emergency medicine (EM) is driven by economic expansion, growing population needs for urgent and emergent outpatient care, and advances in medical technologies. This interest facilitated establishment of EM as a specialty in many countries across the globe. International emergency medicine (IEM) is now incorporated into many EM residency training programs. On the other hand, pediatric emergency medicine (PEM), an established subspecialty with well funded infrastructure for research and education in the North America, has limited global involvement. To date, the care of acutely ill or injured children in many developed and underdeveloped countries is delivered by generalists with limited resources. While many PEM physicians are involved, on a personal level, in providing education and training to improve pediatric emergency care in underdeveloped countries, there is no organized and well funded infrastructure to support these activities. Furthermore, there is no outcome data to demonstrate the value of these interventions. International pediatric emergency medicine (IPEM) has already been conceptualized through various collaborative efforts. This article describes a physician exchange program as a tool to develop IPEM further. If developed systematically with proper infrastructure in place, a physician exchange program may lead to successful creation of dedicated PEM programs being led by physicians from their own countries. Furthermore, this would create a global network of PEM community with reciprocal exchange of thoughts, ideas, protocols, pathways implementable for developing infrastructure, and research.
KW - International emergency medicine
KW - International pediatric emergency medicine
KW - Physician exchange program
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U2 - 10.1016/j.cpem.2011.12.007
DO - 10.1016/j.cpem.2011.12.007
M3 - Article
AN - SCOPUS:84857219056
SN - 1522-8401
VL - 13
SP - 31
EP - 36
JO - Clinical Pediatric Emergency Medicine
JF - Clinical Pediatric Emergency Medicine
IS - 1
ER -