Goldflam K, Coughlin RF, Cotton Widdicombe A, Della-Giustina D. A National Survey of Wilderness Medicine Curricula in United States Emergency Medicine Residencies.
Wilderness Environ Med 2021;
32:187-191. [PMID:
33966974 DOI:
10.1016/j.wem.2021.02.005]
[Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/17/2020] [Revised: 12/29/2020] [Accepted: 02/16/2021] [Indexed: 11/28/2022]
Abstract
INTRODUCTION
Wilderness medicine (WM) is a growing subspecialty of emergency medicine. In 2018, we surveyed all 240 emergency medicine residencies in the United States to assess the scope of WM education in emergency medicine training programs in light of the nearly 30% increase in the number of residencies since 2015.
METHODS
A survey was e-mailed to the Council of Residency Directors in Emergency Medicine listserv and individual program directors of each of the 240 residencies. The survey included questions on educational content, format, number of hours taught, availability of conference credit, offering of an elective or fellowship, and several predefined WM curricula. We evaluated differences between 3-y and 4-y residencies using the χ2 test, where P<0.05 was considered significant.
RESULTS
We had a response rate of 57% for completed surveys. Analysis showed 63% of respondent programs teach WM material. The majority (86%) partially or completely developed their curriculum, with 33% offering at least 1 of the predefined curricula. Thirteen percent taught with lecture only, 2% taught by hands-on only, and 85% used a combination of the 2. WM electives were significantly more likely to be offered by 4-y than 3-y residencies (P=0.009).
CONCLUSIONS
Almost two-thirds of respondent residency programs teach WM material. Of these, only one-third teach any of the predefined curricula. Four-year residencies are more likely to offer WM electives but are otherwise comparable to 3-y programs.
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