Emergency medicine is a new sub-specialty as we know and is struggling to have its footing In Pakistan. It is much organized and quite extensive in other parts of the world. USA is one of the leading country that trains people in this disciple for quite sometimes and it still struggles to provide required number of emergency medicine trained physicians to serve in their emergency departments. The situation in the UK is also not a happy one as it also is unable to provide adequate number of physicians to cater to all the Brits coming to the emergency Departments. This provides a unique opportunity for the residents and interested physicians of developing countries to have an avenue for the training and service provision in the UK.
College of emergency medicine UK has been instrumental in not just helping the medical community of UK but also the third world countries to avail the opportunity of being trained in emergency medicine. It also provides them with the opportunity to learn different aspects of emergency medicine, including pre-hospital care and disaster management. Due to this fact the junior doctors are opting to become member of college of emergency medicine UK in high numbers. This gives them a chance to prove their worth in the field and also to get into their career both in UK and also in the Middle East. This option is available to both the trainees in emergency medicine and also the non-trainees working in the department.
Since the field of emergency medicine is slowly taking its roots in Pakistan and the number of institutions that have the residency training slots are very limited, it is a reasonable way for those who work on the hospitals that provide no opportunity for the training in emergency medicine. I personally like this avenue to be fully utilized by our junior and middle grade faculty and after that serve in the country to bring the level of emergency care up.
As supervisor of emergency medicine training program and part of the emergency medicine community I feel that an extensive effort is needed by all of the people who care about the emergency medicine in Pakistan, and we collectively guide our youth to plan and utilize these avenues.
With the above background in mind, our Shifa team arranged a workshop to prepare residents for the MCEM part three exam. This workshop was done in AKUH and attended by its middle grade faculty. This served the purpose of preparing them at the comfort of their home city and in their own institution. This activity was well planned and superbly executed by the teamwork led by Dr. Khawaja Junaid Mustafa. The attendees thoroughly enjoyed the atmosphere of learning and the interaction with the consultants of Shifa.
The contents of the course were carefully devised to help the residents appear in the Membership exam of the college of Emergency Medicine. It will also help the students in other emergency medicine examinations both in Pakistan and outside. This content also gave residents a chance to look into their own practice and improve it and match i to the best practice of the field. Residents were given feedback on their performance then and there and tips on how to improve their skill, knowledge and attitude. The feedback of the attendees was excellent and heart warming as that is the whole objective of the workshop.
Shifa team has already created the EMAG ( emergency medicine advisory group) and it is planning to hold similar workshops across Pakistan. In our bid to improve the level of Emergency Care we are determined to do this activity periodically and consistently. These strategies to train the future doctors are tried and acceptable in other parts of the world. Our emphasis has been to provide the young physicians tools to quickly assess the patients, start treatment and then communicate with the patients and family to involve them in the care. Thus improve the quality of service through communication, education and empowering.
Follow us on our website for the future announcements regarding the similar activities in emergency medicine.
You can be in touch with me through the email : ERDOC@shifa.com.pk