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Background: Achilles tendinopathy can be a devastating condition in ballet dancers. Initial medical evaluation is frequently conducted by generalist physicians, who may lack the perspective of dance and sports medicine focused training and often prescribe complete rest for chronic overuse injuries. In order to provide targeted information about Achilles tendinopathy and the unique needs of elite athletes, such as ballet dancers, we designed an educational intervention that covers relevant anatomy, physiology, biomechanics, clinical presentation and evaluation, and recommendations for initial treatment and sub-specialty referral. The objectives of this study were to determine baseline understanding of Achilles tendinopathy by generalist physicians and to evaluate the efficacy of an educational intervention on their knowledge.Methods: This was a prospective pre- post-test study, to measure improvement in knowledge about Achilles tendinopathy. Emergency Medicine and Primary Care physicians participated in an educational intervention with didactic and hands-on components. Data were analyzed using a two-tailed t-test.Results: Twenty generalist physicians participated. There was significant improvement in their knowledge of Achilles tendinopathy for all our educational objectives (Pre-test: 59% correct answers; post-test: 79% correct answers; P< .0001; 95% CI: 6.32-10.78.).Conclusions: A brief educational intervention leads to increased knowledge of Achilles tendinopathy in generalist physicians. By increasing awareness of Achilles tendinopathy through a standard educational model, we propose that our curriculum can be portable and accessible to all health care providers who encounter dancers and other athletes with Achilles tendinopathy and may serve as a model for expanded education to generalists about other conditions commonly encountered in ballet dancers.

Presenters share emerging scholarship at scientific meetings as oral or poster presentations. While there is ample direction for presenters, moderators, who are overarching content experts that lead the sessions, also need guidance.1,2 The approach to moderating an academic session presented below enables presenters and audiences to engage in meaningful discourse and moderators to keep abreast of the latest developments in their academic areas.

Research in basic, translational, and clinical emergency medicine has made great strides since the formalization of emergency medicine as a specialty. Our objective is to identify and analyze strategies used by emergency medicine research pioneers to inform further advancement of research in emergency medicine, particularly for aspiring researchers and those in emerging areas, using emergency medicine medical education as one example.

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EMERGENCY PHYSICIANS are faced with myriad reasons to use anesthetic agents in the course of practice. Often there is a need to do painful procedures in an emergency department for [...]

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Many health care organizations use screen savers on the computer terminals in patient care areas to provide educational messages and announcements for staff and patients. The effectiveness of screen savers for educating medical students about patient safety was investigated.

Mentorship has been shown to have a positive impact on academic faculty members in terms of career advancement. The guidance of a mentor has been shown to increase academic outcome measures such as peer‐reviewed publications and grant support for junior academic faculty. In addition, career satisfaction of mentored faculty is greater than those with no mentorship. There is little research on the effects of mentorship on the careers of clinician‐educators. This group has also been reported to have a lower scholarly productivity rate than the typical research‐based faculty. This article addresses the current state of mentorship as it applies specifically to clinician‐educators, offers advice on how a potential protégé might seek out a potential mentor, and finally, suggests a possible mentoring system for academic emergency physicians who are focusing on careers in medical education.

To compare 2 educational approaches (structured group session vs. individual instruction) of learning application techniques of 2-octylcyanoacrylate (OCA) on wounds repaired in the emergency department.

There is a need for every medical school graduate to handle emergencies as they arise in the daily practice of medicine. Emergency medicine (EM) educators are in a unique position to provide students with basic life support skills, guidance in assessing the undifferentiated patient, and exposure to the specialty of EM during all years of medical school. Emergency physicians can become involved in a variety of education experiences that can supplement the preclinical curriculum and provide access to our specialty at an early stage. A well‐designed course in the senior year allows students to develop critical thinking and patient management skills that are necessary for any medical career path. It can ensure that all medical students are exposed to the skills essential for evaluating and stabilizing the acutely ill patient. To implement this type of course, learning objectives and evaluation methods must be set when the curriculum is developed. An effective course combines didactic and clinical components that draw on the strengths of the teaching institution and faculty of the department. A structured clerkship orientation session and system for feedback to students are essential in nurturing the development of student learners. This article provides an approach to assist the medical student clerkship director in planning and implementing EM education experiences for students at all levels of training, with an emphasis on the senior‐year rotation.

Medical students have varied experiences on the emergency medicine (EM) subinternship. Didactic curricula can be standardized. Objectives:To determine if uniformity in clinical curricula is possible by assessing whether students can see patients with certain chief complaints (CC). Methods:Prospective interventional analysis at a public teaching hospital. Control group (CG) students saw patients of their choice and recorded encounters in logbooks. Test group (TG) students were asked to see at least one patient with: orthopedic injury (OR); asthma exacerbation (AE); acute coronary syndrome (ACS); traumatic injury (TR); laceration (LAC); or diabetic ketoacidosis (DKA). TG students prospectively recorded these patients on a separate logbook page. Logbooks were reviewed by two investigators to determine if a patient with each diagnosis was seen. Chi‐square analysis tested for differences in sample proportions between TG and CG. Multivariate analyses controlled for TG, specialty choice, and gender. p < 0.05 represented statistical significance. Results:One hundred fifty (88 TG; 62 CG) students participated. Differences existed between TG and CG in the proportion of students who saw a patient with each CC: OR: 93% TG, 69% CG (p < 0.0001); AE: 86% TG, 63% CG (p < 0.0008); ACS: 97% TG, 58% CG (p < 0.0001); TR: 97% TG, 58% CG (p < 0.0001); LAC: 98% TG, 89% CG (p < 0.0220); DKA: 68% TG, 47% CG (p < 0.0086). Logistic regressions explaining the probability of seeing each CC showed the variable controlling for TG was positive and significant for 5 CCs: p = 0.0013 (OR); 0.0038 (AE); 0.0001 (ACS); 0.0001 (TR); 0.0229 (DKA). No difference was found for LAC: p = 0.0570. Conclusions:Students can be directed to see patients with particular CCs. TG students saw more patients with certain CCs than CG students, p < 0.0001. This intervention can help educators provide a well‐rounded, uniform clinical EM experience.

Medical school faculty members who specialize in the scholarship of teaching have unique requirements for academic advancement in universities with clinician‐educator series. While excellence in teaching is the cornerstone of achievement, attention to traditional academic pursuits improves the likelihood of a favorable review by the institution's promotion and tenure committee. The teaching portfolio is an effective means to document performance. Ongoing faculty development and sound mentoring relationships facilitate the academic advancement of clinician‐educators.

Abstract. Objective:To determine whether emergency medicine (EM)‐bound and non‐EM‐bound senior medical students on the EM subinternship have a uniform experience with respect to number and acuity of patients seen and procedures performed. Methods:Prospective observational analysis of patient diagnosis and procedures recorded in logs by students at a public teaching hospital over 12 consecutive months. Logs were reviewed blindly and assigned an acuity level based on predetermined criteria. Preselected procedures were categorized as general or surgical and tallied. Identity, specialty choice, gender, and month of rotation for each student were identified. Results:Seventy of 74 students completed logs. On average, 34 EM‐bound students saw 59.82 patients (95% CI = 55.19 to 64.45) and performed 10.58 procedures (95% CI = 8.62 to 12.56); 36 non‐EM‐bound students saw 51.17 patients (95% CI = 47.41 to 54.90) and performed 8.33 procedures (95% CI = 6.81 to 9.84). Univariate analysis showed EM‐bound students saw more patients than non‐EM‐bound students, performed more surgical procedures, and saw higher‐acuity patients (p = 0.004; 0.009; 0.016). Multivariate analyses controlled for EM specialty, gender, and month. Significant effects for EM specialty were found (ordinary least squares) for number of patients, procedures, and surgical procedures (p = 0.013; 0.048; 0.011). Logistic regression explaining acuity level showed EM specialty and gender were significant (p = 0.010; 0.038). Conclusions:In an EM subinternship, experience was variable between EM‐bound and non‐EM‐bound students. Male students saw lower‐acuity patients. The EM‐bound students saw more patients, higher‐acuity patients, and performed more procedures than non‐EM‐bound cohorts. Emergency medicine educators responsible for medical education should be aware of these differences.

Abstract. The specialty of emergency medicine (EM) is becoming more and more involved in medical school education. The previous article discusses the integration of EM in medical school curricula. This outline was developed by the SAEM Undergraduate Education Committee to offer specific goals and objectives as well as suggestions for implementation of EM concepts into medical school curricula.

Objective:To determine 1) the percentage of patients with new–onset atrial fibrillation for whom admission is medically justified and 2) whether those patients for whom hospitalization is medically justified can be reliably identified in the ED.

Background:Emergency medicine (EM) is a popular specialty for medical students choosing a career. Many attend medical schools without an affiliated EM residency and lack both the formal mentorship and informal guidance provided by medical school advisors (or faculty) involved in an accredited EM training program. Others desire specialized advice based on geographic or specific academic interest. Objective:The authors describe user characteristics of a Web‐based virtual advisor program that paired medical students with EM faculty advisors. Methods:Prospective users access the system from a link on the Society for Academic Emergency Medicine (SAEM) home page. On the initial visit, demographic information is collected. Faculty and student guidelines are provided. Students desiring individual advice may register for a virtual advisor who can assess career goals and qualifications. Volunteer faculty mentors are assigned on the basis of the student's geographic and demographic preferences and career aspirations. Encounters rely primarily on electronic and/or voice correspondence to suit the needs of the pair. A frequently asked question (FAQ) section provides answers to common questions and does not require registration. Results:Two hundred sixty‐four students (183 males, 75 females, 6 unspecified) from North American (87) and international (25) medical schools requested a virtual advisor. One hundred twenty‐one faculty advisors from 56 U.S. medical schools participated (86 [71%] males; 35 [29%] females). Students indicated reasons they sought a virtual advisor. Qualitative feedback was generally positive from advisors and advisees. Conclusion:The implementation of the virtual advisor program enabled medical students to have access to experienced EM faculty career mentors.

The senior year provides an excellent opportunity for medical students to experience the specialty of emergency medicine for career exploration and skill development. This educational experience can provide the medical school with the means to meet the Liaison Committee on Medical Education recommendation that all graduating students should be capable of handling emergencies. The senior rotation may be a mandatory or elective experience. It is in the emergency department that students can gain experience in evaluating the undifferentiated patient and may refine their history and physical examination skills. They have the chance to become adept at rapid decision making in the diagnosis and stabilization of patients. This paper outlines the components of a typical four‐week rotation, such as the orientation session, the didactic program, the clinical experience, the evaluation of students, the faculty, and the educational experience. Strategies for implementing both didactic and clinical components of the curriculum are provided. The managerial role of the clerkship director is introduced. Suggestions for assuming administrative and educational responsibility for an existing course are made. A guide to the development and implementation of a new course is described, in which the course objectives and prerequisites must be set, the core didactic curriculum formulated, the clinical experience defined, and a system of evaluation and feedback developed. Students generally enjoy their emergency medicine experience as it is often their first opportunity to assume primary responsibility for patient care. Clerkship directors can develop their leadership skills in managing a major educational component of the senior year that may prove beneficial in developing a career in the field of medical education.