CAEP/AMUQ 1999 scientific abstract competition: results and future directions

Resource contribution by Canadian faculties of medicine to the discipline of emergency medicine

Objective:

Undergraduate and postgraduate emergency medicine (EM) education has developed rapidly over the last 20 years. Our objective was to establish a national educational inventory, cataloguing the human and financial resources provided to EM programs by Canadian faculties of medicine.

Methods:

A 17-question survey was distributed to all 27 Canadian EM program directors, representing 11 Royal College of Physicians and Surgeons of Canada (RCPSC) programs and 16 College of Family Physicians of Canada (CFPC-EM) programs. The questionnaire addressed teaching responsibilities, teaching support and academic support in each program.

Results:

All 27 program directors returned valid questionnaires. Annually, an estimated 3,049 students and residents participate in EM learning. This includes 1,369 undergraduates (45%), 1,621 postgraduates (53%) and 59 others (2%). Of the postgraduates, 173 are EM residents — 92 (53%) in RCPSC programs and 81 (47%) in CFPC-EM programs. Overall, 587 EM faculty teach residents and students, but only 36 (6%) of these hold academic geographical full time positions. At the university level, all 16 CFPC-EM programs are administered by departments of family medicine. Of 11 RCPSC programs, 1 has full departmental status, 2 are free-standing divisions, 3 are administered through family medicine, 3 through medicine, 1 through surgery and 1 by other arrangements. Currently 8 programs (30%) have associate faculty, 14 (52%) have designated research directors and 10 (37%) describe other human resources. Sixteen (59%) programs receive direct financial and administrative support and 17 (63%) receive financial support for resident initiatives. Only 8 program directors (30%) perceive that they are receiving adequate support.

Conclusions:

Despite major teaching and clinical responsibilities within the faculties of medicine, Canadian EM programs are poorly supported. Further investment of human and financial and human resources is required.

Important returns on investment: an evaluation of a national research grants competition in emergency medicine

OBJECTIVE

We sought to examine scholarly outcomes of the projects receiving research grants from the Canadian Association of Emergency Physicians (CAEP) during the first 10 years of national funding (i.e., between 1996 and 2005).

METHODS

We sent email surveys to 62 emergency medicine (EM) researchers who received funding from CAEP. We focused our data collection on grant deliverables and opinions using a 1-7 Likert scale with regard to the value of the award.

RESULTS

Fifty-eight recipients responded to our survey. Grants were most commonly awarded to residents (21 [36%]), followed by senior (16 [28%]) and junior (13 [22%]) emergency staff. Twenty-six applicants from Ontario and 11 from Quebec received the majority of the grants. Overall, 51 projects were completed at the time of contact and, from these, 39 manuscripts were published or in press. Abstract presentations were more common, with a median of 2 abstracts presented per completed project. Abstract presentations for the completed projects were documented locally (23), nationally (39) and internationally (37). Overall, 19 projects received additional funding. The median amount funded was Can$4700 with an interquartile range of $3250-$5000. Respondents felt CAEP funding was critical to completing their projects and felt strongly that dedicated EM research funding should be continued to stimulate productivity.

CONCLUSION

Overall, the CAEP Research Grants Competition has produced impressive results. Despite the small sums available, the grants have been important for ensuring study completion and for securing additional funding. CAEP and similar EM organizations need to develop a more robust funding approach so that larger grant awards and more researchers can be supported on an annual basis.