Schulich School of Medicine and Dentistry
Introduction: With the implementation of Competency Based Medical Education (CBME) by all Emergency Medicine (EM) residency programs in Canada, there are specific Entrustable Professional Activities (EPAs) that residents will be expected to meet with respect to health research methodology education, scholarly projects, and quality initiatives. Despite this, health research methodology curricula, scholarly project expectations, and quality initiative requirements across the 12 English-speaking EM training programs in Canada are unknown.
Methods: A mixed-methods approach was followed. All English-speaking EM residents and program directors were surveyed electronically regarding health research methodology curriculum, scholarly projects, and quality initiatives. Quantitative, descriptive statistics were prepared using Microsoft Excel. Qualitative data were explored, and themes identified.
Results: There was disparity between resident and program director responses with respect to the existence of curricula, mandatory attendance at educational events, assessment of learning, preparation for Royal College exams, and usefulness for future practice. Monthly journal club was seen as a positive educational endeavor. Teaching in the areas of basic epidemiology, statistics, and critical appraisal were felt to be needed. National standards with respect to expectations for Royal College examinations was felt to be important. Lack of time, support, educated facility, and finances were found to be barriers to an EBM and health research methodologies curriculum.
Conclusion: The national movement to CBME has the potential to improve health research methodology curricula, scholarly projects, and quality initiatives, as the new EPAs call for a curriculum with clear expectations that allow for the EPAs to be met. Future research should focus on the development of a national online curriculum that all residents have access to, is evidence based, and can be studied to examine its effectiveness.
