Abstracts

Original research on the development of emergency medicineEmergency Medicine is continuing to advance in Africa, as evidenced by the many abstracts that were presented at EMSSA's 3rd Emergency Medicine in the Developing World conference in November (www.emssa2011.co.za).The abstracts we highlight in this editorial represent submissions from emergency physicians, nurses, pre-hospital medics and health professionals from all over world, and represent different facets of the development of emergency care. EducationTraining physicians to practice in an acute setting is a crucial step in developing and sustaining Emergency Medicine (EM).A training program should be tailored to address the needs and resources of the different practice settings.Sisay et al. describe the development of an EM residency at Addis Ababa University, Ethiopia.An Ethiopian task force partnered with the University of Toronto and the University of Wisconsin to develop a curriculum and include aspects specific to the needs of the practice environment in Ethiopia.ZeMinkande´'s study also reflects the need for EM training programs.They report on a program in Cameroon that has successfully trained 25 physicians (unfortunately suspended for the last 2 years for financial reasons).Cameroon has incorporated in-service training for Emergency nurses, and has incorporated first-aid training into its medical school curriculum.However, this does not negate the need for physician training programs.The authors argue strongly for restarting the training program, expanding nursing training, and extending first aid training to the public.As Emergency Medicine continues to grow, emergency providers will play a larger role in improving the health of the community.One example is discussed by Ribeiro et al., where

Abstract licence: CC BY-NC-ND

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