Emergency physicians respond to community needs

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Canadian Family Physician^•Le Médecin de famille canadien

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Vol 62: may • mai 2016

Cumulative Profile ^{| College}

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^Collège

Emergency physicians respond to community needs

Francine Lemire

MD CM CCFP FCFP CAE, EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR AND CHIEF EXECUTIVE OFFICER

Jennifer L. Hall

MSc MD CCFP FCFP, PRESIDENT

T

he provision of care outside the family practice set- ting has long been a critical role of family physicians, as they serve as a resource to their communities.

The emergency department is one such setting. We are aware of conversations in the medical community about the definition of an emergency physician and the dis- cussion of qualifications to practise in this environment.

The CFPC is working with the Canadian Association of Emergency Physicians (CAEP) and the Royal College of Physicians and Surgeons of Canada (RCPSC) to gather opinions about emergency care in Canada, understand the needs of our population, and review the competen- cies required to meet those needs in emergency depart- ments in all communities.

We acknowledge the myriad pressures placed on emergency departments and also recognize that many family doctors provide emergency care in rural and community-based emergency departments. Family doctors have done this for many years and have often enhanced their skills in this type of care through con- tinuing professional development. Family doctors who commit part or all of their time to providing emergency care are emergency physicians. About 1 in 5 family phy- sicians (19%) deliver care in emergency departments¹ and nearly 3500 family physicians hold Certification in Emergency Medicine (CCFP[EM]) from the CFPC.

For some family physicians, a more formal acknowl- edgment of these enhanced skills is sought. The reasons for this vary and range from the personal to pressures from external organizations to achieve these creden- tials. The CFPC’s core mission is to produce well-trained family doctors who are engaged in the provision of con- tinuous and comprehensive care. This said, the College has and will continue to support a range of enhanced skills in various areas that are relevant to family prac- tice. Emergency care is one of those areas.

Provision of enhanced skills in emergency medicine is a success story in Canada. Those with a CCFP(EM) designation can meet community needs in emergency

care and have done so for decades in large urban cen- tres and smaller communities across the country. They have been leaders in clinical care, administrative activi- ties, and educational program delivery. These family physicians have received recognition of their enhanced skills through the residency training route or the practice- eligible route.

In order for family physicians to be truly responsive to community needs, we must have the capacity in our education system to allow those who finish residency to acquire the needed skills. This must be offered with flexibility at either the end of residency or once in prac- tice. Concentrated and supervised education and service experiences offer unique opportunities to acquire spe- cific competencies and should be supported. This type of model requires resources from the communities in which these physicians practise, requires university departments of family medicine to develop innovative curriculums, and requires governments to support this type of educational model.

The CFPC looks forward to the recommendations of the CAEP-CFPC-RCPSC working group. We will review these recommendations seriously and address opportu- nities for improvement.

However, the delivery of high-quality emergency care in Canada requires more than the involvement of the CAEP, CFPC, and RCPSC. It also requires engagement from the health care and medical communities, resources and infra- structure, funding for medical education, collaboration with the federal, provincial, and territorial governments, and, most important, working with the communities for which we care. We must recognize the extraordinary con- tributions made every day across Canada by family physi- cians providing emergency care.

acknowledgment

We thank Mr Eric Mang and Drs Roy Wyman, Pamela Eisener-Parsche, and Richard Almond for their feedback on this article.

Reference

1. College of Family Physicians of Canada. National Physician Survey, 2014.

Results for family physicians by sex and age. Q6a. What best describes your work setting(s)? Mississauga, ON: College of Family Physicians of Canada;

2014. Available from: http://nationalphysiciansurvey.ca/wp-content/

uploads/2014/09/2014-FPGP-EN-Q6a.pdf. Accessed 2016 Apr 4.

Cet article se trouve aussi en français à la page 447.