History repeating itself: provincialism in emergency medicine

摘要

I read with great interest, Patrick Plunkett's recent editorial, 'Evolution - a slow and eventful process' . His reference to recent attempts by European anesthesiologists to develop a 'core curriculum' for emergency medicine as a subspecialty of anesthesiology repeats similar events in the United States 30-40 years ago . A remarkable book by Brian Zink chronicles the history of emergency medicine in the United States, and includes brief references to conflicts with other specialties who felt they 'owned' all or part of emergency medicine .In the early days, the establishment of emergency medicine residency programs at many academic institutions often faced the hurdle of surgeons or internists who managed 'emergency rooms.' They often served as triage agents, consulting other services for primary care in areas where they lacked familiarity. In many localities, academicians in other specialties actively opposed the establishment of emergency medicine residency programs. They perceived physicians with inferior training intruding on their areas of practice and interfering with the training of their residents.