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CORE CONTENT
Core Content Task Force II • EMERGENCY MEDICINE CORE CONTENT–2001
SPECIAL CONTRIBUTIONS
The Model of the Clinical Practice
of Emergency Medicine
CORE CONTENT TASK FORCE II*
of Emergency Medicine (Model). The Model resulted
from the need for a more integrated and representative
presentation of the Core Content of Emergency Medi-
cine.
The Model was created through the collaboration of
six organizations:
P
REAMBLE
In 1975 the American College of Emergency Physicians
and the University Association for Emergency Medicine
now the Society for Academic Emergency Medicine;
(
SAEM) conducted a practice analysis of the emerging
field of emergency medicine. This work resulted in the
development of the current Core Content of Emergency
Medicine, a listing of common conditions, symptoms,
and diseases seen and evaluated in emergency depart-
ments. The Core Content listing has subsequently been
revised four times, expanding from five to 20 pages.
However, none of these revisions had the benefit of em-
pirical analysis of the developing specialty but relied
solely upon expert opinion.
•
•
•
American Board of Emergency Medicine (ABEM)
American College of Emergency Physicians (ACEP)
Council of Emergency Medicine Residency Directors
(
•
•
CORD)
Emergency Medicine Residents’ Association (EMRA)
Residency Review Committee for Emergency Medi-
cine (RRC-EM)
•
Society for Academic Emergency Medicine (SAEM)
There are three components to the Model: 1) an as-
Following the most recent revision of the Core Con-
tent listing in 1997, the contributing organizations felt
that the list had become complex and unwieldy, and sub-
sequently agreed to address this issue by commissioning
a task force to re-evaluate the Core Content listing and
the process for revising the list. As part of its final set
of recommendations, the Core Content Task Force rec-
ommended that the specialty undertake a practice anal-
ysis of the clinical practice of emergency medicine. Re-
sults of a practice analysis would provide an empirical
foundation for content experts to develop a core docu-
ment that would represent the needs of the specialty.
Following the completion of its mission, the Core
Content Task Force recommended commissioning an-
other task force that would be charged with the over-
sight of a practice analysis of the specialty—Core Con-
tent Task Force II. The practice analysis relied upon
both empirical data and the advice of several expert
sessment of patient acuity; 2) a description of the tasks
that must be performed to provide appropriate emer-
gency medical care; and 3) a listing of common condi-
tions, symptoms, and disease presentations. Together
these three components describe the clinical practice of
emergency medicine and differentiate it from the clini-
cal practice of other specialties. The Model represents
essential information and skills necessary for the clini-
cal practice of emergency medicine by board-certified
emergency physicians.
Patients often present to the emergency department
with signs and symptoms rather than a known disease
or disorder. Therefore, an emergency physician’s ap-
proach to patient care begins with the recognition of pat-
terns in the patient’s presentation that point to a specific
diagnosis or diagnoses. Pattern recognition is both the
hallmark and cornerstone of the clinical practice of
panels and resulted in the Model of the Clinical Practice emergency medicine, guiding the diagnostic tests and
therapeutic interventions during the entire patient en-
counter.
*
Task Force members: Robert S. Hockberger, MD, Chair, Louis
The Model is designed for use as the core document
for the specialty. It will provide the foundation for de-
veloping future medical school and residency curricula,
certification examination specifications, continuing ed-
ucation objectives, research agendas, residency program
S. Binder, MD, Mylissa A. Graber, MD, Gwendolyn L. Hoffman,
MD, Debra G. Perina, MD, Sandra M. Schneider, MD, David
P. Sklar, MD, Robert W. Strauss, MD, and Diana R. Viravec,
MD. Advisory Panel to the Task Force: William J. Koenig, MD,
Chair, James J. Augustine, MD, William P. Burdick, MD,
Wilma V. Henderson, MD, Linda L. Lawrence, MD, David B. review requirements, and other documents necessary
Levy, DO, Jane McCall, MD, Michael A. Parnell, MD, and Kent for the functional operation of the specialty.
T. Shoji, MD.
During the fall of 2000, each of the contributing or-
ganizations conducted a thorough review of the docu-
ment, and ultimately endorsed the following version of
the Model. The Task Force recommends that future re-
visions of this document be inputted, reviewed, and en-
dorsed by the contributing organizations.
Received February 13, 2001; accepted February 13, 2001.
Published simultaneously in Academic Emergency Medicine
and Annals of Emergency Medicine.
The Core Content Task Force II endorses the Model of the Clin-
ical Practice of Emergency Medicine in its current version.
However, the Task Force’s endorsement does not extend to fu-
ture documents resulting from this original work.
Address for correspondence and reprints: American Board of
Emergency Medicine, 3000 Coolidge Road, East Lansing, MI
Robert S. Hockberger, MD
Chair, Core Content Task Force II
December 12, 2000
4
8823. Telephone: 517-332-4800; fax: 517-332-2234.
A related commentary appears on page 658.