Core competencies for emergency medicine clerkships: results of a Canadian consensus initiative

Objectives: There is no consensus on what constitutes the core competencies for emergency medicine (EM) clerkship rotations in Canada. Existing EM curricula have been developed through informal consensus and often focus on EM content to be known at the end of training rather than what is an appropriate focus for a time-limited rotation in EM. We sought to define the core competencies for EM clerkship in Canada through consensus among an expert panel of Canadian EM educators. Methods: We used a modified Delphi method and the CanMEDS 2005 Physician Competency Framework to develop a consensus among expert EM educators from across Canada. Results: Thirty experts from nine different medical schools across Canada participated on the panel. The initial list consisted of 152 competencies organized in the seven domains of the CanMEDS 2005 Physician Competency Framework. After the second round of the Delphi process, the list of competencies was reduced to 62 (59% reduction). A complete list of competencies is provided. Conclusion: This study established a national consensus defining the core competencies for EM clerkship in Canada.