SUHCAT study, part 3: a map of educational and research activity in hospital emergency services in Catalonia

Miró O, Escalada X, Boqué C, Gené E, Jiménez Fábrega FX, Netto C, Alonso G, Sánchez P , García I, Sánchez M

Objective: To describe the training, educational, and research activities of hospital

emergency department staff in Catalonia, Spain, and to analyze differences in these activities between hospitals of various types.

Methods: The heads of 79 of the 82 hospital emergency departments in Catalonia (96%)

responded to questions about the training undertaken by emergency department staff and

the characteristics and results of educational and research activities carried out by these

physicians and nurses. The survey also asked about the number of hours available to staff for these activities. Medical residency training was excluded. Statistics were compiled for three levels of emergency department volume (high, medium, and low), for private and public hospital status, and for level of complexity of public hospitals (technologically well

equipped, comprehensive general, other referral, or local).

Results: In 31.6% of the departments, a portion of the shift was reserved for training staff

physicians; 23.1% reserved time for nurse training. A median (interquartile range) of 5%

(3%-10%) of contracted time was reserved for training physicians and 2% (1%-3%) was

allotted for nurse training. Departmental sessions were organized for emergency physicians and nurses in 79.7% and 94.2% of the hospitals, respectively. Emergency physicians from 79.5%, 76.9%, and 25.6% of the hospitals attended the conferences of Catalan, Spanish, and international emergency medicine associations, respectively. Nurses from 57.7%, 29.8%, and 3.8% of the departments attended these conferences. Undergraduate medical students were taught in 59.5% of the departments and postgraduate training was given in 22.8%. Undergraduate nurses were taught in 81% and postgraduate training for nurses was given in 40.5%. In 24.1% of the hospitals, a staff physician was also giving classroom instruction in an undergraduate program in medicine; in 36.7% a nurse was teaching in a nursing program. In 35.4%, a physician was involved with postgraduate classroom education; a nurse was teaching such classes in 25.3%. A median of 2 (0-6) staff members gave presentations at the Catalan emergency medicine conference in 2011; with regard to invited talks at that conference, scientific publications, and ongoing research, the median number of staff members involved was 0. Twenty-eight departments (35.4%) published a total of 115 papers in 2011; 71 (61.7%) were in journals with an impact factor. Twenty-four hospitals (25%) employed 78 physicians who undertook research on a regular basis; 20 (30%) employed nurses who researched. Sixty-two physicians from 28 different departments had a PhD (5.8% of the emergency physicians). Many of these statistics differed significantly by hospital category. Departments with higher volumes and in public or complex hospitals were more engaged with training, education, and research.

Conclusions: Catalan emergency departments play a strong role in undergraduate and

postgraduate teaching in medicine and nursing. In contrast, the staff of these departments

do not undertake research in large numbers.

Alonso G, Boqué C, Escalada X, García I, Gené E, Jiménez Fábrega FX, Miró O, Netto C, Sánchez M, Sánchez P