INCORPORATION OF EMERGENCY-MEDICINE IN THE UNDERGRADUATE CURRICULUM

Background. Emergency medicine has been recognized as a specialty in w estern countries. However, in India, most hospitals and medical colleg es have no provision for teaching this specialty. This study was done to assess the feasibility of incorporating emergency medicine in the u ndergraduate medical curriculum.Methods. Sixty final year undergraduat e students underwent a special training programme in emergency medicin e. A feedback was obtained from the students. Results. While the pract ical experience was rated above satisfactory by 65% of them, 98.2% of them appreciated the lecture sessions. Overall, the programme was rate d as more than good by 92.7%. Conclusion. As a specialty that emphasiz es basic clinical skills, emergency medicine should be incorporated in the undergraduate medical curriculum.