C. Keyes et al., The Costa Rican emergency medicine residency: Design and implementation ofa new specialty training program in Central America, ANN EMERG M, 34(6), 1999, pp. 790-795
A program of physician training in the specialty of emergency medicine was
developed in Costa Rica, Central America, during the years 1993 and 1994. T
he program involved 2 phases: a faculty preparation course, and the residen
cy itself. The preparation of faculty members for the residency was underta
ken in Costa Rice, with a US emergency faculty physician residing in the ho
st country to assist in the development of the program. Twenty-one faculty
members were prepared to teach the residency curriculum. A core group of Co
sta Rican physician educators with assistance from the US emergency medicin
e specialist developed a curriculum suitable for the needs of the region. A
selection process for prospective applicants to the residency program is d
escribed. The first residents began training in February 1994, just before
completion of the faculty program. The first emergency medicine specialists
graduated from the 3-year training program in 1997. The residency program
continues to function at the lime of this publication. This description is
offered as one model for the initiation of emergency medicine specialty tra
ining in a developing country.