J Korean Soc Emerg Med.  2009 Jun;20(3):235-244.

Emergency Medical Services Education in Korea: Investigation of the Current Situation and Development of a New Curriculum Framework

• Cho JS
• Lim YS
• Shin SD
• Lee SC
• Lee G

Abstract

PURPOSE: To investigate the present situation of emergency medical services (EMS) education and to develop an EMS education curriculum for medical students, emergency medicine residents and fellows in Korea.
METHODS
The objectives and curricula of the American and Canadian EMS training programs were used in the development of a questionnaire to investigate the actual situation of EMS education in Korea. The Delphi method was used to obtain the consensus of experts regarding which specific objectives should be included and how many hours would be needed in each training level.
RESULTS
For medical students, the didactic component of EMS education was 57.6% (median; 60 min, IQR: 50~60 min) and the experiential component was 12.1%. For residents, the didactic component was 57.6% (median; 120 min, IQR; 75~180 min) and the experiential component was 18.2% (median; 450 minutes, IQR; 135~1720 min). Only two hospitals had EMS fellowship programs. The consensus of experts for core objectives and the proper number of hours of EMS education for different levels of training were: 9 core topics and 8 hours for medical students, 16 core topics and 40 hours for medical residents, and 21 core topics and 30 hours for Fellows. The response rate was 42.9% for the first round and 71.4% for the second round.
CONCLUSION
The authors propose the core content of EMS education for each training level from a consensus of experts.

Keyword

Emergency medical services; Curriculum; Education

MeSH Terms

Consensus
Curriculum
Emergencies
Emergency Medical Services
Emergency Medicine
Fellowships and Scholarships
Humans
Korea
Surveys and Questionnaires
Students, Medical