Public Health

What forces might reshape emergency medicine over the next two decades? This companion to Simon Carley’s 2016 SMACC Dublin presentation introduces three linked discussions of demographics, technology and politics, inviting readers to look beyond today’s clinical workload to the specialty’s future.

An ageing population changes more than the number of patients arriving in the emergency department. This opening essay in the 2016 ‘Big Questions’ series examines complex illness, social care needs and an ageing workforce, arguing for training and service planning that look beyond immediate pressures.

Janos Baombe shares experience-based suggestions for preparing for night shifts, coping during them and recovering afterwards. The post covers sleep, food, caffeine, breaks, team interactions and getting home safely, while recognising that clinicians need to find an approach that fits their own circumstances.

This December 2015 update introduces the James Lind Alliance’s emergency medicine priority-setting partnership with the Royal College of Emergency Medicine. The post and accompanying podcast explain an effort to bring patients, carers and clinicians together to identify important unanswered research questions.

A personal reflection on looking after yourself during a career in emergency medicine. Janos Baombe shares ideas about rest, relationships, emotions, interests outside work and asking for help, explicitly presenting them as lessons from experience rather than an evidence-based mental health treatment guide.

This October 2015 announcement introduces the James Lind Alliance and RCEM emergency medicine research priority-setting partnership. It explains why patients, carers and clinicians were invited to identify unanswered questions together, and how that process aimed to shape research priorities beyond individual researchers’ interests.