Philosophy of Emergency Medicine

What does counting conference speakers reveal about gender equity? This 2016 report examines EM programmes from 2014–2015, comparing women’s representation with the specialist workforce and considering speaking time, methodological limitations and the questions that simple headcounts leave unanswered.

What makes emergency medicine trainees feel valued and supported? Reflecting on conversations with trainees in 2016, this post argues for meaningful feedback, supervisors who understand the curriculum, accessible consultant support and fairer rotas as investments in the specialty’s future.

How should new information change a clinical diagnosis? This introduction to Bayesian thinking uses a chest-pain example to explore updating probabilities, reconsidering alternatives after negative tests and avoiding the false reassurance of ruling out only the first diagnosis considered.

Starting work in an emergency department can be daunting. This collection brings together St Emlyn’s introductory blogs and podcasts on core emergency medicine, designed to support new starters alongside local induction, workplace teaching and the learning that comes with those first shifts.

What can hospital educators learn from prehospital training? Drawing on her experience with Sydney HEMS, Natalie May explores team induction, maintaining competence and a supportive learning culture, asking how simulation, regular practice and case review could strengthen education inside the emergency department.

How closely does our view of our own performance match what colleagues and patients see? Introducing his SMACC talk, Simon Carley reflects on impostor feelings, the limits of self-assessment and why honest feedback and reflection matter for becoming better clinicians and educators.