[Emergency medical training: the future of emergency care in Africa?]

The main goal of emergency medicine training is to teach the wide range of sciences and skills necessary to recognize and stabilize emergency situations. Emergency medicine training has proven highly effective in developed countries especially with regard to organization of survival medicine. This type of training is especially important in sub-Saharan Africa where there is a severe shortage of intensive care specialists and an almost total lack of other personnel qualified to manage life-threatening trauma and disease. Starting with the 1998 Nsam fire disaster in Yaounde, a number of situations have confirmed the seriously deficient state of resources for handling emergencies in Cameroon. In view of this situation a two-year study program in emergency medicine was proposed and introduced at the School of Medicine and Biomedical Sciences of the University of Yaounde I during the 2000/2001 academic year. The curriculum includes eight 40-hour didactic course modules and 800 hours of hands-on work in local hospitals and in France. Students undergo regular assessment of their scientific knowledge and practical competencies after each module. As additional prerequisites for the diploma, they must be certified in first aid and rescue and present a research paper. Despite the lack of faculty and teaching materials, this program is expected to increase the number of emergency medical care providers and improve access to high-quality emergency care services.