Career paths and practice patterns of global emergency medicine physicians: a cross-sectional survey

Increasing numbers of emergency medicine (EM) residents and fellows are completing additional training with the intention of pursuing careers in global emergency medicine (GEM). At the same time, many academic emergency departments (EDs) are investing in the development of GEM divisions and global/international EM fellowship programs. However, the path for a successful career in this subspecialty has still not been defined.

Our aim was to survey emergency physicians engaged in GEM in order to characterize their practice patterns and career paths, and to identify barriers to a successful career.

An online survey assessing demographics, timing and content of work, financing and barriers, and academic productivity was deployed to emergency physicians. Descriptive statistics were analyzed using STATA software.

A total of 116 attending emergency physicians responded. Female respondents tended to be younger (51% vs. 27%; p = 0.012). Younger respondents were more likely to have completed advanced GEM training (20% vs. 7%; p = 0.037). Most (73%) respondents spent fewer than 3 months annually abroad. Self funding was the most common (47%) source of funding, while only 16% reported receiving grant support. Lack of time and funding were the most commonly encountered barriers to a career in GEM (64% and 55%, respectively).

Our survey provides an understanding of the amount of time that emergency physicians in GEM spend abroad and the types of activities in which they are currently engaged, as well as the barriers that need to be overcome in order to achieve fulfilling careers in this field.