Conceptual Framework for International Pediatric Emergency Medicine Physician Exchange Programs

The global interest in emergency medicine (EM) is driven by economic expansion, growing population needs for urgent and emergent outpatient care, and advances in medical technologies. This interest facilitated establishment of EM as a specialty in many countries across the globe. International emergency medicine (IEM) is now incorporated into many EM residency training programs. On the other hand, pediatric emergency medicine (PEM), an established subspecialty with well funded infrastructure for research and education in the North America, has limited global involvement. To date, the care of acutely ill or injured children in many developed and underdeveloped countries is delivered by generalists with limited resources. While many PEM physicians are involved, on a personal level, in providing education and training to improve pediatric emergency care in underdeveloped countries, there is no organized and well funded infrastructure to support these activities. Furthermore, there is no outcome data to demonstrate the value of these interventions. International pediatric emergency medicine (IPEM) has already been conceptualized through various collaborative efforts. This article describes a physician exchange program as a tool to develop IPEM further. If developed systematically with proper infrastructure in place, a physician exchange program may lead to successful creation of dedicated PEM programs being led by physicians from their own countries. Furthermore, this would create a global network of PEM community with reciprocal exchange of thoughts, ideas, protocols, pathways implementable for developing infrastructure, and research.