Emergency Medicine training in Egypt: Steps to success

Background: Although Emergency Medicine has existed as a recognized specialty in Alexandria University since 1970 a recent shining as a highly competitive specialty since 2003 through an Egyptian Fellowship Training program granting a professional and not an academic degree. Emergency Medicine is still in its development phase as a practice. Five public universities are offering postgraduate degrees in Emergency Medicine. These degrees when obtained by trainees, in addition to a varying number of years of experience, enable doctors to climb up the medical hierarchical ladder, which begins with a resident post till Senior consultant one. Methods: We describe the development of Emergency Medicine as a separate specialty in Egypt highlighting the history, challenges we faced, collaborations and recommendations for future improvement of Emergency Medicine training in Egypt. Results: As of August 2015, there are five Emergency Medicine educational programs in Egypt, which are primarily based upon the British model of obtaining a masters or higher degree. The largest of these, the Egyptian Fellowship program, is supported by the Ministry of Health and Population (MOHP) and is the country's most formalized and acknowledged training program. Currently, there are more than 300 specialists graduated with 32 registered consultants. However, the majority of the qualified graduated physicians capable of leading the field of Emergency Medicine had left Egypt due to financial, social and economic stresses. Conclusion: Although, the fast developing field of Emergency Medicine, Egypt still need an urgent well-structured system supported by Ministry of Health and population. There needs to be creation of an Emergency Medicine committee by Egyptian board certified emergency physicians to monitor and improve the training and exams done by universities, and holding of regional conferences to enhance Emergency Medicine in Egypt and the Middle East region.