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Royal College of Emergency Medicine

Coordinates: 51°30′58″N 0°06′40″W / 51.516152°N 0.1111652°W / 51.516152; -0.1111652
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Royal College of Emergency Medicine
AbbreviationRCEM
FormationAssociation: 12 October 1967; 57 years ago (1967-10-12)
Faculty: 2 November 1993; 31 years ago (1993-11-02)
College: 29 February 2008; 16 years ago (2008-02-29)
Merger ofBritish Association for Emergency Medicine,
Faculty of Accident and Emergency Medicine
TypeMedical royal college
Location
  • 7-9 Bream's Buildings
    London
    United Kingdom
Coordinates51°30′58″N 0°06′40″W / 51.516152°N 0.1111652°W / 51.516152; -0.1111652
Region
United Kingdom and Ireland
President
Dr Taj Hassan
Publication
Emergency Medicine Journal
AffiliationsAcademy of Medical Royal Colleges
International Federation for Emergency Medicine
Websitewww.rcem.ac.uk
Formerly called
College of Emergency Medicine (2006-2015)

The Royal College of Emergency Medicine (RCEM) is an independent professional association of emergency physicians in the United Kingdom which sets standards of training and administers examinations for emergency medicine in the United Kingdom and Ireland. The patron is HRH The Princess Royal.

History

The College in its current form was incorporated by royal charter in 2008.[1] However, the history of its preceding organisations, the Faculty of Accident and Emergency Medicine (FAEM) and the British Association for Emergency Medicine (BAEM), date back to 1993 and 1967 respectively.

Traditionally in British hospital practice, "casualty departments" were staffed and led mainly by non-consultant doctors with surgical backgrounds. The first UK doctor to be designated as a "Consultant Surgeon in Charge of the Casualty Department and Receiving Room" was Maurice Ellis, who was appointed at Leeds General Infirmary in 1952.[2] Another 15 years passed before a distinct professional body came into being; Ellis became the head of the Casualty Surgeons Association (CSA) which first met on 12 October 1967 at BMA House (a year before the equivalent American College of Emergency Physicians in the United States).[2] The specialty was developed over the years, with the first UK specialty exam in emergency medicine held in 1983 under the auspices of the CSA. The CSA adopted the British Accident & Emergency Medicine Journal and Archives of Emergency Medicine as its journals in 1985. The CSA changed its name to the British Association for Accident and Emergency Medicine in 1990. It helped found the International Federation for Emergency Medicine in 1991 along with the American College of Emergency Physicians (ACEP), the Canadian Association of Emergency Physicians (CAEP), and the Australasian College for Emergency Medicine (ACEM). The BAEM was renamed once more in 2004 to the British Association for Emergency Medicine, retaining the same initials.

The intercollegiate Faculty of Accident and Emergency Medicine was inaugurated on 2 November 1993 with six parent colleges: the Royal College of Surgeons, the Royal College of Physicians, the Royal College of Physicians of Edinburgh, Royal College of Surgeons of Edinburgh, the Royal College of Physicians and Surgeons of Glasgow, and the Royal College of Anaesthetists. It was tasked with developing academic and training issues, whilst the BAEM had responsibility for professional and clinical matters.

In late 2005, FAEM reached agreement with BAEM for the two organizations to merge to form a new medical royal college. The faculty was renamed the College of Emergency Medicine as of 1 January 2006, and it merged with BAEM in February 2008. The headquarters of the new organisation moved to Churchill House in London on 29 August 2006, the former headquarters of the BAEM. In February 2012 the College moved to newly purchased headquarters at 7-9 Bream's Buildings in London.

Dr Clifford Mann was appointed president of the College in 2013, and has been an outspoken critic of the Coalition government's Health and Social Care Act 2012 which he blames both for causing "decision-making paralysis" and leaving the country short of around 375 emergency doctors.[3]

The college was granted permission to use the "Royal" title in January 2015.[4]

In July 2017 the college produced a report saying that the NHS needed at least 5,000 more beds to achieve safe bed occupancy levels and hit the four-hour target in emergency departments.[5]

Role of the College

The College sets standards of training and administers examinations for emergency physicians. It also organises annual scientific meetings, as well as continuing professional development meetings for its members.

Examinations

The College sets two examinations, the Membership of the Royal College of Emergency Medicine (MRCEM), and the higher Fellowship of the Royal College of Emergency Medicine (FRCEM).

The first sitting of the FRCEM was in October 1996 as the Fellowship of the Faculty of Accident and Emergency Medicine (FFAEM) examination. The first examination for the MRCEM was in 2003 as the Membership of the Faculty of A&E Medicine (MFAEM).[6] Both examinations were renamed in 2006 as part of the creation of the college as FCEM and MCEM respectively.[6] Their titles were updated in 2015 when the college gained the "Royal" title.

"Membership of the Royal College of Emergency Medicine" or (MRCEM) is a qualification awarded by examination by the College. The examination is now the preferred route of entry to specialist registrar training. The examination has three parts: part A: a true/false written paper consisting of 50 questions each with four parts based mostly around the basic sciences; part B: a written short answer question exam; part C: a practical OSCE style exam based on the whole curriculum.

Membership & Fellowship

Trainees who pass the MRCEM join the college as a Member, and are eligible to join a specialty registrar training program in emergency medicine. Doctors who complete this training program may sit the FCEM examination, and on completion become a Fellow of the College and may be recommended by the College for a Certificate of Completion of Training in emergency medicine.[3]

See also

References

  1. ^ "Landmarks in the development of the specialty". The Royal College of Emergency Medicine. The Royal College of Emergency Medicine. Retrieved 5 February 2015.
  2. ^ a b Mann, Clifford (19 May 2015). "...now the Royal College of Emergency Medicine". Emergency Medicine Journal. 32 (6): 425–425. doi:10.1136/emermed-2015-204861. Retrieved 20 May 2015.
  3. ^ a b Cooper, Charlie (31 December 2013). "Exclusive: 'It was no accident' - Government blamed for A&E crisis". The Independent. Retrieved 1 January 2014.
  4. ^ "Royal Title for the Royal College of Emergency Medicine". College of Emergency Medicine. Retrieved 5 February 2015.
  5. ^ "NHS needs 5,000 more beds, warn leading A&E doctors". Health Service Journal. 7 July 2017. Retrieved 23 August 2017.
  6. ^ a b Sabharwal, Atika (17 February 2007). "Membership of the College of Emergency Medicine". BMJ Careers. Retrieved 16 March 2015.
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