Ethical Considerations in Education Research in Emergency Medicine

Abstract

The 2012 Academic Emergency Medicine consensus conference on education research in emergency medicine (EM) addressed various issues, including that of ethics in medical education research for EM. Education research in EM is essential to patient care and safety, and with recent advances in simulation and the advent of the Milestones project, it will become even more vital. Education research in EM is guided by the same principles that guide the ethical conduct of all human subjects' research: respect for persons, beneficence, and justice. Regulatory provisions and widely accepted ethical standards provide a framework for research in EM education; however, special considerations exist for education research. To ensure patient and trainee safety and to maintain the integrity of new knowledge, ethical considerations should remain at the forefront of EM education research. For EM education researchers, recognition of the vulnerability of residents, medical students, and others as research subjects is paramount. This article fills an important gap by outlining the principles guiding education research in EM, exploring the ethical challenges and approaches to education research, and offering a framework and future directions for the ethical conduct of education research in EM.ACADEMIC EMERGENCY MEDICINE 19:1328-1332 © 2012 by the Society for Academic Emergency Medicine E ducation research in emergency medicine (EM) is essential to patient care and safety. Over the past decade, EM education research has developed significantly, with evaluations of high-fidelity simulation training, the development of medical education fellowship training and a focus on sharing and implementing best practices in EM training. The Council of EM Residency Directors (CORD) defines EM education research as "scientific investigation designed to furnish new knowledge relating to emergency medicine education."1 The goal of EM education research is to define how to most effectively and efficiently prepare competent and compassionate emergency physicians (EPs) in the cognitive, procedural, and professional competencies outlined in the Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education (ACGME) core competencies and elucidated in the Model of the Clinical Practice of Emergency Medicine. 2The recently released EM Milestones highlight the central role of providing objective measures of effective, feasible, and accountable education in EM.3 Evaluating the progression of learners through specialty-specific milestones might result in the identification and remediation of learners who require additional professional development. 4 However, maximizing the potential of the milestones for producing well-trained EPs will depend on rigorous scientific evaluation of educational interventions, programs, and curricula. Investigations of how to best meet the objectives of the milestones for residents in training will be a priority for EM research in the near future.Education research in EM is guided by the same principles that guide the ethical conduct o...

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