An environmental scan of emergency medicine research support, training, and infrastructure across Canada

Abstract

ABSTRACTObjectiveOur study objective was to describe the Canadian emergency medicine (EM) research community landscape prior to the initiation of a nationwide network.MethodsA two-phase electronic survey was sent to 17 Canadian medical schools. ThePhase 1 Environmental Scanwas administered to department chairs/hospital EM chiefs, to identify EM physicians conducting clinical or educational research. ThePhase 2 Surveywas sent to the identified EM researchers to assess four themes: 1) geographic distribution, 2) training/career satisfaction, 3) time/financial compensation, and 4) research facilitators/barriers. Descriptive analyses were conducted, and results were stratified by Canadian regions.ResultsA total of 92 EM researchers were identified inPhase 1; 67 (73%) responded to thePhase 2 Survey. Of those, 42 (63%) reported being clinical researchers, and 19 (45%) had a graduate degree. Three provinces encompassed most of the researchers (n = 35). Of the respondents, 61% had a research degree, 66% felt adequately trained for their research career, 73% had financial support, 83% had access to office spaces, 52% had no mentor during their first years of their career, 69% felt satisfied with their research career, and 82% suggested that they will still be conducting research in 5 years.ConclusionEM researchers reported being adequately trained, even though only a little over half had a graduate degree. Only two-thirds had financial support, and mentorship was lacking in one-third of the participants. Not all respondents had a form of infrastructure, but most felt optimistic about their careers. The Canadian EM research environment could be improved to ensure better research capacity.