Projects
Evaluation of Learning Resources in Emergency Medicine
To effectively teach emergency medicine (EM) residents, we must be able to provide them with adequate learning resources. Textbooks are generally regarded as the definitive repository of medical knowledge; however, the sources of knowledge available to EM trainees has changed dramatically over the past several years.
Digital learning resources, such as medical blogs and podcasts, are increasingly used by EM residents, but residents and other EM trainees are often cautioned that digital learning resources are rarely peer reviewed and may therefore be unreliable. As a result of this concern, print textbooks continue to be recommended by many faculty as the superior resource for foundational learning in EM; yet textbooks, interestingly, are also rarely subject to peer review.
This project involves the development of a novel instrument for assessing the quality of EM print textbooks and digital learning resources and then performing a direct comparison of the quality of digital and print-based learning resources.
Pregnancy Disclosure and Options Counseling in the ED
Over 2.77 million pregnant patients present to emergency departments in the United States annually, and many of these patients experience disparities in reproductive healthcare services. This population is disproportionately comprised of socioeconomically disadvantaged patients or patients from racial or ethnic minority groups. These patients experience inequities in emergency and obstetric care, and they are more likely than white or higher income patients to receive late/no prenatal care, lack referral to desired family planning services, or have unplanned births. Standard emergency medicine training does not routinely include pregnancy options counseling: the discussion of whether a newly diagnosed pregnancy is desired, whether a patient intends to continue the pregnancy, and options for termination. This represents an important knowledge gap for emergency providers, as pregnancy options counseling can address many known reproductive healthcare disparities.
This project is a multi-phase, national initiative to improve pregnancy disclosure and options counseling in the emergency department, which involves development and dissemination of a curriculum to teach pregnancy disclosure and options counseling to emergency providers.