Emergency medicine residency programs in Brazil: a national survey

Study objective: To describe the characteristics and curricula of Brazilian Emergency Medicine (EM) residency programs. Methods: This was a national cross-sectional survey conducted between January and May 2021. A survey was distributed to residency directors with queries about the characteristics of their programs. Descriptive analysis was performed stratified by Brazilian regions. Results: There were a total of 35 responses from the 39 (response rate = 89.7%) EM residency training programs in Brazil. Twelve (34.3%) programs were in the South region, 17 (48.6%) in the Southeast, 3 (8.6%) in the Central-West, and 3 (8.6%) in the Northeast. These 35 programs represented a total of 166 residency slots offered per year (median 4, range 2-24). All programs are of 3-year duration. Seventeen programs (48.6%) were officially launched in either 2019 or 2020. The estimated proportion of faculty with prior EM residency or board certification in EM was reported to be less than 20% in 26 of 35 (74.3%) programs. Only 5 rotations were mandatory across all 35 programs, including rotations in the emergency department (ED) intermediate acuity unit (“yellow” room), ED high acuity unit (“red” room), intensive care unit (ICU), obstetrics and gynecology, and trauma. Other rotations were highly heterogeneous across regions. Conclusion: Emergency medicine residency is clearly growing in Brazil, and there is a relatively high level of heterogeneity across programs. There is a clear need for standardization of residency curriculum.