Emergency medicine continues to grow as an international specialty. With >30 countries developing emergency medicine training, supporting international physician education is imperative. The proposed Emergency Medicine International (EMI) observational fellowship is a systematic model for the academic and experiential training of future leaders.

This program is a result of interest in academic emergency medicine and the responsibility of the educational institution. A literature review on the international development of emergency medicine was performed and the weaknesses were assessed. Based on this review, the goals for EMI are providing: (1) leadership; (2) exposure to education training models; and (3) research instruction. The EMI structure consists of four blocks: (1) emergency medicine clinical rotations; (2) emergency medical services (EMS) experience; (3) medical toxicology exposure; and (4) emergency medicine operations/administration. All blocks are tailored to the training background and interests of participants such as focusing on education methodology (conference organization, simulation) or departmental operations (quality improvement, faculty development). Overlapping all blocks is crucial to education in research methodology and evidence-based practice of medicine.

Assessment of the program includes pre-/post-survey completion by participants and yearly post-fellowship contact tracking the development of emergency medicine in their country.

While different types of organizations can assist in other ways, only academic emergency medicine can help grow and mentor faculty to expand the specialty worldwide.