The state of emergency medicine in Greece: at critical momentum
Abstract Greece is a parliamentary republic in southeastern Europe populated by over 10 million permanent residents: 9 million reside on the mainland, with almost 4 million in the greater Athens area. The remaining 1 million populate the over 1200 Greek islands. In addition, more than 160,000 asylum...
| Main Authors: | , , , , |
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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BMC
2024-04-01
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| Series: | International Journal of Emergency Medicine |
| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | https://doi.org/10.1186/s12245-024-00622-4 |
| _version_ | 1797220040579219456 |
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| author | Dimitrios Tsiftsis Andrew Ulrich George Notas Anna Patrikakou Eleanor Reid |
| author_facet | Dimitrios Tsiftsis Andrew Ulrich George Notas Anna Patrikakou Eleanor Reid |
| author_sort | Dimitrios Tsiftsis |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Abstract Greece is a parliamentary republic in southeastern Europe populated by over 10 million permanent residents: 9 million reside on the mainland, with almost 4 million in the greater Athens area. The remaining 1 million populate the over 1200 Greek islands. In addition, more than 160,000 asylum-seekers reached Greece in 2022, and more than 25 million tourists have visited Greece in the last two years. Modern Greek Emergency Medicine (EM) is now in its 4th decade. The Greek government has focused the last few years on enhancing the quality of emergency services provided in public hospitals. Emergency Departments (EDs) are being modernized, undergraduate medical education gradually incorporates EM, and a specialty training program in emergency nursing has been established. However, the late recognition of the critical importance of EM as a specialty in Greece has resulted in the subsequent need to create three alternative pathways to EM, none of which are direct from residency. The first is a 24-month Emergency Medicine fellowship after completing a residency in another specialty and then passing the national exam. The second is for physicians who have worked in a public hospital ED (Gr: Ethniko Systima Ygeias (ESY) ESY for at least three years and successfully passed the national exam. The third, which no longer exists, is a ‘grandfather’ pathway for those physicians who worked in an ESY ED for five years prior to the creation of the fellowship training program. As a result, there is a critical shortage of EM-trained physicians, resulting in most care being provided by physicians without formal training in EM. This is further confounded by the country’s challenging geography, with frequent air transfers from the islands to mainland hospitals. Creating an EM Residency training program is a critical next step to overcoming many of the challenges facing EM provision in Greece today: it would address the shortage of EM-trained providers, decrease the need for costly ground and air transfers, and improve the quality of emergency care throughout Greece. |
| first_indexed | 2024-04-24T12:43:13Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-026aa3ac957a4df2b5d42f28e6dabfbe |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 1865-1380 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-04-24T12:43:13Z |
| publishDate | 2024-04-01 |
| publisher | BMC |
| record_format | Article |
| series | International Journal of Emergency Medicine |
| spelling | doaj.art-026aa3ac957a4df2b5d42f28e6dabfbe2024-04-07T11:07:26ZengBMCInternational Journal of Emergency Medicine1865-13802024-04-011711710.1186/s12245-024-00622-4The state of emergency medicine in Greece: at critical momentumDimitrios Tsiftsis0Andrew Ulrich1George Notas2Anna Patrikakou3Eleanor Reid4Emergency Department, Nikaia General HospitalDepartment of Emergency Medicine, Yale University School of MedicineUniversity of Crete School of Medicine and University Hospital of Heraklion2nd Regional Health Authority of Piraeus and the AegeanDepartment of Emergency Medicine, Yale University School of MedicineAbstract Greece is a parliamentary republic in southeastern Europe populated by over 10 million permanent residents: 9 million reside on the mainland, with almost 4 million in the greater Athens area. The remaining 1 million populate the over 1200 Greek islands. In addition, more than 160,000 asylum-seekers reached Greece in 2022, and more than 25 million tourists have visited Greece in the last two years. Modern Greek Emergency Medicine (EM) is now in its 4th decade. The Greek government has focused the last few years on enhancing the quality of emergency services provided in public hospitals. Emergency Departments (EDs) are being modernized, undergraduate medical education gradually incorporates EM, and a specialty training program in emergency nursing has been established. However, the late recognition of the critical importance of EM as a specialty in Greece has resulted in the subsequent need to create three alternative pathways to EM, none of which are direct from residency. The first is a 24-month Emergency Medicine fellowship after completing a residency in another specialty and then passing the national exam. The second is for physicians who have worked in a public hospital ED (Gr: Ethniko Systima Ygeias (ESY) ESY for at least three years and successfully passed the national exam. The third, which no longer exists, is a ‘grandfather’ pathway for those physicians who worked in an ESY ED for five years prior to the creation of the fellowship training program. As a result, there is a critical shortage of EM-trained physicians, resulting in most care being provided by physicians without formal training in EM. This is further confounded by the country’s challenging geography, with frequent air transfers from the islands to mainland hospitals. Creating an EM Residency training program is a critical next step to overcoming many of the challenges facing EM provision in Greece today: it would address the shortage of EM-trained providers, decrease the need for costly ground and air transfers, and improve the quality of emergency care throughout Greece.https://doi.org/10.1186/s12245-024-00622-4Emergency medicine developmentGreece |
| spellingShingle | Dimitrios Tsiftsis Andrew Ulrich George Notas Anna Patrikakou Eleanor Reid The state of emergency medicine in Greece: at critical momentum International Journal of Emergency Medicine Emergency medicine development Greece |
| title | The state of emergency medicine in Greece: at critical momentum |
| title_full | The state of emergency medicine in Greece: at critical momentum |
| title_fullStr | The state of emergency medicine in Greece: at critical momentum |
| title_full_unstemmed | The state of emergency medicine in Greece: at critical momentum |
| title_short | The state of emergency medicine in Greece: at critical momentum |
| title_sort | state of emergency medicine in greece at critical momentum |
| topic | Emergency medicine development Greece |
| url | https://doi.org/10.1186/s12245-024-00622-4 |
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