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Hi Shahab

One could say 'What's in a name?'. Emergency medicine has been christened with various names over the past 2-3 decades. What started as 'Casualty' is now widely known as A&E/ER/ED.

I guess the term A&E is more popular in UK. However, you probably would have noticed that even they are moving away from this. The college which was hitherto known as the 'Faculty of A&E Medicine' under RCS, England, is now an independent body. It has also got a new name in the form of 'College of Emergency Medicine'. They have however applied for the 'Royal' charter (of course to be called as the 'Royal College of Emergency Medicine'!!!)

I fully agree with you that a resident in EM should have all round experience to be confident with any of Acute medical, Paediatric, Surgical or Trauma related emergencies. I feel that it should not be a case of an EM doctor trying his hand at fancy procedures and treatments because he or she can. The aim has to be more of quick resuscitation and timely intervention. When I say timely intervention, I certainly mean 'time to meaningful intervention'. At the end of the day, it is the patient that matters. He/she has the right to get the right treatment, at the right time, by the right person, in a right atmosphere. Also, remember the old adage 'do no further harm'!!!