The opportunity to have an impact on the education of so many people is probably the most rewarding part of academic emergency medicine. The need for excellent teachers will not diminish in the future. Despite this great need and the prominent role that teaching plays in our lives, most current academic physicians have no formal training in education. I am hopeful that at least some of the current generation of medical students and emergency medicine residents who aspire to be academic emergency physicians can improve the quality of our teaching by obtaining formal training in education. Research Providing clinical care and teaching in the ED are academically enriching activities that have strong elements of service to others.
Research is a more selfish pursuit.
While the ultimate goal is to improve patient care, for most academicians doing research is like scratching an itch. The itches are the research questions that keep one awake at night, and the scratching is the experiments or studies that will placate the itch. I have previously highlighted the great opportunities that exist for emergency medicine researchers, including the new emphasis on clinical research funding at a national level. Residents who are entering academic emergency medicine have unprecedented options for funded research training fellowships, career development grants, and seed money for start-up research projects. They also have a bigger core of qualified emergency medicine investigators to serve as mentors and role models.