THE REGION needs more emergency physicians as hospitals return to normality post pandemic, experts have said.
They stressed the need to encourage young doctors to take up the speciality, which is witnessing a huge demand across the globe.
The physical and emotional stress in emergency rooms is probably dissuading students from opting for a specialisation in emergency medicine, experts from Bahrain and Saudi Arabia pointed out, hoping for a shift in the future.
They made the remarks on the sidelines of the second Bahrain Emergency Medicine Conference (BEMC) 2021, that opened yesterday at the Crown Prince Centre for Training and Medical Research, Riffa.
The three-day event under the patronage of His Royal Highness Prince Salman bin Hamad Al Khalifa, Crown Prince and Prime Minister, was officially launched by Royal Medical Services Commander Major-General Professor Shaikh Khalid bin Ali Al Khalifa. Close to 100 expert speakers are taking part in the conference which will continue virtually today and tomorrow.
Bahrain Medical Society president Dr Ghada Al Qassim indicated a shortage of emergency physicians as a major challenge.
“The number is low (in Bahrain) and we are hoping that more medical students and interns join emergency medicine,” Dr Al Qassim said.
“It’s a tough speciality as it involves tremendous physical and emotional stress.
“We, however, need to encourage our medical students as well as nurses and paramedics to take up the speciality. We also need to train them regularly.”
Dr Al Qassim said the demand for emergency medicine would increase with the expected growth in population.
Dr Al Qassim
“Covid-19 infections are also coming down and emergency departments are back to handling everyday cases – traffic accidents, heart attacks and strokes,” she pointed out.
“We need more medics to ensure quick emergency response to save lives.
“Students usually prefer general surgery, or orthopaedics and specialities like cardiology, which are more popular.
“But emergency medicine is picking up, maybe not to the speed that we want it to be, but we’re getting there eventually.”
Bahrain recognised emergency medicine as a speciality more than a decade ago. The three main emergency departments in the country are at Salmaniya Medical Complex, BDF Hospital and King Hamad University Hospital which are fully equipped and operated by a majority of certified emergency physicians.
However, there is no data yet on the number of emergency specialists in Bahrain.
The National Ambulance team set up in 2019 is also part of the speciality.
Saudi Arabia King Fahad University Hospital emergency medicine consultant Dr Amal Sulaibik also said the need for emergency medicine specialists would grow post-pandemic.
“We need to train and educate people to deal with emergencies of varied and unexpected kinds – like the pandemic,” she said.
“We should focus on the preparedness for any disaster in any speciality.”
Dr Sulaibik
The Association of American Medical Colleges predicts a major shortage of emergency physicians (between 42,600 and 121,300) by 2030.
Today’s event will include sessions on trauma care attack, emergency medicine development in Asia and women in emergency medicine among others. Global and regional speakers include disaster management specialists Captain Paramedic Bradford Newbury (US), Dr Attila Hertelendy (US), Dr Joe Nemeth (Canada), Paediatric Emergency associate professor Dr Nadeem Qureshi (US), Riyadh-based Saud University Medical City Consultant Emergency Medicine faculty Dr Abdulaziz AlRabiah, Gulf Federation of Emergency Medicine General Secretary Dr Ammar AlKashmiri, Abu Dhabi-based Consultant Emergency Medicine Dr Ayesha Al Memari and others.
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