Introduction: Greece is a high-income country and a member of the European Union. Emergency Departments (EDs) continue to be staffed by physicians with training in other medical specialties. This study aims to evaluate the perceived level of competency and preparedness of physicians who work exclusively in EDs in Greece. It also sought to identify gaps in EM expertise, opinions on the need for EM residency training in Greece, and job satisfaction of physicians practicing in Greek EDs.
\nMethods: We performed a mixed method, cross-sectional, nationally representative survey of physicians working in EDs across all health districts in Greece. The survey was administered in Greek and anonymously conducted online. Quantitative data was extracted from Qualtrics (Qualtrics, Provo, UT, USA) to Microsoft Excel (Microsoft Corporation, Redmond, WA, USA) and qualitative data was uploaded to NVivo (NVivo 14, Lumivero, Denver, CO, USA). The study received institutional review board approval, and all participants signed an online consent form.
\nResults: 171 out of 263 (65%) of ED physicians based in 52 EDs across Greece responded to the survey. 62% of respondents were not EM-certified: most were trained in Internal Medicine or General Practice. Nearly 30% reported discomfort taking care of critically ill patients, and more than 50% reported discomfort taking care of trauma or pediatric patients. Fifty seven percent acknowledged that an EM residency is needed in Greece. Key themes identified in the qualitative analysis include a lack of skills and confidence, and a need for structured training in EM.
\nConclusion: The current emergency care model in Greece prohibits the development of the full spectrum of EM services to meet healthcare personnel expectations and population health needs. This survey represents the first assessment of attitudes, clinical preparedness, and perceived need for EM residency training among emergency care physicians working across all health districts in Greece. The majority did not feel comfortable caring for critically ill, trauma or pediatric patients, and expressed the need for EM residency training. Critical next steps should include training on targeted aspects of emergency care for existing ED physicians and continued efforts to establish EM residency training in Greece.
","language":"eng","license":{"name":"Creative Commons Attribution 4.0","short_name":"CC BY 4.0","text":"Attribution — You must give appropriate credit, provide a link to the license, and indicate if changes were made. You may do so in any reasonable manner, but not in any way that suggests the licensor endorses you or your use.\r\n\r\nNo additional restrictions — You may not apply legal terms or technological measures that legally restrict others from doing anything the license permits.","url":"https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0"},"keywords":[{"word":"Emergency Medicine Development"},{"word":"Greece"},{"word":"physician burnout"},{"word":"emergency medicine training"}],"section":"International Medicine","is_remote":true,"remote_url":"https://escholarship.org/uc/item/155827jn","frozenauthors":[{"first_name":"Sarah","middle_name":"","last_name":"Aly","name_suffix":"","institution":"Yale University School of Medicine, Department of Emergency Medicine, New Haven, Connecticut","department":""},{"first_name":"Dimitrios","middle_name":"","last_name":"Babales","name_suffix":"","institution":"Larissa General Hospital, Department of Emergency Medicine, Larissa, Greece","department":""},{"first_name":"Olympia","middle_name":"","last_name":"Kouliou","name_suffix":"","institution":"Larissa General Hospital, Department of Anesthesiology, Larissa, Greece","department":""},{"first_name":"Andrew","middle_name":"","last_name":"Ulrich","name_suffix":"","institution":"Yale University School of Medicine, Department of Emergency Medicine, New Haven, Connecticut","department":""},{"first_name":"Eleanor","middle_name":"","last_name":"Reid","name_suffix":"","institution":"Yale University School of Medicine, Department of Emergency Medicine, New Haven, Connecticut","department":""},{"first_name":"Dimitrios","middle_name":"","last_name":"Tsiftsis","name_suffix":"","institution":"Nikaia General Hospital, Department of Emergency Medicine, Nikaia, Greece","department":""}],"date_submitted":"2024-11-22T18:12:29.502000-07:00","date_accepted":"2025-04-06T08:01:32.265000-07:00","date_published":"2025-07-09T16:14:00-07:00","render_galley":null,"galleys":[{"label":"PDF","type":"pdf","path":"https://journalpub.escholarship.org/westjem/article/39964/galley/37032/download/"}]}