Background

Research training is important for all resident physicians to be able to interpret and critically appraise scientific literature. It is particularly important for those desiring future careers in academics or research. However, there is limited literature on research training in residency. The ideal scope and content of a model curriculum for research in emergency medicine (EM) residency programs has not been recently defined.

Methods

We used a modified Delphi method to achieve expert consensus as to what content should be included in a model research curriculum for EM residents as well as for those who choose to undertake an elective in EM research.

Results

Eight experts in EM clinical and education research participated in the modified Delphi process with two rounds of responses. Cronbach's alpha was 0.82 for round 1 and 0.95 for round 2. A curricular outline of 44 items was produced by this consensus process.

Conclusions

A model curriculum for EM research is proposed here, along with references to assist residencies in building curricular components.