The College of Emergency Medicine curriculum: is the specialty-specific knowledge section fit for purpose?

OBJECTIVE: To determine whether the knowledge specified in the specialty-specific section of the College of Emergency Medicine curriculum covered the diagnoses presenting to a UK teaching hospital emergency department. METHOD: An audit of 1000 sets of notes was undertaken, the diagnosis abstracted and mapped to the curriculum. RESULTS: 1076 diagnoses were derived and all were covered by the curriculum. The three most common diagnostic categories were musculoskeletal, wound management and cardiology. CONCLUSION: The curriculum covered all the diagnoses in this sample. Knowing the frequency of a diagnosis could be used to inform training and assessment.