Medical specialties
Emergency Medicine Diploma
Register interest
A practical diploma in emergency medicine: how to resuscitate, stabilise and make safe decisions for undifferentiated patients at the front door of the hospital, from cardiac arrest and major trauma to chest pain, poisoning and the frail older patient, using current UK, European and US guidance.
Twenty-five weekly sessions across five modules take you from resuscitation and the first hour, through major trauma, the undifferentiated adult, poisoning, environmental emergencies and special patient groups, to analgesia, crowding and leading the department, taught live by practising specialists you can question.
- Course director
- To be announced
- Format
- 25 live weekly sessions on Zoom, in 5 modules
- Fee
- £1,200 (scholarships available)
- Dates
- Confirmed when enrolment opens
Who it is for
Senior trainees, fellows and early-career consultants in emergency medicine, and doctors in acute specialties and urgent care who assess undifferentiated patients, worldwide.
The programme
25 one-hour sessions in 5 modules, each with its learning objectives. This is the draft programme: the course director reviews and refines it before enrolment opens, so session titles may change.
Module 1 · Sessions 1 to 5Resuscitation and the first hour
1. Cardiac arrest in the emergency department
- Lead an adult cardiac arrest using the 2025 advanced life support algorithm with minimal pauses in chest compressions
- Identify and treat reversible causes during resuscitation, using ultrasound without prolonging pauses
- Select patients who may benefit from extracorporeal resuscitation where a service exists
- Decide when to stop resuscitation and explain the decision to the family
2. Emergency airway management
- Prepare a team for emergency intubation using a checklist and assigned roles
- Choose a preoxygenation method that matches the patient's physiology
- Apply the 2025 difficult airway guidance when intubation fails, including front-of-neck access
- Anticipate and prevent hypotension and hypoxia around intubation
3. Sepsis and septic shock in the first hour
- Stratify suspected sepsis using NEWS2 and the NICE NG253 risk criteria
- Give antimicrobials, take cultures and start fluids within the recommended time
- Start vasopressors early when hypotension persists after initial fluid resuscitation
- Identify the likely source and arrange source control with the surgical or radiology team
4. Shock that is not sepsis
- Classify shock as distributive, cardiogenic, obstructive or hypovolaemic using examination and bedside ultrasound
- Treat anaphylaxis with intramuscular adrenaline and escalate refractory cases
- Decide when to give systemic thrombolysis for high-risk pulmonary embolism
- Recognise cardiogenic shock and arrange emergency cardiology and critical care input
5. The critically ill patient who stays in the emergency department
- Set initial ventilator settings and sedation after emergency intubation
- Start post-cardiac arrest care in line with the 2025 post-resuscitation guidelines
- Plan and run a safe transfer of a ventilated patient
- Keep a critically ill patient safe in the department when admission to critical care is delayed
Module 2 · Sessions 6 to 10Major trauma
6. The trauma team and the primary survey
- Lead a trauma team through a structured primary survey with clear roles
- Decide which injured patients need whole-body CT and which need theatre first
- Activate the major trauma pathway and arrange transfer within a trauma network
- Run a structured team debrief after a trauma call
7. Major haemorrhage and trauma-induced coagulopathy
- Control external and pelvic bleeding with tourniquets and pelvic binders
- Give tranexamic acid within the time window supported by trial evidence
- Activate a major haemorrhage protocol and guide blood product replacement
- Apply permissive hypotension and recognise when it is unsafe, such as in brain injury
8. Head injury
- Apply NICE NG232 criteria to decide on CT imaging after head injury
- Manage head injury in patients taking anticoagulants
- Prevent secondary brain injury through oxygenation, blood pressure and positioning
- Identify which patients need neurosurgical referral and which can go home safely
9. Spinal, chest and abdominal injuries
- Decide on cervical spine imaging using a validated clinical decision rule
- Manage chest injuries, including decompression of tension pneumothorax and chest drain insertion
- Interpret extended focused ultrasound for trauma in the unstable patient
- Recognise the indications for emergency laparotomy or thoracotomy and call the right team early
10. Limb injuries and fractures that must not be missed
- Apply the Ottawa ankle rules to decide who needs an X-ray after an ankle injury
- Recognise compartment syndrome and arrange immediate surgical review
- Manage an open fracture with antibiotics, wound care and splintage
- Reduce common dislocations safely and document neurovascular status before and after
Module 3 · Sessions 11 to 15The undifferentiated adult
11. Chest pain
- Apply a high-sensitivity troponin pathway to rule out myocardial infarction safely
- Risk stratify chest pain with a validated score to guide discharge or admission
- Activate the primary percutaneous coronary intervention pathway for ST-elevation myocardial infarction without delay
- Recognise acute aortic syndrome and choose the right imaging
12. Breathlessness and suspected pulmonary embolism
- Apply rule-out criteria and a D-dimer strategy to avoid unnecessary CT pulmonary angiography
- Stratify confirmed pulmonary embolism by risk and select patients for outpatient treatment
- Treat acute severe and life-threatening asthma, including escalation to critical care
- Distinguish the main causes of acute breathlessness at the bedside
13. Syncope, palpitations and arrhythmias
- Identify high-risk features in syncope that need admission or monitoring
- Use a validated syncope risk score to support safe discharge
- Manage unstable tachyarrhythmias and bradyarrhythmias using the peri-arrest algorithms
- Decide between rate control and cardioversion for new atrial fibrillation
14. Stroke, headache and subarachnoid haemorrhage
- Recognise acute stroke and complete the assessment for thrombolysis and thrombectomy within the time window
- Distinguish stroke mimics that need different treatment
- Apply the Ottawa subarachnoid haemorrhage rule to decide who needs investigation
- Identify red flags in acute headache that need urgent imaging
15. Seizures and reduced consciousness
- Treat convulsive status epilepticus with timed first-line and second-line drugs
- Assess a first seizure and arrange appropriate follow-up and driving advice
- Identify reversible metabolic and toxic causes of reduced consciousness
- Decide when a patient with reduced consciousness needs airway protection
Module 4 · Sessions 16 to 20Poisoning, environment and special patient groups
16. Poisoning and overdose
- Perform a structured risk assessment after overdose using poisons information resources
- Manage paracetamol overdose, including the choice of acetylcysteine regimen
- Recognise and treat cardiotoxic poisoning, including sodium channel blockade
- Choose and give the right antidote at the right time
17. Mental health emergencies and the acutely disturbed patient
- Assess risk after self-harm and plan care with liaison psychiatry
- Assess mental capacity in an emergency and act lawfully when capacity is lacking
- De-escalate an agitated patient and use rapid tranquillisation safely when needed
- Exclude physical causes of acute behavioural disturbance
18. Environmental emergencies
- Diagnose exertional heat stroke and start rapid cooling
- Manage accidental hypothermia, including when to refer for extracorporeal rewarming
- Resuscitate a drowning victim with priority on oxygenation
- Apply general principles of envenomation management and antivenom use
19. Children in the emergency department
- Assess a febrile child using a traffic-light approach to identify serious illness
- Lead the first minutes of paediatric resuscitation with weight-based drug doses
- Decide on CT after head injury in a child using a validated rule
- Recognise and act on safeguarding concerns
20. Emergencies in pregnancy and early pregnancy
- Recognise ruptured ectopic pregnancy and resuscitate before surgery
- Modify resuscitation for the pregnant patient, including the decision for resuscitative hysterotomy
- Treat severe pre-eclampsia and eclampsia with the obstetric team
- Investigate suspected pulmonary embolism in pregnancy safely
Module 5 · Sessions 21 to 25Older patients, procedures and the department
21. The older patient in the emergency department
- Screen older patients for frailty and delirium on arrival
- Assess a fall for injury, cause and future risk
- Recognise serious injury after a low-energy fall in an older person
- Agree a treatment escalation plan with the patient and family
22. Analgesia, sedation and regional anaesthesia
- Assess pain and deliver timely multimodal analgesia
- Plan and deliver procedural sedation with appropriate monitoring and staffing
- Perform or arrange a fascia iliaca block for a hip fracture
- Adjust analgesia for children, older people and patients with opioid tolerance
23. Infection emergencies
- Treat suspected bacterial meningitis without delay and decide on the timing of lumbar puncture
- Start empirical antibiotics promptly for suspected neutropenic sepsis
- Recognise necrotising soft tissue infection and call the surgical team early
- Assess a febrile returning traveller, including testing for malaria
24. Triage, crowding and patient safety
- Compare triage systems and their limits in a crowded department
- Identify the patient safety risks of crowding and corridor care and escalate them
- Recognise cognitive biases that lead to missed diagnoses and use strategies to reduce them
- Deliver a structured handover at shift change
25. Complex case decisions and leading the department
- Apply the course to complex cases in a panel discussion
- Recognise when care should focus on comfort and lead that conversation
- Refer potential organ donors in line with local processes
- Plan your own development in emergency medicine, including your wellbeing
What the diploma includes
- 25 live sessions on Zoom, one evening a week, with recordings for the weeks you miss.
- Practising specialists teaching live, so you can put your questions to them.
- Weekly MCQs and a final written assessment.
- A digital certificate carrying your final classification.
Lead or teach the Emergency Medicine Diploma
We are looking for a course director and faculty from the specialty. Sessions are one hour in the UK evening, live on Zoom, and paid.