Creation and implementation of an emergency medicine education and training program in Turkey: an effective educational intervention to address the practitioner gap.

Background: The specialty of Emergency Medicine has enjoyed recognition for nearly 20 years in Turkey. However, the majority of underserved and rural Turkish emergency departments are staffed by general practitioners who lack formal training in the specialty and have few opportunities to increase emergency medicine-specific knowledge and skills.

Methods: To address this "practitioner gap," the authors developed a four-phase comprehensive emergency medicine education and training program for general practitioners practicing in government hospitals in Turkey.