The division of Emergency Medicine was formed in 2001, but Emergency Medicine only became recognised as a speciality by the Health Professions Council of South Africa in March 2003. In May 2003 the College of Emergency Medicine was founded by the Colleges of Medicine of South Africa. As the first division to develop, the University of Cape Town and Stellenbosch University became the first South African universities to offer a joint Master of Medicine (MMed) degree in Emergency Medicine, and the first registrars started in their posts in January 2004. To date, over 20 have graduated the 4-year training programme.

Currently there are 42 MMed students registered (these include 10 supernumerary registrars), with students from as far afield as Kenya, Cameroon, Nigeria and Saudi Arabia. The Division has graduated 7 MMed degrees, 8 Fellows of the College of Emergency Medicine, and 12 MPhil degrees have been awarded so far. 2009 saw the registration of the first students for PhDs in Emergency Medicine.

The Division is committed to the education and training of specialist registrars who are supported by a formal academic programme, a mentoring programme, an ongoing evaluation system and final examination preparation support. Undergraduate students at both universities are exposed to emergency medicine teaching. Emergency ultrasound proficiency has become a requirement for the final exit examination and an emergency ultrasound rotation has been developed this year supported by a VLE component.

Due to the expansion of the Division’s activities, the Emergency Care Institute South Africa has been created. The Institute plans to cover all essential aspects of emergency medicine, including education and training and outreach into other African countries (including Botswana, Madagascar and Uganda).

These are proving to be exciting times for emergency medicine in the region, and this emerging speciality is fast becoming a vital foundation for health care in South Africa.

1. To promote interest in the discipline of Emergency Medicine in the medical community; gain acceptance for Emergency Medicine as a speciality; and to stimulate academic activities, including research, in Emergency Medicine in the Faculties of Health Sciences at the Universities of Cape Town and Stellenbosch.
2. To promote interest in the discipline of Emergency Medicine on the African continent; and to gain acceptance for Emergency Medicine as a speciality in this area.
3. To develop undergraduate teaching programmes in Emergency Medicine.
4. To offer a Master of Philosophy degree, a Master of Medicine degree, and a Master of Science degree in Emergency Medicine, and to encourage further doctoral study.
5. To offer a Doctor of Philosophy degree in Emergency Medicine.
6. To offer continuing medical education in the discipline of Emergency Medicine in the form of lectures, demonstrations, journal clubs, morbidity and mortality meetings, workshops, and formal courses.
7. To promote a high standard of emergency care to patients in both the Pre-Hospital and In-Hospitals sectors of the discipline, while supporting a continuous line of good medical management from the time that the patient is in need, being transported, through to receiving good medical attention in the most appropriate medical facility.
8. To become a recognised centre of excellence on the African continent and the world.