EDUCATION AND TRAINING Ten years of medical education registrars: Value added? Victoria BRAZIL 1 and Lorna DAVIN 2 1 Faculty of Health Sciences and Medicine, Bond University, Gold Coast, Queensland, Australia, and 2 Medical Education, University of Notre Dame, Notre Dame, Indiana, USA Abstract Objective: There is a paucity of any long-term follow up of trainees’ career pathways or organisational outcomes from medical education registrar posts in emergency medi- cine training. We report on the expe- rience of a selected group of medical education trainees during and subse- quent to their post and reflect on the value added to emergency medical education at three institutions. Methods: We conducted an online survey study, examining quantitative outcomes and qualitative reflections, of emergency physicians who had previously undertaken a medical education registrar post. Descriptive statistics were used to summarise responses to Likert items. The authors independently analysed and interpreted the reflective responses to identify key themes and sub-themes. Results: Nineteen of 21 surveys were completed. Most respondents were in formal educational roles, in addition to clinical practice. The the- matic analysis revealed that the med- ical education registrar experience, and the subsequent contribution of these trainees to medical education, is significantly shaped by external factors. These include the extent of faculty support, and the value placed on medical education by hospitals/ departments/leaders. Acquisition of knowledge and skills in medical edu- cation was only part of a broader developmental journey and transi- tioning of identity for the trainees. Conclusions: Our findings suggest that medical education trainees in emergency medicine progress to edu- cational roles, and most respondents attribute their career progression to the medical education training expe- rience. We recommend that medical education registrar programmes need to be valued within the clinical ser- vice, supported by faculty and a ‘community of practice’, to support trainees’ transition to clinician edu- cator leadership roles. Key words: emergency medicine, fac- ulty development, medical education, mentoring. Introduction Special skills training in medical edu- cation or simulation is currently approved in 41 EDs in Australasia, 1 and represents a significant invest- ment of time and resources by trainees, their supervisors and employers. However, there is a pau- city of any long-term follow up of trainees’ career pathways or organi- sational outcomes from this invest- ment. We report on the experience of medical education trainees during and subsequent to their post, and reflect on the value added to emer- gency medical education at three institutions. The development of clinician educa- tors has become increasingly important as health professional education has become more sophisticated and diverse, and as the numbers of doctors in train- ing has increased. 2 Faculty develop- ment initiatives that aim to improve doctors’ educational practice have been described in detail. 3 The development of formal clinician educator career pathways requires a strategic approach by organisations involved in health professional educa- tion. 4 Various pathways exist for those wishing to pursue an educational career in parallel with their clinical role –‘residents as teachers’ programmes, graduate diploma and masters pro- grammes, short courses and fellowships. The establishment of medical educa- tion registrars has been one initiative at the forefront of this change in Australia. 5,6 These 6–12 months for- mal training posts have been designed to be pursued as part of specialist train- ing to develop the knowledge, skills and affective attributes required for learning and teaching roles. Correspondence: Professor Victoria Brazil, Faculty of Health Sciences and Medicine, Bond University, 14 University Drive, Robina, QLD 4226, Australia. Email: victoria. brazil@gmail.com Victoria Brazil, MBBS, FACEM, MBA, Professor of Emergency Medicine; Lorna Davin, PhD, Senior Lecturer. Accepted 2 May 2018 Key findings • Medical education registrars in emergency medicine pro- gress to formal educational roles and offer a return on the investment in their training. • Their contribution and value are strongly influenced by fac- ulty and organisational sup- port for the role. • Medical education trainees and their mentors would ben- efit from the development of a formal ‘community of prac- tice’ network. © 2018 Australasian College for Emergency Medicine and Australasian Society for Emergency Medicine Emergency Medicine Australasia (2018) doi: 10.1111/1742-6723.13109