Research in emergency medicine (EM) affects and improves emergency patient care. It helps to identify and standardize best care to optimize patient outcomes.

Fostering a rich research environment requires funding, education, and a rigorous peer-review process. The CAEP Research Committee is pleased to support the development of EM-related research skills across Canada by administering two programs: an annual CAEP Grant Competition and the CAEP Abstract Competition.

Abstracts are the core of the annual research competition. This year for CAEP 2018 in Calgary, we had 3 submissions categories: research, education innovation, and a new category for quality improvement and patient safety. We received an astounding 401 abstracts from EM researchers across Canada and internationally; an increase of almost 20% from the 2017 competition. The top-ranked abstracts will present at the plenary session, and the best resident, pediatric, new investigator, education innovation, venous thromboembolism (VTE), quality improvement and patient safety, and medical student abstracts submitted by CAEP members are awarded financially to subsidize conference travel expenses. The promotion and dissemination of high-quality research, like that submitted to the annual CAEP conference, is integral to the enhancement of Canadian EM research.

CAEP has endeavoured to expand its grants program, by launching the EM Advancement Fund (www.TheEMAF.org). With the support of generous donors who consist of our EM colleagues, we provided two grants of $10,000 this year. As in previous years, five CAEP research grants were also awarded for the best proposals submitted by residents, fellows, and junior investigators. We also partnered with CanVECTOR to offer a new grant for the top VTE-related proposal. These modest grants are important to the development of EM research and physician-scientists. We hope to continue to expand the grants program and are looking to you for support, so remember to support your EM research colleagues through the EM Advancement Fund. We will also be hosting Grizzly Den for the second year. In this highly entertaining track, researchers will “pitch” their research and try to convince the Grizzlies to fund their study.

The hours of work that our volunteer reviewers contribute is critical to the success of the Research Committee activities during the busy abstract and grant competitions. Each submission is thoroughly read, reviewed, and scored by at least three experienced reviewers. The Research Committee would like to thank the reviewers for their contribution and recognize their commitment to support EM research.

The Research Committee would like to acknowledge the substantial effort of CAEP staff, particularly Shanna Scarrow and Kelly Wyatt, in coordinating the grant and abstract competitions, and in preparing the CAEP conference research program and CJEM research supplement.

Disclaimer: The large number of submitted abstracts and the deadlines associated with publication do not permit author communication, abstract revisions, or CJEM editorial review. The abstracts are presented as they were submitted to the Research Committee. Only the author affiliation supplied by the presenting author is specified.

Note: The CAEP 2018 Final Program contains the scheduled times for the abstract presentations.