The American Board of Emergency Medicine designed the Longitudinal Study of Emergency Medicine Residents (LSEMR) to identify residents’ goals, aspirations, and motivations early in their careers. The long-term goals of the study were to examine how these factors are related to choices made during the physicians' careers and to track changes to goals, aspirations, and motivations over time.

The LSEMR survey is administered annually to a sample of residents, called a “panel,“ during the last three years of their residency. In the fourth year, the panel joins the Longitudinal Study of Emergency Physicians (LSEP). The first panel of residents was asked to complete the survey in 1996-1998. They then joined the LSEP group in 1999. A second resident panel received the survey in 2001-2003 and joined the LSEP in 2004. The third panel received the survey in 2006-2007, joining the LSEP in 2009.  The fourth panel entered the study during their first year of residency in 2011. 

The LSEMR is similar to the LSEP. Many of the questions are identical for the two surveys. The surveys differ in that the LSEMR also contains items about residents’ motivation for selecting Emergency Medicine and their specific residency programs. In addition, the LSEMR includes questions about residents’ satisfaction with their choice of a specialty and their residency program. Like the LSEP, the LSEMR is organized into the following five areas:

1. Professional Interests, Attitudes, and Goals
2. Training, Certification, and Licensing
3. Professional Experience
4. Well-being and Leisure Activities
5. Demographic Information