The American Board of Emergency Medicine (ABEM) has published The 2026 Core Content of Emergency Medical Services Medicine in Prehospital Emergency Care. The updated Core Content defines the foundational knowledge base for physicians in Emergency Medical Services (EMS) and supports the delivery of high-quality care in the out-of-hospital setting, physician medical oversight of EMS clinicians, and the operation of EMS systems.
Approved by the EMS Subboard on March 25, 2026, the 2026 Core Content reflects the growth and evolution of EMS Medicine as a subspecialty of Emergency Medicine. The revisions were informed by a job analysis survey distributed by ABEM to current EMS-certified physicians and include updated topic areas identified as highly important and frequently encountered in practice.
The Core Content is used to define the scope of EMS Medicine, guide the blueprint for subspecialty certification and continuing certification examinations, inform fellowship curriculum development, and help physicians understand the content of clinical practice in EMS Medicine.
The 2026 updated publication will be used as the basis for ABEM EMS examination content starting with the 2027 examination administration.
In addition to incorporating advances in the field, the revised Core Content reorganizes major content areas and individual subtopics to reduce redundancy, improve clarity, and align more closely with the educational framework used to prepare physicians practicing in EMS.
A link to the publication is available on the ABEM website, and originally published in Prehospital Emergency Care. The article is available open access to all readers.
View the 2026 Core Content of EMS
