Emergency medicine & education
Opinion, letters and a related rapid response.
The BMJ · Letter · 2026
Medical education cannot depend on goodwill alone.I host, produce and edit the St Emlyn’s podcast, and have produced more than 290 episodes. With colleagues and guests, I explore clinical practice, education and the decisions we make in emergency medicine.
Interview · July 2026
My conversation with Sara Crager explores how clinicians develop expertise—and how we can make clinical reasoning easier to teach.
Interview with Sara Crager. Accompanying post by Simon Carley, 11 July 2026.
Read and listen on St Emlyn’sRound-up · June 2026
Episode 293 · February 2026 round-up, posted 27 June 2026.
Read and listen on St Emlyn’sConversation · April 2025
With Peter Brindley at LTC · Posted 16 April 2025.
Read and listen on St Emlyn’sThe St Emlyn’s podcast — a shared project
1 million+
recorded downloads
From 2016 to 15 September 2026.
157,000
downloads in two years (rounded)
180
countries and territories
Podbean figures for the whole St Emlyn’s podcast. Two-year figures: 1 September 2024–31 August 2026. Downloads are not individual listeners.
Speaking, hosting or an education project?
I write about the clinical decisions, working relationships and teaching that shape emergency medicine. Here are three pieces to start with.
Conference reflections · 6 May 2026
What hosting in Murcia taught me about the connections between talks, simulation and conversation.
Read the article on St Emlyn’sReflection · 30 March 2025
My reflections on Matt Morgan’s talk at The Big Sick: teamwork, survival and the craft of telling a story.
Read the reflection on St Emlyn’sLeadership · Archive · 29 March 2022
The article accompanying my RCEM CPD talk in Bournemouth, reflecting on what I had learned about leading a trauma team.
Read the archive article on St Emlyn’sResearch I have contributed to with colleagues.
Digital learning
Social-media-enabled learning in emergency medicine: a case study of the growth, engagement and impact of a free open access medical education blogA study of how St Emlyn’s grew as a free educational blog, examining its reach and reader engagement.
Carley S, Beardsell I, May N, Crowe L, Baombe J, Grayson A, Carden R, Liebig A, Gray C, Fisher R, Horner D, Howard L, Body R. Postgraduate Medical Journal. 2018;94(1108):92–96. First published online 20 October 2017. DOI: 10.1136/postgradmedj-2017-135104.
Conference participation
Are there too few women presenting at emergency medicine conferences?An analysis of who spoke at major emergency medicine conferences, comparing representation and speaking time by gender.
Carley S, Carden R, Riley R, May N, Hruska K, Beardsell I, Johnston M, Body R. Emergency Medicine Journal. 2016;33(10):681–683. First published online 17 August 2016. DOI: 10.1136/emermed-2015-205581.
Clinical investigation
Is routine coagulation testing necessary in patients presenting to the emergency department with chest pain?A study asking whether routine blood-clotting tests added useful information when assessing adults with chest pain.
Martin D, Beardsell I. Emergency Medicine Journal. 2012;29(3):184–187. First published online 10 March 2011. DOI: 10.1136/emj.2010.106526.
Triage & admission
Can emergency department nurses performing triage predict the need for admission?A study of whether nurses could predict admission at triage accurately enough to help plan hospital beds.
Beardsell I, Robinson S. Emergency Medicine Journal. 2011;28(11):959–962. First published online 20 October 2010. DOI: 10.1136/emj.2010.096362.
Medical student revision, teaching sessions and postgraduate learning from St Emlyn’s.
Learn through play
A game for groups of three to six students, with digital question cards across six categories to use with a physical board. Read questions aloud, reveal the answers and revise together.
Undergraduate learning
Learning objectives, common presentations and supervised skills practice to use alongside your medical-school curriculum.
Preparation, cases and facilitator guidance, with three medical-student sessions to explore.
Study guides and resources for examination preparation and work in emergency medicine.
Earlier work in examination preparation and digital education.
Continue the conversation
Get in touch about professional collaborations or explore my speaking and hosting work.