The RESCUE7 Framework: A Practical Mindset for Junior Physicians in the Emergency Department

Junior physicians working in the emergency department (ED) must manage multiple undifferentiated patients under time pressure, frequent interruptions, and high cognitive load. Difficulties in this setting rarely stem from lack of factual knowledge alone; rather, they arise due to uncertainty about how to think, prioritize, communicate, and act in real time under pressure. This editorial introduces RESCUE7, a practical mindset framework designed to make implicit supervisory expectations explicit and to support early-career physicians during initial ED exposure. RESCUE7 is not intended as an assessment scale or checklist but as a compact shared vocabulary that facilitates coaching, reflection, and real-time discussion of clinical reasoning, prioritization, and situational awareness. By externalizing tacit expert thinking into seven observable and interrelated domains, RESCUE7 aims to support safer early practice and more effective educational conversations in emergency medicine.