EM docs

[CanGuy]

I had the chance to shadow an ER nurse, but didn't get to see much of what the doctors do. I saw a bit of a trauma but that's about it. Can anyone fill me in on what an EM physician may encounter in a day?
thanks

---

Members don't see this ad.

 

[CanGuy]

thanks

 

[mikecwru]

Originally posted by CanGuy
I had the chance to shadow an ER nurse, but didn't get to see much of what the doctors do. I saw a bit of a trauma but that's about it. Can anyone fill me in on what an EM physician may encounter in a day?
thanks

I guess "everything" won't cut it for you as an answer?

mike

 

[CanGuy]

naw man....
Like what is their main job? To stabilize trauma patients..as well as the "everything" part.

 

[mikecwru]

Originally posted by CanGuy
naw man....
Like what is their main job? To stabilize trauma patients..as well as the "everything" part.

What they do with trauma patients depends on the hospitals. At some hospitals, EM docs do everything a trauma surgeon does prior to crossing over into the OR. At some hospitals, surgery runs the show for traumas.

The ED docs see all comers, regardless of complaint, background, or ability to pay. You see the CEOs with the big MI, drug addicts scamming you for meds, transsexuals beaten over the head with bricks, and inner-city kids needing tylenol for their runny noses. This varies somewhat with geographic location.

Your best bet is to not depend on the postings of SDN, but to go shadow an ED doc not the ED nurse. For kicks, make sure you do it at a big medical center, not a community hospital.

mike

 

[CanGuy]

thanks a lot mike. The only time i was w/ the doc was in the trauma room when an MVC victim came in...i saw him intubate and then the trauma surgeon make a cut. It was at the main hospital for traumas in a city with around 200,000 ppl.

 

[docB]

Just read Tintinalli, Rosen, Harwood-Nuss, Roberts and Hedges and Goldfrank's. Then you'll have a pretty good idea.

 

[Apollyon]

Originally posted by docB
Just read Tintinalli, Rosen, Harwood-Nuss, Roberts and Hedges and Goldfrank's. Then you'll have a pretty good idea.

That's 6000+ pages...

 

[Annette]

Light summer reading!

 

[docB]

That's 6000+ pages...

He can probably skip Goldfrank's.

 

[DrQuinn]

Ah, its great to see us becoming more and more cynical, must be the whole ERAS thing! Can you believe ROL is due in a few weeks?

As for CanGuy, everyon's right, as an ED doc you will do practicaly everything, you'll do a lot of procedures (suturing, reducing dislocations, casting/splinting, removal of foreign bodies), a lot of medical issues (uncontrolled diabetes, MIs, pneumonia, abd pain, tons of gyne stuff, psych, drug overdoses, etc etc), as well as the non urgent stuff (sniffles, back pain, drug seeking, STDs <- which may be considered urgent if its a Friday night and you need to get some).

That's ONE of the reasons why I love EM, you see the gamut of EVERYTHING...
Q

 

[lytesnsyrens]

I work in an ER and part of the reason i like it so much is because you never know what's gonna walk through the door. our doc's do everything from sutures to major traumas. and someone said earlier to shadow a doc in a major city hospital......that's true if you wanna see the wide range of patients that are seen. i work in a community hospital most of the time, but occasionally i'll go downtown to work. our hospital system consists of a few hospitals in all areas of the city so i get to work at the trauma center every now and then. in fact they are thinking of making my hospital a trauma center now....i hope so. i love that adrenelin rush i get! but if i were you, i'd shadow a doc for a while, it really is an experience you won't soon forget.