Believe me, that's not fun. Half the time the consultants are jerks. For me, one of the best parts of medicine is being the expert on a problem, formulating a plan, seeing it through to its conclusion, and seeing the patient do well. Whether that's the internist managing ADHF, the anesthesiologist executing a beautiful anesthetic, or the surgeon getting a patient through an operation and recovery, it's tremendously satisfying when it goes well. You don't really get that as a med student, so many specialties feel the same. There's some aspect of personal investment, but not to the degree of the physician. Figuring out who else gets to make the patient feel better is not terribly satisfying.
Then they go to another ED and score, like my patient did yesterday. She told me she was going to use the cab voucher I gave her to go to the hospital down the street.
Also, he doesn't think that's awesome. Dealing with people who are lying and manipulating you for drugs is not awesome. It sucks.
If the patient complains enough in triage or has any prior medical history, the family med stuff can get bumped from a level 4 or 5 to a level 2 or 3 pretty quick. There's plenty of primary care in EM. It's just not real primary care, because you've never met the patient, have no idea what medical problems they have, they don't know what medications they're on, and they'll never see you again.
