Question for People Already in EM Residencies

[16846]

Hi Everybody!

I have been considering an EM Residency, but I want some input concerning what its really like. I worked in an ER but it was a low volume ER and they mostly stationed me in the "Fast Track" area where they take the more simple cases. I really enjoyed the ER Fast Track because it seems to be mostly IM with some broken bones and non-traumatic car accidents throw in, but is this really how it is in an EM Residency?

I think I could handle situations like an unstable MI but I dont think I would be any good at dealing with the trauma aspect of emergency medicine. Are EM residencies mostly in hospitals where the residents are exposed to the nitty gritty of EM so they have considerable experience with a variety of cases or are some of the residencies more like what I experience in the "Fast Track" area of the hospital I worked at?

Any information you can provide is appreciated. Thanks a lot.

Infinite

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[ERMudPhud]

Don't forget EM is more than just fast track plus major trauma. There is significant amounts of Gyn and Peds in what we see as well as Ophtho, ENT, Ortho. Acute unstable medicine is also a huge part of what we see and you see more of it in a busy ED than in a fast track.

In order to be acredited an EM residency has to show that their residents receive enough exposure to all aspects of EM. Some programs send residents to other hospitals during their residency to gain exposure to areas that are lacking in their home hospital. So, wherever you do residency you should get adequate exposure to most everything but it is worth asking residents while you are on interviews what areas are weakest in their residency.