confidence in the emergency room

[kat82]

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I recently finished my 3rd year and decided that i love emergency medicine and ive chosen it as my specialty. i rotated in the ER for one month and had the greatest time ever

i'm about to start my 4th year and its really sinking in that one day soon, i will be an intern and then a resident and then an attending. i guess i'm getting kind of nervous about the idea of having all of those really sick people under my care! as a medical student, i'm not in charge, so i can just focus on learning and enjoying the rotation

i know im still just a medical student and im not supposed to know everything, but is it normal to feel kind of scared and clueless at this point in your career? when does it go away? at what point in EM do you truly feel comfortable and confident? does it happen during residency? or when your an attending? or should it have happened by now?

I really appreciate any words of wisdom. dont get me wrong, i really do love EM! i just want to know other peoples experience in terms of confidence and when they reached that point of comfort

 

[southerndoc]

Don't worry. Nearly everyone lacks confidence at your stage of the game. You'll gain it during residency.

 

[Dr. Will]

I recently finished my 3rd year and decided that i love emergency medicine and ive chosen it as my specialty. i rotated in the ER for one month and had the greatest time ever

i'm about to start my 4th year and its really sinking in that one day soon, i will be an intern and then a resident and then an attending. i guess i'm getting kind of nervous about the idea of having all of those really sick people under my care! as a medical student, i'm not in charge, so i can just focus on learning and enjoying the rotation

i know im still just a medical student and im not supposed to know everything, but is it normal to feel kind of scared and clueless at this point in your career? when does it go away? at what point in EM do you truly feel comfortable and confident? does it happen during residency? or when your an attending? or should it have happened by now?

I really appreciate any words of wisdom. dont get me wrong, i really do love EM! i just want to know other peoples experience in terms of confidence and when they reached that point of comfort

As someone who did 4 EM rotations as a medical student and only has 1 EM shift in as an actual intern/doc, trust me when I say it's a whole different ball game when you are directly responsible. I'm not sure when I will ever be comfrotable seeing how I'm only a few days into this, but rest assured, it doesn't happen in medical school.

 

[DrQuinn]

Don't worry about it. With time and experience (we're talking thousands of patients under your belt), you'll feel a lot more comfortable.

That's why residency is 3-4 years long!

Q

 

[The White Coat Investor]

i know im still just a medical student and im not supposed to know everything, but is it normal to feel kind of scared and clueless at this point in your career? when does it go away? at what point in EM do you truly feel comfortable and confident?

What! 8 years of post-high school education and you're not "comfortable!??" Ridiculous. Suck it up man, put your nose to the grindstone and get "comfortable" real fast or else your patients will be dropping like flies before your eyes!







Just kidding. Why do you think the attending works in the ED?

 

[docB]

Ii know im still just a medical student and im not supposed to know everything, but is it normal to feel kind of scared and clueless at this point in your career? when does it go away? at what point in EM do you truly feel comfortable and confident? does it happen during residency? or when your an attending? or should it have happened by now?

I really appreciate any words of wisdom. dont get me wrong, i really do love EM! i just want to know other peoples experience in terms of confidence and when they reached that point of comfort

I hear you. I too have times where I feel nervous and scared in the ED. I keep assuming that in just a few more months I feel supremely confident to tackle whatever comes in. I'll let you know when that happens.

 

[BadVB750]

When do you stop feeling like a chicken with its head cut off?

 

[Jeff698]

You know all those people who say they never get nervous or scarred in the ED?

They're either lying or stupid.

Your ratio of comfortable:uncomfortable will increase with time. Being uncomfortable is probably a very good thing. It always reminds you that you have more to learn.

I'm certainly more comfortable as I begin my third year than I was two years ago (or one year ago or two months ago) but I still feel flumuxed from time to time and frequently am not sure what the "right" thing to do is.

I think part of becoming more comfortable, though, is realizing that, frequently, there is no single "right" way to do something.

Good luck and enjoy!

Take care,
Jeff