jawicobike said:
So what does an EM doc do when he is tired of the schedule of the ED? I don't see too many 60 year old docs in the ED. Am I just not looking hard enough?
Well part of the problem is there aren't any! I was in the first wave of trainees, and I'm 55. The oldest trained guys and gals are just hitting 60. Many are still working, others are not.
People have been worrying about this from the beginnning, usually talking about burnout, and there have been 2 longitudinal studies. It was assumed by some that it would be like other high stress fields, particularly Thoracic Surgery. Those guys, during the heyday of coronary surgery usually retired in their fifties- but note that there were exceptions, Debakey and Cooley each operated into their 80's. The studies aren't done, but preliminary date looks like the loss rate is similar to other specialities, but EPs find other things to do than straight clinical moving the meat.
The problem with looking at my generation is that we were thrust into higher positions almost immediately upon residency graduation. Most of my cohort were in management and admin within a couple of years whether they desired it or not, because there was no one else to do it. I was running a large military ED 6 months after finishing residency. Five years later I was an academic chairman. I didn't get serious about research until a decade later when I stepped down. Most of the early academics had similar upside down careers. The nonacademics had unusual career paths also. In the early days, when we were always short of Docs, everybody was busy establishing the specialty. My point is, we had a very different environment and looking to our outcomes as a model for your career may not be useful.
My thought is that each of you will find your own way. Admin must not look that good, as I have a hard time finding any junior faculty who want to do it. I find being clinical faculty much less stressful than I found private practice, but some find that balancing supervision vs letting the residents do their thing dysphoric. Predicting 30 years down the road is always dicey, but I think what most of you will do is cut back to part time and slide out over a few years. Maybe urgent care clinics will be available and some of you may like it. I have to say that I still need the adrenalin (though perhaps not as much). I find urgent care boring and still avoid it. Others may martial your money carefully, get the kids off through college and then retire. Stay active though, retiring and then promptly dropping dead is almost a truisim.
In any case, it'll be good. I don't know anybody from my generation of EPs who regrets taking the ride.
😍
