EM Job Stability

[ilikekiwis]

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I'm starting med school this coming fall and am interested in EM. After looking through some of the threads in this forum, it seems the issue of turnover and burnout comes up again and again. I'm also seeing that rather than be a normal hospital employee, many are just contractors, who may or may not get extensions when contract period is up.

This leads me to wonder what the long-term job security/stability is like for an EM physician. Is it usual for someone to work at the same hospital long term, and can one work through their 60's or do hospitals/contract agencies kick them out?

Thanks

 

[Haemr Head]

Burnout today in emergency medicine is a myth, at least for those who have trained in emergency medicine. Recent studies have shown the same rate of change as with other specialties. I graduated over 20 years ago and vast majority of the people I knew in residency are still practicing at the ED they settled in years ago.
It is getting a little harder to find a job, particularly in areas that have old well established residencies (Denver, San Diego, Los Angeles). There are also a few practices where the partners offer partnership and do not deliver. However, on the whole, most providers settle down early and stay in the same place most of their career.
With the rise in the number of patients needed emergency care (aging of the population, limited number of PCPs) and the departure of non boarded providers, the job market seems more than stable.
The big question is what health care reform, capitation, and the economy will do to the practice of emergency medicine. But that's true for any specialty.

 

[docB]

Agree with Haemr. The whole contract thing can sound pretty daunting but most (the vast majority) of EPs navigate the waters without that being a huge issue for them. The political climate and regulations are a much bigger, immediate concern.

Burn out is an issue but it's really more of an issue across medicine than an EM specific issue anymore.

 

[deleted65604]

A huge number of ER docs change jobs within the first three years out of residency. After that, they tend to get jobs where they stay there for prolonged periods of time.