EM Positivity Thread ***Positive vibes only pls***

[Yasuo]

Literally every other post on here is about HCA, oversupply, CMGs, Dr. Karen NP, DVT, HGTV, LED etc. It would be cool to just have this thread be a little slice of only good vibes.

Feel free to post about your love of EM, something great that happened on shift, how sweet your job offer was, the good that has come of your decision to go EM, etc.

peace and love errybody

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[Fox800]

What stage are you in your career? Paging @GeneralVeers

 

[Yasuo]

What stage are you in your career? Paging @GeneralVeers

M3 likely applying EM. I’ve had a good amount of experience working clinically in the ED before med school. I’m not oblivious to the real challenges EM has, but I wanted this thread to be a change of pace if possible.

 

[southerndoc]

Literally every other post on here is about HCA, oversupply, CMGs, Dr. Karen NP, DVT, HGTV, LED etc. It would be cool to just have this thread be a little slice of only good vibes.

Feel free to post about your love of EM, something great that happened on shift, how sweet your job offer was, the good that has come of your decision to go EM, etc.

peace and love errybody

Shouldn't you start your own thread with a positive post? This sounds negative to me. Just sayin'...

Emergency medicine is filled with positive patient experiences. I love my job. I truly do.

 

[Yasuo]

Shouldn't you start your own thread with a positive post? This sounds negative to me. Just sayin'...

Emergency medicine is filled with positive patient experiences. I love my job. I truly do.

I’ve had incredible experiences in EM. I love the huge breadth of problems that are handled by the doc, nurses, and techs all working together. I love the interaction with EMS crews. I’ve had a cardiac arrest patient make it and come back to thank us a couple months later. It’s a beautiful, wild field, and I’m thankful for it.

 

[GassYous]

Relevant avatar

 

[LibBum]

M3 likely applying EM. I’ve had a good amount of experience working clinically in the ED before med school. I’m not oblivious to the real challenges EM has, but I wanted this thread to be a change of pace if possible.

 

[namethatsmell]

We are home to the best turkey sandwiches within the house of medicine.

 

[Tenk]

On one shift I sat around and ate pizza that I ordered and watched starship troopers with my scribe who had never seen that masterpiece. That was a good one.

My favorite moment in EM though was working an overnight shift in a rural shop (8p-8a). Saw one patient before 10 pm, then though I’d lay down. Woke up to my alarm at 7:55 am.

 

[UrbanEM2]

On my EM sub-I all my residents were busy with their different roles on a coding patient so the senior resident asked me if I’d done a crash line before. I said I’d done a couple IJs so they threw the kit at me and said “good enough, you’re doing this fem line”, and the attending just supervised me while I did it. In no other specialty did I get that kind of trust.

How did the line turn out?

Speaking of positivity, I believe there's nothing else you can do as a job that can as consistently make you feel like you are saving people. If you are outgoing, like talking a lot, like meeting new people, and being in charge then nothing else rivals the ER. No other doctor gets this adrenaline rush as regularly as an ER doctor.

Even in my current line of work, the pay is several orders of magnitude higher than in clinical medicine and many colleagues wield tremendous influence over companies and industries, but none of that compares to the thrill or adrenaline of a good busy shift in the ER. The ER was always a drug for me. Eventually unhealthier than healthy so I had to leave, but the rush of walking into a busy ER and taking over a 40 patient census with multiple ICU patients and more on the way while being in charge is addicting.

 

[RuralEDDoc]

I have a great job with excellent pay, decent career satisfaction, and pretty solid flexibility. I only occasionally second guess my specialty choice. Good jobs exist. Don’t expect to land it straight out of residency. Work hard during and after residency. Do something more than just clinical shifts. Offer value to your group. Even if your group is subpar, your effort will be noticed and open doors. And occasionally, you’ll legitimately save a life. So that’s pretty nice.

 

[thegenius]

Even in my current line of work, the pay is several orders of magnitude higher than in clinical medicine and many colleagues wield tremendous influence over companies and industries, but none of that compares to the thrill or adrenaline of a good busy shift in the ER. The ER was always a drug for me. Eventually unhealthier than healthy so I had to leave, but the rush of walking into a busy ER and taking over a 40 patient census with multiple ICU patients and more on the way while being in charge is addicting.

So THAT'S WHY YOU LEFT! THE TRUTH FINALLY COMES OUT!!!!!

I would leave too for that!!!!!!

 

[UrbanEM2]

So THAT'S WHY YOU LEFT! THE TRUTH FINALLY COMES OUT!!!!!

I would leave too for that!!!!!!

Actually didn't leave for that. Many other reasons trumped pay. I felt I made fantastic money even as an academic doc in a generally low paying city.

I did feel addicted to the rush of being in the ER. Coming off that adrenaline was often difficult and led to what I imagine were elevated cortisol levels, weight gain, and unhealth sleep patterns.

 

[Angry Birds]

It may not last long, but the pay is good, job security is solid, and the scheduling allows me to do tons of outside stuff.
But, the work itself is stressful and wears on you.

That's as positive as I can be.

 

[Rekt]

It may not last long, but the pay is good, job security is solid, and the scheduling allows me to do tons of outside stuff.
But, the work itself is stressful and wears on you.

That's as positive as I can be.

????????

 

[WilcoWorld]

Even in my current line of work, the pay is several orders of magnitude higher than in clinical medicine...

So THAT'S WHY YOU LEFT! THE TRUTH FINALLY COMES OUT!!!!!

I would leave too for that!!!!!!

FYI: An order of magnitude is an exponent. So "several orders of magnitude" more than six figures would mean hundreds of millions to billions of dollars/year. So...can I submit a grant application to you via PM?

To the OP, on the positive tip - when the **** is hitting the fan and I walk into a clinical situation that has 99% of doctors freaking out, I have a pretty good idea of what to do and the teams really appreciate my help.

 

[The Knife & Gun Club]

I’m an intern. Most of my friends are interns in [insert subspeciality] surgery.

They act all high and mighty when talking about their fields, how they work harder than anyone else in the hospital, that all us mere mortals shutter in the shadow of their massive brains. But when theyre all alone and the post op patient is crashing and burning on the floor, who gets the panicked 3am phone call?

Me, because because our speciality is undifferentiated dying people.

And that’s pretty darn cool.



Edit: to be clear I don’t mean calling as a consult. I mean “holy **** Knife you’re the only person I know who can read an EKG and might be up please.”

 

[GeneralVeers]

What stage are you in your career? Paging @GeneralVeers

After 12 years the end. I'm grateful that EM treated me well for so long. Recent events have made me accelerate my retirement plan to 4 years. At that time either I leave the country, or quit clinical medicine. With luck I can accelerate things even further. It's great to have a paid off home, substantial retirement, and alternative sources of income.

On a positive note, COVID-19 changes I love and hope stick around indefinitely:

- Hand sanitizer everywhere
- Sanitized restaurant tables
- Sanitized hotel remotes
- Online DMV for most things like driver's license renewals.
- Maximum of four per table at restaurants (eliminates the boisterous drunk groups of 10+ friends)
- Patients who are less agitated by waiting in the waiting room, as they realize what might be going on in the back

 

[The Knife & Gun Club]

After 12 years the end. I'm grateful that EM treated me well for so long. Recent events have made me accelerate my retirement plan to 4 years. At that time either I leave the country, or quit clinical medicine. With luck I can accelerate things even further. It's great to have a paid off home, substantial retirement, and alternative sources of income.

On a positive note, COVID-19 changes I love and hope stick around indefinitely:

- Hand sanitizer everywhere
- Sanitized restaurant tables
- Sanitized hotel remotes
- Online DMV for most things like driver's license renewals.
- Maximum of four per table at restaurants (eliminates the boisterous drunk groups of 10+ friends)
- Patients who are less agitated by waiting in the waiting room, as they realize what might be going on in the back

Add to that list no or limited guests in the ED.

God I don’t ever want to go back to that.

 

[Birdstrike]

It's great to have a paid off home, substantial retirement, and alternative sources of income.

Congratulations. That's all positive news.

 

[GeneralVeers]

Add to that list no or limited guests in the ED.

God I don’t ever want to go back to that.

Yes! Forgot that one. A great development I hope doesn't change. I'm unsure how having guests of mentally competent patients is HIPAA compliant

 

[KGflyboy]

I am early in my career, but I still feel like I am paid decently well, have plenty of time for hobbies and travel, and occasionally I get to do really cool stuff and help people at work. Every now and then I even get to save a life and leave work feeling like I'm really lucky to be an ER doc.

 

[Angry Birds]

????????

You're right. Job security has decreased significantly since the pandemic. But, I think that is pandemic specific. I might be wrong and things may take a negative turn due to all the new residencies.

 

[Birdstrike]

When your EM career is over, whether it's after one year, ten years or fourty, you'll be able to say you did a tremendous amount of good, and helped countless thousands of people, in need. You may not be able to say you helped everyone, but you can be certain you helped a hell of a lot more, than most. On balance, you will have brought health where there was disease, healing where there was injury, comfort where there was pain, and hopefully, some calm where there was mostly fear. Even though it may not always feel like this is what you're doing, you are. Hopefully, you can feel a little bit of it, along the way.

 

[emergentmd]

I still have the best job of my friends/family and I am sure they are envious of me. I still would not switch with 90% in the house of medicine and if you ever want to get down, watch the hospitalist/OB/GS in your hospital. There is a reason generally most EM docs are healthy and appear fit vs these other specialists.

20 yrs into this and multiple rentals, 2 vacation homes, and closing down on another rental. Now a business ownership where I can make my own clinic decisions. I have EM to thank for this and give me the time to work on these "projects".

I get to take 1-2 wks off whenever I want and not get bothered. I always make important family events and the ones I miss, I use work as an excuse to not go. I just did my first Christmas day shift this year in 20 yrs and still split it up so I can spend the morning with my kids. I have never worked Christmas eve, Thanksgiving. I do not bring medicine home with me. I never have to take call. I never have to be in a boring clinic.

SDG EM used to be a 9.5/10 job, CMG EM changed that to a 7/10. Not the best field but IMO still better than 90% of the house of medicine.

 

[Splenda88]

I am early in my career, but I still feel like I am paid decently well, have plenty of time for hobbies and travel, and occasionally I get to do really cool stuff and help people at work. Every now and then I even get to save a life and leave work feeling like I'm really lucky to be an ER doc.

What's the rate for ER doc? It is still 225+/hrs? I thought it would be in the 150/hr by now given how many EM residencies I see opening every year?

 

[sylvanthus]

Give it time man, give it time.

 

[KGflyboy]

What's the rate for ER doc? It is still 225+/hrs? I thought it would be in the 150/hr by now given how many EM residencies I see opening every year?

The former is still the rate in my area. We could make predictions about the future, but that is better saved for another post since this thread was established to post positive things about EM.

 

[TheComebacKid]

There is a reason generally most EM docs are healthy and appear fit vs these other specialists.

I have worked with a lot of overweight EM docs with multiple chronic medical issues. Yeah, the ones fresh out of residency have great rock climbing bods, but many more experienced EM docs with some mileage on them probably have some underlying health problems. We have significantly higher levels of stress than many other specialties, and significant circadian rhythm disturbances, none of which is conducive to a healthy lifestyle.

On a positive note Taco Bell is open late when I get off at 2am