Emergency Medicine

[mountaindoc]

Advertisement - Members don't see this ad

Can someone please shed some light on this field. As far as "lifestyle " fields are concerned, this one seems to be the grand daddy! Great hours. Great pay. Lots of problem solving and procedures, and you leave the real hardcore stuff for the surgeons. I'm a first year DO student shadowing an ER doc who has a great schedule, 12 10's a month, and makes well over 200k. What's the downside of all this? I know the interest in this field is rising fast. Half my class seems to want to go into this field. I'm shooting for an MD program. What is the competition like? How important are grades? Boards? Are entry level positions hard to get?
Thanks

 

[EMDrMoe]

There are a couple of other posts on here about EM. Freeeedom! (I may have not enough or too many e's there) is a good resource. He's done a ton of research and has the facts. Good luck 🙂

 

[Freeeedom!]

ATC2MD...I am blushing!
Emergency Medicine does seem to provide for a great lifestyle, every Doc I have worked with in EM has been able to maintain a good and enjoyable lifestyle and has plenty of time with family. Sure, the younger you are, the more hours you are likely to put in working, but the docs that are in their 40's-50's seem to have a fantastic family life and tend to work the typical 40-50 hr work week. Down sides seem to be with working the overnight shifts and not getting the same days off through the week as a spouse or child...but vacations are EASILY planned with the EM Docs schedule. I just spoke with my mentor in EM and he is going to Italy for 2 weeks in a row in May.

Yep it is competative, and I am matching right now in EM. It can be stressful. No one things seems to be more important than others when it comes to academics...rotating at an institution you are interested in doing residency at is of prime importance. And yes, being a hard-working, easy going guy, once you get there, is a must.
I hope that helps a bit,
Capt. Freedom.

 

[SniperBubble]

Hey, who pays the salary of the EM doc? Is it the hospital or the patients that come in? I'm guessing it's the hospital that pays...if so, the salary is fixed, right?

Also, are EM Docs hired *directly* by the hospital or do EM Docs have to join groups?

 

[Jeff698]

•••quote:•••Originally posted by Doc2B:
•Hey, who pays the salary of the EM doc? Is it the hospital or the patients that come in? I'm guessing it's the hospital that pays...if so, the salary is fixed, right?

Also, are EM Docs hired *directly* by the hospital or do EM Docs have to join groups?•••••Who pays? Ultimitately, the patient or the patient's insurer pays if anyone does. Who does the billing is variable.

Some hospitals hire EM physicians directly. In these cases, they work for the hospital and the hospital does the billing.

In other cases, EM group practices hire the physicians and contract with hospitals to provide coverage. In these cases, the group practice does the billing and pays the physicians.

Some EPs are salaried and some are paid hourly. Both varieties likely exist in the hospital employee and group practice model.

These are the two main models that I know of, but I'm sure there are some others, too.

BTW, if you want more information on EM, try the following sites:

<a href="http://www.acep.org" target="_blank">www.acep.org</a>
<a href="http://www.emra.org" target="_blank">www.emra.org</a>
<a href="http://www.saem.org" target="_blank">www.saem.org</a>

Take care,
Jeff
MS-I, UTMB

 

[Freeeedom!]

Let me add one more website of the American Acadamy of Emergency Medicine... <a href="http://www.aaem.org" target="_blank">www.aaem.org</a>
This website overs alot of issues and may be of great value.

Let me also state that an EM doc is not just trauma, it is much like a combination of radiology, IM, peds, psych, FP, with additional minor surgical skills rolled into one.

Good luck in your search!