How do you know you fit in ER?

[Herpeto]

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Do you have to be able to think instantaneously throughout medical school or will it come with experience? For instance, as an M2 I can work through a problem and develop a good differential diagnosis, but it takes a couple minutes, especially with what drugs to give. I assume I will become more proficient as I get on the wards and see what is prescribed and how treatment is actually performed. I really like the idea of ER because it has great hours (in terms of days/week), good pay (~$200K) and it is constantly changing. However, I'm not sure I fit yet.

Are there specific books that those interested in ER study regularly?

I've been reading the FAQ's and it seems the focus is on Step 1 and LOR's. Do they care about preclinical grades? Is top 50% good enough? What about publications? How do you determine if your ER is good and who to get LOR's from?

Thank for the advice.

 

[USAF MD '05]

For instance, as an M2 I can work through a problem and develop a good differential diagnosis, but it takes a couple minutes, especially with what drugs to give.

Dude- I'm an ER intern, and I still take a couple of minutes on drugs for all but what I prescribe the most. If EM is for you, you'll know after a rotation. Most are very polarized by the field. Love it or hate it, but you'll know. Good luck, Steve

PS- Though we work comparatively fewer hours, we are not a lifestyle specialty like derm and the like because of the constantly changing shifts and hours. Though lots of us actually like the variation.

 

[Herpeto]

Dude- I'm an ER intern, and I still take a couple of minutes on drugs for all but what I prescribe the most. If EM is for you, you'll know after a rotation. Most are very polarized by the field. Love it or hate it, but you'll know. Good luck, Steve

PS- Though we work comparatively fewer hours, we are not a lifestyle specialty like derm and the like because of the constantly changing shifts and hours. Though lots of us actually like the variation.

Thanks for the feedback. How much vacation time do most ER docs get? When I used to shadow they would take one month off at a time in a rotating schedule. I'm not sure how much other time they got off besides that though.

 

[EctopicFetus]

Generally EM docs work 12-16 shifts per month. (the attendings and residents would know better, im just an m4). The shifts usually are 8-10 hours. Most people get 4 weeks but some do get 6 weeks time off. The thing is i have heard people working a ton of shifts in the fist 3 weeks each month and then getting the last one off. The field provides a lot of flexibility but as Steve said working days, evenings and nights is tough.

 

[EctopicFetus]

Generally EM docs work 12-16 shifts per month. (the attendings and residents would know better, im just an m4). The shifts usually are 8-10 hours. Most people get 4 weeks but some do get 6 weeks time off. The thing is i have heard people working a ton of shifts in the fist 3 weeks each month and then getting the last one off. The field provides a lot of flexibility but as Steve said working days, evenings and nights is tough.

 

[EM Junkie]

I see Ectopic is making use of the elusive "Oops I double-posted" post-padding technique! Ever so effective in our quest for dominance of SDN!

 

[EctopicFetus]

Shhh dont give the secrets away...

 

[GeneralVeers]

You won't really be able to tell if it's for you until you've tried it. Make use of any opportunities to shadow EM physicians in your MS2-3 years. Schedule your EM rotation early in 4th year. That will give you some idea of whether or not it's a good "fit" for you.

 

[JackBauERfan]

I agree, I know many folks who thought it would be a 'cool' field to go into , then didn't really like it for some reasons, and the other way around too. I did some EMT stuff so kind of had the feeling I liked emergency type patients, but then was only confirmed through my experiences with it in third year.

(I'm gonna accidently post this twice too)

(by the way this is rohitpatel, not sure if I put it in my signature)

 

[JackBauERfan]

I agree, I know many folks who thought it would be a 'cool' field to go into , then didn't really like it for some reasons, and the other way around too. I did some EMT stuff so kind of had the feeling I liked emergency type patients, but then was only confirmed through my experiences with it in third year.

(I'm gonna accidently post this twice too)

(by the way this is rohitpatel, not sure if I put it in my signature)

 

[SoCuteMD]

Found this on Denver's site (which I have only skimmed, but it is a) a REALLY nice site and b) pretty informative).

If you haven't figured it out so far, you are going to figure this out during your interviews: People who apply to emergency medicine, and residents in emergency medicine are not like people applying in other specialties. They are the people that you are going to gravitate towards in hospital cafeterias, in hotel lobbies, and in the terminals at the airports while you travel to your interviews. These are the folks you want to sit next to. They are a lot of fun; these are just attractive people. They are interested, interesting; they are high energy. They like to work hard; they like to play hard. They have interests outside of medicine. They are very committed and want to make the most out of their emergency medicine residency program. These are people who know, "I am only going to do this once, I really don't want to miss anything." So they subscribe to that philosophy that, "Whatever isn't prohibited is mandatory." They want to taste everything that they can; they don't want to leave the buffet of EM Residency Training without a full plate.

http://www.denverem.org/applicants/what to look for.php