How to tell if EM is right for you?

[Alfresco]

Hey guys,

I think I might be interested in EM. But I am keeping an open mind as I go into third year - the problem is that at my school we don't get to do an EM clerkship until July or August (July most likely, I think).

Plenty of people tend to match EM from my school so I am not too worried about not having enough time to match but what if I think I am going into EM and then end up not liking it (might be a bit late to start getting an application together for a rotation that was a year ago...let alone setting up away rotations and things like that).

So I am wondering if there is anything I can do as a late second or maybe sometime in third year to figure out if I'll end up liking EM as a specialty. Can anyone give some advice?

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[DreamingTheLive]

Ask yourself if you want to be a part of the best specialty in medicine.

If answer is yes, apply to EM.

If answer is no, change your answer.

 

[dotcb]

Ask your EM Dept if you can shadow a few shifts in the ED.

 

[Alfresco]

I am sure I'd be able to do that - I've shadowed a few times. Would that give a good impression? I've heard from several people that shadowing isn't really indicative of rotating in terms of figuring out whether you'll like it or not. But is that the best way? Usually when I've shadowed, it's been for a few hours - maybe doing it for a whole shift might be better if they'll let me?

 

[Tiger26]

During third year, I went to the ED as much as possible.

If you're admitting a patient to medicine or peds, go down to the ED. Same if you consulting while on surgery. It gives you a sense of whether you might like it or not and allows you to make some direct comparisons to the ED from your current rotation. Also, try to shadow (as you seem to have done) on some of your light months.

 

[Arcan57]

I had my first ED rotation in August of 4th year. By then you'll have been exposed to the main wings of the house of medicine. If you really loved peds or surgery or IM or GYN or pysch(?) and were able to completely embrace them then you'll have your answer. If there were things you liked about all of them but things you also had serious reservations about (loved the surgery ethos and seeing consults in the ED, hated the OR = not a surgeon) then do your July/August rotation and see if you still like the ED as much when you're in it 8-12 hrs at a time and if you can handle the circadian shifts. If not, then apply to your favorite of the remaining specialties. I feel obligated to add on my disclaimer about the need to carry a decent patient load as a student to really get a feel for EM. You're dead inside if carrying 1-2 patients at a time while being pulled away to see every interesting procedure and case doesn't make you happy. If you can feel the same while carrying 4 patients consistently and going most of a shift without seeing anything truly fascinating then you've got a pretty good idea that EM is right for you

 

[DreamingTheLive]

I had my first ED rotation in August of 4th year. By then you'll have been exposed to the main wings of the house of medicine. If you really loved peds or surgery or IM or GYN or pysch(?) and were able to completely embrace them then you'll have your answer. If there were things you liked about all of them but things you also had serious reservations about (loved the surgery ethos and seeing consults in the ED, hated the OR = not a surgeon) then do your July/August rotation and see if you still like the ED as much when you're in it 8-12 hrs at a time and if you can handle the circadian shifts. If not, then apply to your favorite of the remaining specialties. I feel obligated to add on my disclaimer about the need to carry a decent patient load as a student to really get a feel for EM. You're dead inside if carrying 1-2 patients at a time while being pulled away to see every interesting procedure and case doesn't make you happy. If you can feel the same while carrying 4 patients consistently and going most of a shift without seeing anything truly fascinating then you've got a pretty good idea that EM is right for you

I would STRONGLY advise that this person do an EM rotation sometime during 3rd year and BEFORE scheduling 4th year so that they can get/schedule Away rotations set up for the prime July, August, September months.

 

[Arcan57]

I would STRONGLY advise that this person do an EM rotation sometime during 3rd year and BEFORE scheduling 4th year so that they can get/schedule Away rotations set up for the prime July, August, September months.

I did an MPH between third and fourth year so it kinda limited my options. I didn't want to do EM prior to the MPH because nobody was going to remember me if over a year passed since they were writing their SLORs. YMMV

 

[Alfresco]

I would STRONGLY advise that this person do an EM rotation sometime during 3rd year and BEFORE scheduling 4th year so that they can get/schedule Away rotations set up for the prime July, August, September months.

Well if I could do that, that would have been ideal. But at my school, we can only do an EM rotation in the fourth year.

 

[Tiger26]

Just do a home EM rotation and schedule an away afterward. Worst case scenario, you find out you don't want to do EM and then decide to do something else