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If you could do it all over again would you stick with EM?
- Thread starter anon4895
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Residency is great in EM. The pay is great for what we do. We do save lives - though we also put up with a ton of garbage also. The hours are not great - I'll say it again, it's not a "lifestyle" choice if you're working all different shifts, weekends, holidays blah, blah, blah.
But there is no place I'd rather be. I liked the OR, hated the hours. Hated clinic. Hated seing the same jack-wagons over and over who didn't take care of themselves. Hated long rounds.
Love walking into a room - figuring out if they're sick, treating them, admitting them or DC them. Even if they're not sick and want Percs or took the EMS Taxi for a sore throat - there is no place I'd rather be.
And come on, who is usually the most useful doctor in a room in case of emergency? As a bonus, the stories are legendary.
Residency is great in EM. The pay is great for what we do. We do save lives - though we also put up with a ton of garbage also. The hours are not great - I'll say it again, it's not a "lifestyle" choice if you're working all different shifts, weekends, holidays blah, blah, blah.
But there is no place I'd rather be. I liked the OR, hated the hours. Hated clinic. Hated seing the same jack-wagons over and over who didn't take care of themselves. Hated long rounds.
Love walking into a room - figuring out if they're sick, treating them, admitting them or DC them. Even if they're not sick and want Percs or took the EMS Taxi for a sore throat - there is no place I'd rather be.
And come on, who is usually the most useful doctor in a room in case of emergency? As a bonus, the stories are legendary.
I'm currently studying for boards. I thoroughly enjoyed this entire thread. Kind of weird... felt like I was reading about my future, written by me.
back to boards :I
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No, I wouldn't choose another specialty over again. I think EM was the best fit for me. I might not choose "medicine" again, but probably would anyway... Yes, some of the downsides are very real and not to be ignored. Like most things in life, nothing is perfect. Focus on the positives, minimize the negatives and you'll enjoy your job and life a lot more. Don't look for the perfect specialty, don't make lists, don't talk to 20 random people and let them sway you... in the end just go with your gut.
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This is awesome advice for a 4th year like me... Too be honest, I'm perfectly split between two specialties, and every time I get advice from somebody in one specialty, I usually get the... why would you even consider ____ specialty?
Though reading this thread as a 4th year, most likely going into EM is definitely scary...
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They exist, just not in the field of medicine.
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I love the job of EM. It is HARD work for all the reasons mentioned before - no control over the pace of your workday, etc - almost never a slow day - full speed ahead all the time.
Prior to medicine I was an engineer. I hated my desk job. I hated the 9-5. I was single though. Now I am married with young child ( and 1 on the way). I hate the stress of knowing my family will struggle with me not around weeknights (this is when we work mostly) and weekends. But, I do like the job.
I don't think I would change my field. I haven't worked long enough to say whether medicine in general was a good idea. I like the pay.
I guess its a wash. Most of us have to work. EM is not bad work and we are paid well. I will be re-developing some of my old hobbies. I can golf on weekdays while everyone else works.
Prior to medicine I was an engineer. I hated my desk job. I hated the 9-5. I was single though. Now I am married with young child ( and 1 on the way). I hate the stress of knowing my family will struggle with me not around weeknights (this is when we work mostly) and weekends. But, I do like the job.
I don't think I would change my field. I haven't worked long enough to say whether medicine in general was a good idea. I like the pay.
I guess its a wash. Most of us have to work. EM is not bad work and we are paid well. I will be re-developing some of my old hobbies. I can golf on weekdays while everyone else works.
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Yes they do. That's BS. If you can't find one point of light in a crappy shift, you need a new job.
I don't always save someone in a shift, but I always help someone, and that makes me love what I do.
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Now that I'm an attending - EM is definitely a beast. I feel pretty comfortable doing my thing now that I've been out a month, but I can definitely say that EM is not for the faint of heart.
It's a tough world out there and the learning curve is steep after residency.
If you like a set schedule and you want to know the patients you'll be getting for that day - do not do EM. You have to know that anything can walk through that door - whether you like it or not, whether you skimmed that part on your readings or not, and whether or not you're up to your neck in patients.
It's a tough world out there and the learning curve is steep after residency.
If you like a set schedule and you want to know the patients you'll be getting for that day - do not do EM. You have to know that anything can walk through that door - whether you like it or not, whether you skimmed that part on your readings or not, and whether or not you're up to your neck in patients.
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This is something I've been contemplating a lot, as a really awesome opportunity has presented itself and I've been doing a lot of soul-searching as a result.
No worries, it's still in medicine, and still within EM, actually, but even more subspecialized. (Ok, so it's a subspecialty that isn't officially recognized yet, and part of the job description is to help develop it.)
Some days, I love the undifferentiated stuff. I really love critical care, and wonder sometimes if I shouldn't have done a CC fellowship and split my time. I really love end-of-life care. And most of the time, I love pediatrics.
So now I'm going to go interview for a position that will change the core of my practice, focusing on a select group of patients. (No, not peds.) Will I get to see nursemaid's elbows any more? Or run STEMIs to the cath lab? Or fly out brain bleeds? Probably not. I love all of these things.
But... will I have to sew up the drunken idiot swearing and swinging at me? No. See the "I took 10 seroquel and am thinking of hurting myself." Not so much. Exacerbation of chronic back pain? Not near as much. The 20-something with chronic pelvic pain whose had every test known to man? Nope.
So now I try to decide just how much I love the undifferentiated disaster that EM can be, and I am very torn. Perhaps I'll take the job and realize I miss it, and arrange a couple of shifts at local-big-trauma-center each month. Certainly an option. Maybe I won't. I just don't know. I don't want to lose my skills, but at the same time, I might not mind so much...I'd still get procedures and lots of sickies.
Decisions, decisions. I thought all the big decisions were over!
No worries, it's still in medicine, and still within EM, actually, but even more subspecialized. (Ok, so it's a subspecialty that isn't officially recognized yet, and part of the job description is to help develop it.)
Some days, I love the undifferentiated stuff. I really love critical care, and wonder sometimes if I shouldn't have done a CC fellowship and split my time. I really love end-of-life care. And most of the time, I love pediatrics.
So now I'm going to go interview for a position that will change the core of my practice, focusing on a select group of patients. (No, not peds.) Will I get to see nursemaid's elbows any more? Or run STEMIs to the cath lab? Or fly out brain bleeds? Probably not. I love all of these things.
But... will I have to sew up the drunken idiot swearing and swinging at me? No. See the "I took 10 seroquel and am thinking of hurting myself." Not so much. Exacerbation of chronic back pain? Not near as much. The 20-something with chronic pelvic pain whose had every test known to man? Nope.
So now I try to decide just how much I love the undifferentiated disaster that EM can be, and I am very torn. Perhaps I'll take the job and realize I miss it, and arrange a couple of shifts at local-big-trauma-center each month. Certainly an option. Maybe I won't. I just don't know. I don't want to lose my skills, but at the same time, I might not mind so much...I'd still get procedures and lots of sickies.
Decisions, decisions. I thought all the big decisions were over!
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Hmmm...I'm guessing Geriatric EM. If so, you certainly have demographic trends on your side.
In any case, best wishes!
In any case, best wishes!
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Nope. I already practice geriatric EM! Ha! Well, my average patient is 80 some days. We joke that in this town, 80 is the new 40. But there are STEMIs and brain bleeds galore in geriatrics.
Last night was an anomaly and I ran a ped clinic (2 sick babies and a bunch of not-sick school age kids.) I do love it when a miserably croupy toddler turns the corner... and proceeds to make a break for the ambulance bay, giggling all the way. The mom was laughing so hard she could barely catch the kiddo once he got going.
Last night was an anomaly and I ran a ped clinic (2 sick babies and a bunch of not-sick school age kids.) I do love it when a miserably croupy toddler turns the corner... and proceeds to make a break for the ambulance bay, giggling all the way. The mom was laughing so hard she could barely catch the kiddo once he got going.
