Interested in ER Medicine...talked down to by pharmacist

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Vash311

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Hey guys. Recent thing that just happened to me. I've got a growing interest in the field of emergency medicine. I recently told one of my friends, who happens to be a pharmacy student and he laughed in my face. He said that I should have stayed in pharmacy (I dropped out of pharm. school for medical school) cause er docs won't make anywhere near a pharmacists salary by the time we both graduate. Is this true...is reimbursement for this field heading towards this trend or is my friend full of it? Thanks.

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Pharmacy students are the experts in predicting future salary determinations for all medical specialties...didn't you know that?
 
Hehe...I actually feel kinda silly now for posting this. Getting all worked up over some comment was uncalled for. I'm just a little tired trying to prove to students, in other medical specialities, especially pharmacy, that medicine is not a career where "you'll have no life, make no money, and live in a hospital".

Sorry, just had to vent, but back to the meat of my topic...what is the life of an er doc like as far as hours, types of procedures they can do, compensation, and life during residency like? Thanks.
 
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Thanks for taking the comment lightheartedly. After I posted it, I though it read kind of nasty and I didn't mean to be.

Sorry, but I can't help you with information regarding the EM field.
 
Well, pharmacists sure can make a good living. I know several working for large retail chains who make over $100,000 a year. 60 hours a week.

ER docs average (from the numbesr I've seen) from $155,000-195,000 depending on area of rpactice and size of hospital.

If your friend goes into research and development for the right company, he can make more than several ER docs combined.

I have MANY friends going into pharmacy. It really bugs them when you tell them "listen...you just fill what I write for, OK?"

That usually gets them off my back. :D
 
In a private hospital down the street, emergency dept physicians make 300K+ / year. This in the "south." Hours are good, to say the least.
 
Vash...I too just dropped out of pharmacy school to go to med school. Where are you from? Don't worry, as an ER doc you will make (much) more money than the average pharmacist.
 
I don't care how much they make (I was offered $110 000/year by RiteAid), the job is not for everyone, it can be mind-numbing, soul-draining work (at least my experience, sorry colleagues), but I'm much happier being a poor MS1.
 
Trust me you will make much more than a pharmacist, and you will have a much more interesting and rewarding job in my opinion. Counting things by 5's just doesnt do it for me.
 
The compensation figures on here coincide with what I have read. But it seems like when you talk to real people in the field, they indicate that figures like these are a bit inflated.

VASH--as far as lifestyle is concerned, EM is one of the best fields. Residency is not any better than the rest of the specialties, unless something changes within the senior years. Intern year is a bit like a transitional year, where you rotate through IM and surgery, but of course with the intent of being able to treat emergent patients.

Again, from what I've read, the lifestyle of an attending is great. NBC's ER does not provide the best showing of this, as sensationalism in the medical field has always done well for ratings on the networks. Anyway, EM physicians work three days a week typically, on 12 hour shifts. So if you like a four day weekend, perhaps EM is for you. There is also no call.

However, there is a very dark side to EM. Tons of patients are there for drugs, not treatment. This is a major factor in burnout for these types of doctors. Also, I suspect paperwork is greater, because of insurance matters. If you like patient continuity, EM has none...but if you don't concerned with knowing what happens to your patient after you've done basic treatment, then it's not a problem. And you've got to be able to handle patients that are self-destructive and not interested in helping themselves.

Hope this is somewhat informative.
 
Yea...my Pharmacist at Safeway rings up and bags my groceries too!! That must be fun :rolleyes:
 
Thanks for the great input guys. I still feel a little silly for posting, but I'm glad I did with all the positives I've been hearing from this post.

LSU-I recently dropped out of Nova Southeastern for pharmacy (in Ft. Lauderdale, FL) and, funny enough, jumped into their medical program. <img border="0" alt="[Laughy]" title="" src="graemlins/laughy.gif" /> So for the next four years I'm gonna get alot of flak from my former pharmacy classmates for "choosing" to go through 8-5 days 5 days a week, tests every week, and giving up my social life...riiiight! :rolleyes:

Anway, if anyone has more input on this post please feel free to talk about any field, not necessarily emergency medicine...I'm in the process of learning as much as I can about every field out there. Again, thanks!
 
Check out the SAEM website. They have lots of information for medical students. <a href="http://www.saem.org" target="_blank">www.saem.org</a> also, <a href="http://www.emra.org" target="_blank">www.emra.org</a> (emergency medicine residents assoc.)
 
Also, EM has a substantial amount of primary care and many M-1 and M-2 medical students don't realize that...
 
Hey Vash311-

Cool thread you started, I don't know why, but I am having fun reading all these posts. They're pretty funny.

From what I heard, ER is both exciting and challenging. I actually heard the hours are good, but some say there is a high "burn-out" rate (correct me on this if I am wrong...this is only what I hear).

I'm thinking of Peds or OB/GYN, but I must admit that there are times when I think about going into Emergency Medicine. The ER docs that have lectured at my school all seem really cool and love their job. One of them is actually a technical advisor for the show ER . So it seems that there are some other cool things you can do if you become an ER doc. :cool:

kiki~
MS3, finally! :clap:
 
•••quote:•••Originally posted by Kiki2004:
• So it seems that there are some other cool things you can do if you become an ER doc. :cool:

•••••Only if you can graduate from an EM residency in the next year or so...I suspect ER is getting ready to enter it's last season this fall on NBC. And I don't expect another ER-like show will come on for several decades.

:)
 
how about a replacement on NBC... OCCMED, behind the pills and fakers. it's a story about a group of young doctors finding about the truth about their patients true pathology and themselves... fibromyalgia workup STAT!!!!
but doctor, I'VE been off work for chronic nasal itching for 19 years and in 1 more week I can retire, write me that off work note, make my day.
 
•••quote:•••Originally posted by Firebird:
And I don't expect another ER-like show will come on for several decades.

:) [/QB]••••Actually, I saw a commercial for some show that will be on next season, some kind of reality show called "Houston General"...It looks more exciting than ER has been lately. I was getting tired of Dr. Green and Dr. Corday anyway...
:)
 
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