Medical students ambivalent about EM

[two guys]

When I first started working 15 yrs ago, I did get burned out by yr 3. I have always wanted to do radiology and the early years were more difficult as we worked longer hours, had less coverage, etc. I brought alot of work home with me which made it more difficult. I was also immature at 30, just married. So there was alot of adjustment.
Our group changed over the years. I stopped doing nights. I became a partner. Our shifts were shortened to 8 hr dys. Overall the better work environment + great marriage + getting older/more mature = made me realize how great I have it. I am so glad that I did not go back and do radiology and would have made a big mistake not only from a monetary standpoint (2 mil loss earning).



Its not nonsense. Its available. Its offered when they can't cover a shift. It happens weekly where I do some locums. Its not my primary job but I know some where it is their primary and they pull in close to 1 mil/yr.



FSED is Urgent care with few sick patients mixed in. Very nice environment. Seeing 1pt/hr vs 3/hr and lower acuity is not a pressure cooker



I still do weekends but not nights. I never stated that I did not do weekends. Doing weekends do not bother me. I don't find it irresponsible to tell someone that high paying jobs and only doing locums is an option. Many docs do this as their primary job and make alot more than I do. No one consistently make 600/hr. I make 400-600/hr on my locums shifts. I work my primary job and pick up a high paying shift when they need me to. So I may do 1-2 shift a month. But there are docs that only do locums and make well over 600K/yr doing 15 shifts a month. I could get the same job tomorrow if I wanted but I like where I live and I have a family. Sure these jobs may disappear but they have been available for the past 5 yrs that I know of and I really do not see any changes in the near future. If you think its a unicorn, then you are not informed. I am offered referral bonuses all the time to find them ED docs. Of course these jobs are not some magical job b/c you have to either live their or travel to do the shifts.


I apologize to all that I have offended but these are my feelings. All jobs have issues and EM is no different. My point is in EM, if you have a big issue with it, there are options to make the job more bearable. I would love to ba a pro basketball player and make millions with fame but if Lebron Broke his legs tomorrow he would have no choice but quit playing basketball.

My point is in EM, if you hate working in a hospital ED, there are choices that are available to you. All you need to do is make some phone calls and you can work in a FSED/UC easily. As with other specialites like cardiology/gen surgery, they can't just pick up their practice and move somewhere next month. EM can. So there are options to still practice EM medicine but in a less stressful environment.

Congrats on getting things turned around.

---

Members don't see this ad.

 

[Arcan57]

emergent,
I agree that working locums is an option, which I feel most EM docs realize although the particulars are probably fuzzy to those of us who don't work locums. What I disagree with is the assumption in your posts that anyone that's working nights (I didn't realize that even vaguely implying that you might not work weekends was worthy of rebuttal) and isn't making >$300/hr is doing so only because of ignorance. The highest paying hourly rate in my area that I've heard of in the last year was $500/hr for a holiday shift at a FSED that couldn't get it covered. Let's consider a job in BFE paying $500/hr. We will assume that $500/hr is the regular non-bonus rate, we're keeping the "no night
" dictum so it's 12-hr shifts, and the shop itself is somewhere, with the exception of being geographically distant, I'd be willing to work). If I spend 5-10 hours of roundtrip travel time, this theoretical job makes me more than what I make right now, but not enough to be worth the disruption to family life and the additional wear and tear of traveling for extended time after a 12hr shift.

Of course none of this addresses my main point, which is that there aren't anywhere near enough of these jobs for them to be an option for the vast majority of EPs. Since you have a reputation for picking up stupidly high paying, hard to fill shifts you're going to get offers to fill those shifts. This may be biasing you into thinking that these jobs are more common than they actually are. I don't have salary info on locums EPs but if MOST of them were making $720k (10 12hr shifts per month at $500/hr) I would think that we'd have heard more about it.

 

[deuist]

Two facts needed to best answer your question:

1- Is it ACGME accredited?

2- Would it allow you to sit for the critical care subspecialty boards?

There is no such thing as an ACGME-accredited subspecialty in neuro critical care and therefore, you cannot sit for the critical care boards. There is, however, a neuro critical care society that offers its own exam and certification, which is what most graduates from fellowship programs will pursue.

 

[deleted480308]

My prior life was all salary with a phone that could never get turned off...I'm very excited about the idea of shift work with no call. If i can find a group that allows to buy in/out of certain shifts, even better.

At this point em is my goal but we'll see what happens after a few rotations.