Older docs (>50 y.o.) practicing community EM???

[EMfosho]

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Hey guys,

EM PGY1 here....

I know the typical burnout question has been answered on here extensively. What I am wondering is do any of you know/work with community ED docs who are well into their 50s? If so, how do they handle the hustle, the stress, nights, etc.

In other words, are they just barely hanging in there or are they still efficient, effective, etc? Specific examples would be helpful.

I've seen PLENTY of ED docs in academics over 50, but they mostly supervise and are not primarily seeing patients...I have no idea what it's like in the community....

I guess the real question is...will we all be able to handle a busy ED when we're 50-60 y.o??

Thanks for your input!

-EMfosho

 

[DrQuinn]

in my group of 20-25 docs there are 5 or so in their 50s+, some in their 60s. They keep up just as well though aren't nearly as fast a typer as the rest of us Gen Xers.

Q

 

[JeetKuneDo]

in my group of 20-25 docs there are 5 or so in their 50s+, some in their 60s. They keep up just as well though aren't nearly as fast a typer as the rest of us Gen Xers.

Q

I'm assuming that the docs that are still practicing at 50, 60+ are in above average shape for an average doctor/person at that age. Is this safe to say?

 

[SoCuteMD]

I'm assuming that the docs that are still practicing at 50, 60+ are in above average shape for an average doctor/person at that age. Is this safe to say?

Well, if you do the math re: the specialty (first EM residency had their first resident in 1970, I believe) you'll realize that EM is a fairly young specialty. Even if that resident (Bruce Janiak, who is vice chair of EM at MCG) was 30 when he started residency, he's just approaching 70 now. In truth, most people in medical school in the late 60s and early 70s were straight from college - 26 when they graduated medical school. A resident who graduated in the mid 1970s, so someone who was one of the first in the field, is now 65. So while you may not find many EM physicians who are in their late 50s and 60s, it's because there weren't many being trained until at least the early 80s.

I have met some attendings who were in their late 50s/early 60s and not all of them were in stellar shape or as high energy as you would expect. They seemed to do just fine.

 

[EMfosho]

Quinn and others...

On the flip side...have you known ED doctors who, after 15-20 years of practice, leave EM? If so, what have they gone on to do? Again, I know there are threads on hypothetical jobs outside of EM for ED docs, but was looking for more concrete examples.

I guess one trick would be to work in a not-so-busy/trauma center type of place as you age....thanks for the insight!

 

[dchristismi]

I have a parter who turned 59 this year. The group voted to absolve him of overnights, and many of us will swap him for his pseudo-overnights. (I HATE working the 7am, and would rather work his 9p-5a.) He moves the meat as well as anyone.

I'm at a relatively high-acuity community place (not a trauma center, although we occasionally get that mistriaged major trauma or code) affiliated with big-academic-medical-center a hundred miles away. Lots o' snowbirds = lots of mostly healthy but occasionally REALLY sick OLD people.

 

[docB]

We have several 55 or 60+ guys. They are slower than the rest. Some work all overnights (we pay a good night differential) and they've been doing it for so long that they're adapted. A few don't work many shifts and mainly do administration.

 

[Drawing Dead]

I know of one gentleman who did an intership and then went right into practice working in ED's something like 30 years ago. He did this for a while, until the hospitals got stricter and wanted EM BE/BC docs. He wanted to get grandfathered in, but fell just short of the time required to do so. So what did he do? He's now a PGY-3 in a 100,000 volume program. Since he's a resident at a place he was an attending at for a little bit, any attending he works with basically lets him run the room, and he does it well. It was actually kinda funny, since he was more experienced than pretty much any of his attendings, that they would come to him and bounce off ideas. But yes, somewhere in his 50's, and excellent, efficient EM doc, and doing RESIDENCY.

To answer the other question about what EM docs do after 15-20 years, you should think of 10 years. When the recruiters come in, they always quote to us that 10 years is the average life span of a practicing EM doc. Some go into administration, form their own groups, urgent care, boutique medicine, etc. Supposedly there is life after the ED. I'm actually EM/FP, and my plan is to do about 75%/25% EM to FP when I'm done (Maybe work full time in an ED with a dedicated day off, like wednesday, and see FP patients one day a week and build a practice) and then as I get older and sick of the ED, slowly shift the balance, and probably finish out my career in primary care.