Options for EM specialty.

[seelee]

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I am starting med school in July and I am already looking at where I might specialize. Emergency medicine has caught my eye and I have some questions.

1. I understand that EM is typically fast paced. Do older docs have a hard time keeping up? Is burn-out an issue? If so, where do the older docs typically do?

2. Is the only possible job for an EM physician in an ED? What about working in an ICU, or in a clinic or urgent care facility?

3. Is moonlighting feasible during residency (assuming the program allows it?)

4. How many hours are typically worked per week?

 

[Hercules]

The FAQ will answer most of these questions but...

1) Burn out not as big an issue for EM trained physicians as it was for random FM, peds, surgery, IM guys who didn't really know what they were doing or getting into.

2) You can work in an urgent care facility, but the pay goes down. You'll need to do a critical care fellowship to work most ICUs at most hospitals.

3) Yes

4) ~35-40 hrs/wk as an attending

 

[AmoryBlaine]

The specialty is ideally practiced at a fast pace. That doesn't mean that everyone in EM is fast-paced.

 

[ccfccp]

I would also call your attention to the Emergency Medicine FAQ http://forums.studentdoctor.net/showthread.php?t=110036

It answers your questions and gives a lot of other useful information for people coming into medical school.