Preparation for Emergency Medicine

[Aladin]

Hi, I am applying to Medschools this year, and I have an enormous interest in becoming a Trauma Physician. I understand Emergency Medicine is a competitive field, I was wondering is there anything I can do as of now to improve my chances, or to make myself a better applicant for Emergency Medicine Residency. I understand I am not EVEN IN MEDICAL SCHOOL YET, and I know the first thing I should be concerned about is getting into medical school first. However, I would just like a head start at my dream job. Also if anyone has any suggestions of what I should be doing now to make myself a competitive applicant for emergency medicine that would be great, thanks.

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[roja]

EM doctors are not trauma physicians.


If you are talking about trauma surgery, you should ask in the surgery forum. Otherwise, try doing a search. There are many threads on what being an EP is like.

congrats on getting in.

 

[Aladin]

Sorry I meant EM physicians

 

[Rendar5]

Good luck with your application year. My advice is honestly to go in with an open mind unless you've been shadowing/working in an ED for an extended time and really know what it's like. Only a small portion of the work is in trauma and procedures. If trauma is what you really love, roja might be right and trauma surgery might be the path for you. But the best thing you can do is go in with an open mind and figure out what type of medicine has the most interest for you in your first 3 years.

Once you get in, try to do some shadowing in EM during your first two years to see if it's right for you. And if you're lucky, your school might have some EM rotation time in your third year.

 

[vtucci]

Aladin-Welcome aboard. As a soon-to-be 4th year student, I have loved my EM rotation in 3rd year and am hoping to embark on the path that you seem interested in as well. I would recommend you pick up Iserson's Guide to Getting a Residency. It has some great tips and is specialty specific.

Just curious but are you from Europe? THe reason I ask is that I have heard EM physicians referred to as trauma or casaulty physicians abroad.

 

[Flopotomist]

Hey Aladin,

I have scrolled through some of your other posts, and it seems that the best advice we could give you is to come up with a two part plan. The first thing you need to do is figure out what you want to do. So far, you have made posts saying you wanted to go to dental school, pharmD school, and now medical school. All are noble professions, all are very different. Consider getting more exposure to each to help you solidify your interests.

You have also posted saying you have a sub 3.0 undergrad GPA, and that makes the second part of the plan this - get your application polished up and worry about step 1 of the application process instead of wasting energy worrying now about step 50 - landing a specific specialty. Check out the pre-allo forums for advice on details of how to do this.

Good luck in whichever path you choose!

 

[Jeff698]

The best advice I can give any medical student is to pay attention in every clinical rotation. There isn't a single one that doesn't overlap with EM. What you can learn on your medicine, surgery, OB, etc months really will help you in EM, even if you don't think so as a student.

I frequently turned my brain off during clinical rotations because I didn't think that rotation had anything to teach me. Almost every day during the last three years of residency, I've regretted it.

Take care and pay attention,
Jeff

 

[Aladin]

Hey Aladin,

I have scrolled through some of your other posts, and it seems that the best advice we could give you is to come up with a two part plan. The first thing you need to do is figure out what you want to do. So far, you have made posts saying you wanted to go to dental school, pharmD school, and now medical school. All are noble professions, all are very different. Consider getting more exposure to each to help you solidify your interests.

You have also posted saying you have a sub 3.0 undergrad GPA, and that makes the second part of the plan this - get your application polished up and worry about step 1 of the application process instead of wasting energy worrying now about step 50 - landing a specific specialty. Check out the pre-allo forums for advice on details of how to do this.

Good luck in whichever path you choose!

Flopotomist, thanks for the advice I really appreciate it. In the past I was jumping around with professions, however I am sticking to my passion and my dream which is helping people and medicine. I have made a small turnaround as far as GPA goes, and my MCAT was slightly above national average acceptances. I am considering SMP's and Post-baccs to help boost my application for medical school. I understand that I am jumping way too far ahead talking about residency, its just that volunteering, and working at a free clinic and observing emergency physicians at work gives me that drive to work hard to achieve my dreams. As of now I have such a large interest in Emergency Medicine that I would like to get more information on it, and I guess start early to help myself in the future when I plan on applying for residency in the Emergency field. But I appreciate everyones advice, I wish you all success in the future.

 

[kungfufishing]

The best advice I can give any medical student is to pay attention in every clinical rotation. There isn't a single one that doesn't overlap with EM. What you can learn on your medicine, surgery, OB, etc months really will help you in EM, even if you don't think so as a student.

I frequently turned my brain off during clinical rotations because I didn't think that rotation had anything to teach me. Almost every day during the last three years of residency, I've regretted it.

Take care and pay attention,
Jeff

This is excellent advice. Get yourself into school first though. That is the one thing you can really do to improve your shot at EM right now.