Private ER doc?
Started by django7
More EPs are working in freestanding emergency departments these days, but the vast majority are going to be working in an ED with a hospital attached.
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I am board certified EM thus I prefer to work in an environment where my skills are needed. I like the acuity, keeping sharp, fast paced, and of course higher income.
I would feel like I am wasting my skills working in an urgent care clinic. I would be bored to death taking care of colds and cough all day. A FP can do that.
I would feel like I am wasting my skills working in an urgent care clinic. I would be bored to death taking care of colds and cough all day. A FP can do that.
You do not ever need to set foot in an ED if you do not like. Alot of older docs move to urgent care/free standing EDs where the acuity is essentially the same as an FP office.
freestanding ed does NOT = urgent care... I work in one and while the acuity is variable, we do see many high acuity patients. some days i see higher acuity than the freestanding ED's sister, more urban hospital b/c that hospital sees so many uninsured/medicaid and we see more urgent/emergent complaints.
i have, for instance:
- given digibind
- taken care of many spinal fractures
- run codes
- put in lines
- done many LP's
- started pressors
- put many ppl on bipap
- sent out stemi's
- taken care of many ill GI bleeds
etc etc, at the freestanding ED. people don't always know how ill they are!
i vary up my work with more traditional ED's as well.
just to set the record straight 😉
Let's clarify some terms here:
ED - Emergency Department that is physically a part of a hospital. These are owned by the hospital. The EPs working there are usually contractors or employees of a contract group or (less commonly, more often in academic centers) employees of the hospital.
Freestanding ED - This is a fully functional ED with the same staffing and capabilities of a hospital based ED but it is geographically separate from its parent hospital. These are generally owned by a hospital or hospital system and employ EPs in the same manner as above.
Private clinic - This generally means a suite of offices for a business that is owned by a physician or other entity besides a hospital or hospital system for the sake of this discussion. This will not have the same capabilities as an ED. If this clinic does most of its business seeing walk in patients and can handle some minor trauma and acute but minor medical issues it's called an Urgent Care.
Some urgent cares have a lot of capabilities. Some in Vegas have CT, US and chest pain obs units. So an additional defining element is EMTALA (search in this forum for more info if needed). EDs are bound by EMTALA. Urgent Cares are not.
As for the question about if you train in EM will you spend the rest of your life in EDs I'd say the answer is yes. Realistically that's the job. Sure there are examples who don't but those are way less common than those who do. And most importantly if you're looking for a more office based career you should train in something else.
ED - Emergency Department that is physically a part of a hospital. These are owned by the hospital. The EPs working there are usually contractors or employees of a contract group or (less commonly, more often in academic centers) employees of the hospital.
Freestanding ED - This is a fully functional ED with the same staffing and capabilities of a hospital based ED but it is geographically separate from its parent hospital. These are generally owned by a hospital or hospital system and employ EPs in the same manner as above.
Private clinic - This generally means a suite of offices for a business that is owned by a physician or other entity besides a hospital or hospital system for the sake of this discussion. This will not have the same capabilities as an ED. If this clinic does most of its business seeing walk in patients and can handle some minor trauma and acute but minor medical issues it's called an Urgent Care.
Some urgent cares have a lot of capabilities. Some in Vegas have CT, US and chest pain obs units. So an additional defining element is EMTALA (search in this forum for more info if needed). EDs are bound by EMTALA. Urgent Cares are not.
As for the question about if you train in EM will you spend the rest of your life in EDs I'd say the answer is yes. Realistically that's the job. Sure there are examples who don't but those are way less common than those who do. And most importantly if you're looking for a more office based career you should train in something else.
