Single coverage - as a new attending?

[pinipig523]

Advertisement - Members don't see this ad

Hey fellas,

So I have a job offer at a single coverage ER. Details include brand new hospital, not rural community but a blossoming suburb, 12 hour shifts (6a-6p and vice versa), is level 3 trauma, has cath, has nsurg and OB (not sure about ENT or optho).

They expect a max of 10-15K the first year. The place opens up the day I graduate.

What do you think? I was thinking I'd be ok - but I need the sage advice of those more senior than me.

 

[Groove]

I'm sure you'll be fine. Many of our PGY3's and even some PGY2's moonlight in similar ED environments.

 

[deleted6669]

make it rural with the same volume and that job would often be covered by an fp doc or em pa.
as a residency trained ep you should be fine.

 

[EM_Rebuilder]

You will rock out without an issue whatsoever.

One question to pose to leadership is how recepitive are they going to be to adding more staffing (either docs or midlevels). To me the one scary thing about a brand new place is the "assumed 10-15K" could easily end up being 20k+ which becomes a meat market to manage alone... I just would want some kind of reassurance from the leadership that they have considered that possiblity...and have at least some loose plans in place...

 

[deleted6669]

You will rock out without an issue whatsoever.

One question to pose to leadership is how recepitive are they going to be to adding more staffing (either docs or midlevels). To me the one scary thing about a brand new place is the "assumed 10-15K" could easily end up being 20k+ which becomes a meat market to manage alone... I just would want some kind of reassurance from the leadership that they have considered that possiblity...and have at least some loose plans in place...

excellent idea. I work 1 weekend/mo at a rural critical access hospital facing such an issue. traditionally their census has been around 15k pts/yr however this has been increasing rapidly over the last few yrs without any increase in provider hrs.
nl staffing there is single coverage md with 12 hr shifts. the volumes and acuity got high enough that they started losing physicians to easier jobs. I approached the em group there with a proposal for double coverage with a pa every weekend on swing shift and during historically busy times(holidays, local festivals, etc). I showed them that even by seeing only a few pts a shift this decreases their wait time and left without being seen #s, increases pt satisfaction and frees up the physician to spend more time with their pts.
they accepted my plan and it has met with great success. physicians are specifically requesting to work weekends which they know will be double covered and when I work there I am truly appreciated for the impact I have on the dept. they have since hired several other part time/per diem pa's to cover the days I am not able to work there and have added financial incentives to keep us coming back.
eventually they will need double coverage there every day. I hope that happens at a time that I am able to accept a full time position with that group. like many rural areas, their public school system leaves a lot to be desired so it would need to be at a time after my kids go off to college.

 

[pinipig523]

You will rock out without an issue whatsoever.

One question to pose to leadership is how recepitive are they going to be to adding more staffing (either docs or midlevels). To me the one scary thing about a brand new place is the "assumed 10-15K" could easily end up being 20k+ which becomes a meat market to manage alone... I just would want some kind of reassurance from the leadership that they have considered that possiblity...and have at least some loose plans in place...

Genius... this post is good.