So, I volunteered yesterday

[deuist]

From the Society for Academic Emergency Medicine:

Don’t use terms in your personal statement like Emergency Room, ER Doc, ER Medicine, ER Physician, ER Resident, or Triage Doctor. These terms upset some individuals, particularly those with early roles in the development and establishment of our specialty. Emergency Medicine does not occur in a "room," but is much broader in scope. You will appear better informed about our specialty if you refer to it using the terms Emergency Medicine, Emergency Department (ED), Emergency Medicine Physician, Emergency Medicine Specialist, Emergency Medicine Residency, and Emergency Medicine Resident.

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[MaryWrathers]

In ED downtime you can:
1. Follow a tech and watch/learn taking vitals, setting up 12-leads, UAs, etc.
2. Talk to EMS people.
3. Go exploring.
4. Talk to pts and their families.
5. Read a book at the desk.

This is exactly what I do!

 

[MaryWrathers]

Am I sick for actually enjoying the action that goes on in the ER? It's almost as bad as wishing these (sometimes-dangerous/usually-weird) things upon people!

I love the psychiatric patients!

 

[cdngirl80]

I will admit that there are some days when I hate volunteering in the ED. Filling up carts with water and crackers is not my idea of fun but I guess someone has to do it. I definitely though enjoy interacting with the patients and most of the doctors will let me sit in when they are talking to the patient about the results of their test, etc. if I happen to be visiting that particular patient.

A friend of mine was shadowing a physician in the ED and she not only got to do chest compressions on this guy who had had a heart attack (the guy died though) but he let her do suturing on a few patients - lucky duck!