- Joined
- Aug 11, 2013
- Messages
- 50
- Reaction score
- 18
Looking for some insight. I'm about 8 months out of a pretty solid academic EM program. I did well in residency, tried to see as many patients as I could and do as many procedures as I could in the limited 3 years I had there. I took a job back in my home town in a small community ED. I am busier than I ever was in residency, with actually much sicker patients. At my Level 1 academic center, EM consisted of taking a number of transfers and making a lot of consultants. Here in the community I'm doing a significant more amount of the leg work. And that's fine-- I actually love the work load, constantly learning, and the challenge (mostly).
My shop is staffed by TeamHealth. I'm finding so many frustrating aspects to this job-- everything from new grad nurses giving me pushback and sometimes flat out refusing to do my orders, complete disrespect from consultants/hospitalists, and other EM colleagues sitting around collecting a paycheck while I pick up their slack (we all get the same hourly rate). The majority of my patients are very chronically sick, as you might expect from adherence to a regular southern US diet, and I feel like each is in some way a landmine of liability and lawsuits waiting to happen.
All in all, this job isn't what I thought it would be. I always do my best for my patients, trying not to write off any complaint. After all, I grew up in this small town, and I love our population. Many of my patients are family friends or acquaintances, which can be somewhat challenging in its own regard, but I digress. I always knew about the specific challenges that the field of EM faced, but thought that returning home to work in our ED would make those challenges worth it. Sadly, that doesn't seem to be the case.
My father started an orthopedic surgery clinic and has been established in my town ever since 1987. His clinic has grown now to having about 8 total orthopedic surgeons, and while he's been in practice for 35 years now, I can't help but think how life would change as making a transition to outpatient sports medicine. While I might not make the money I currently do now in EM, I feel like lifestyle and my general happiness would be improved.
I'm kind of at a loss at this point. I really, really need some direction. What would you do if you were in my position? I know that's a tough question to answer, but any sort of guidance would greatly be appreciated.
My shop is staffed by TeamHealth. I'm finding so many frustrating aspects to this job-- everything from new grad nurses giving me pushback and sometimes flat out refusing to do my orders, complete disrespect from consultants/hospitalists, and other EM colleagues sitting around collecting a paycheck while I pick up their slack (we all get the same hourly rate). The majority of my patients are very chronically sick, as you might expect from adherence to a regular southern US diet, and I feel like each is in some way a landmine of liability and lawsuits waiting to happen.
All in all, this job isn't what I thought it would be. I always do my best for my patients, trying not to write off any complaint. After all, I grew up in this small town, and I love our population. Many of my patients are family friends or acquaintances, which can be somewhat challenging in its own regard, but I digress. I always knew about the specific challenges that the field of EM faced, but thought that returning home to work in our ED would make those challenges worth it. Sadly, that doesn't seem to be the case.
My father started an orthopedic surgery clinic and has been established in my town ever since 1987. His clinic has grown now to having about 8 total orthopedic surgeons, and while he's been in practice for 35 years now, I can't help but think how life would change as making a transition to outpatient sports medicine. While I might not make the money I currently do now in EM, I feel like lifestyle and my general happiness would be improved.
I'm kind of at a loss at this point. I really, really need some direction. What would you do if you were in my position? I know that's a tough question to answer, but any sort of guidance would greatly be appreciated.