Teaching roles in emergency medicine

[AbominablePain]

Hello fellow SDNers,

As I enter crunch time for making my EM residency rank list, I've been doing some soul searching. I realize my ultimate job or job hybrid would involve some element of teaching without a significant research component or pay cut traditionally a part of academics, though I certainly hope to keep the doors open for academia wherever I train. For someone not yet well versed in the post-residency job market out there, what are the different types of teaching roles out there in EM, be it academic or otherwise? And what are the best and most cost-effective routes (i.e. residency/fellowship) by which to get there in an increasingly competitive market?

Thanks for your input!

---

Members don't see this ad.

 

[enalli]

At my program, they have stopped hiring fresh residency graduates; all the recent hires have just finished fellowship. If you assume other academic places are doing something similar, then the most cost-effective way of breaking into academics is to do a three-year residency followed by a one-year fellowship.

As for other types of teaching, you could work at a place that has med students but no residents. I'm sure you could work there after a three-year residency.

 

[TheComebacKid]

So you want to do teaching, no research, and be making boatloads of money in academics? I'm not sure if that job exists.

If you are interested in academics, a paycut is pretty much always going to be in the cards. If you are willing to accept a paycut, I don't think it's hard to find a job in academics where you are primarily clinical faculty and you do less to zero research (think APD or clerkship coordinator for instance). Fellowship is definitely always preferably in academics, but people do get hired without fellowship.

One great option that I have found for people who are trying to be involved with teaching but not take a huge paycut associated with being in a purely academic environment, is to work for a community hospital that is affiliated with an academic medical center and has residents rotate through. At our program, we rotate in the community as residents, but the community hospital is staffed by a private group. The community docs have agreed to take us on and teach us, but they aren't employees of our institution. They make some good dough, but still get to be involved with teaching residents.

 

[gamerEMdoc]

I think in general community EM programs probably pay their faculty more than University based programs. I'm not sure if there is any data to back that up, but the salaries at programs that I know of seem to back it up. As a community hospital academic, I feel like I'm pretty fairly compensated in my job compared to non-residency hospitals around my area.

 

[southerndoc]

There is no research requirement to be faculty (at least by ACGME/RRC standards). You must have adequate "scholarly activity," which can be textbook chapters, presentations, etc. APD's, PD's, and clerkship directors are not immune from the scholarly activity requirement.

There are programs out there that pay >400k for academic faculty. They are hard to find, but do exist.

 

[DeadCactus]

A job at a community hospital where residents rotate for a month or two out of their residency might be of interest to you.

 

[Jlaw]

You can get into academics from most tracks, especially if you are wiling to take an active role with the med students rotating through, do lectures, go to conferences, serve as chief, and generally do things that boost your CV and demonstrate an interest. If you want to be the US director you probably need a fellowship but if you just want to work with residents clinically and lecture at conference once in a while you don't need much more than the desire to do so.