Terminology...ED vs. ER

[sage0408]

Perhaps this is common knowledge that I somehow missed, but I was just informed that some EM people are offended by the use of Emergency Room vs. Emergency Department.

Unfortunately, I used "Emergency Room" in my personal statement. Now I am anxiety-ridden that I have managed to offend program directors all over the country!

Any ideas on how to correct this little faux pas?

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[keeping-it-real]

I wouldn't worry if I were you. ER and ED are basically interchangeable at this point. Is it technically a "department" and not a "room"? Yes. But if you're going to harp on this distinction you might want to gather a class action lawsuit against Marriott because the Courtyard hotel you stayed at the night before the interview, was not infact a large private gathering ground, open to the sky and surrounded by walls.

 

[sage0408]

LOL!

Ok, well, I'll try not to worry. I could change it in my PS now, but what good will it do? All of my things are scanned into ERAS!

 

[keeping-it-real]

LOL!

Ok, well, I'll try not to worry. I could change it in my PS now, but what good will it do? All of my things are scanned into ERAS!

I would let it go and not worry at all. You know how high your anal tonometry has to be in order to fault someone for using ER instead of ED? I don't know either, but I'm guessing it's pretty high.

Oh and if all else fails, just tell 'em you were 'keeping-it-real'

 

[grEMreapin]

I would let it go and not worry at all. You know how high your anal tonometry has to be in order to fault someone for using ER instead of ED? I don't know either, but I'm guessing it's pretty high.

Oh and if all else fails, just tell 'em you were 'keeping-it-real'

Note to my SOM: abnormally high anal tonometry reading. One of the faculty made it a point to fault me for using 'ER' in reviewing my PS, even when I was referring to the show.

 

[rvfb]

You didn't really mention the show, did you?

 

[keeping-it-real]

Note to my SOM: abnormally high anal tonometry reading. One of the faculty made it a point to fault me for using 'ER' in reviewing my PS, even when I was referring to the show.

Well I would've faulted you for mentioning the show, not so much for a colloquial reference to the ED, though. You did at least mention how sexy John Stamos is, right?

 

[pseudoknot]

I actually think people on this forum are much more likely than people in the real world to be offended by saying "ER" rather than ED/EM/EP as appropriate. At least in LA County, everyone I ever talked to (in EM and other departments) said "ER."

(I agree that this is not the preferred or correct terminology. I just think people are more likely to actually get mad at you for saying the wrong thing on SDN!)

 

[sage0408]

The comment I got came from one of my letter writers in reference to my personal statement. But good to know that I'm not the only one who used the term ER in my statement!!

Anal tonometry....hahahaha

 

[missmod]

I tend to say "ER" to my patients and the general public because "ED" tends to get confused with "erectile dysfunction"...

Some of the older doctors ("fathers of emergency medicine") dislike it because "ER" tends to refer to the days when nobody saw the field as a true specialty, only as a "room" where any doc could work in. I think people are less touchy about it these days because many attendings now did not train in that era.

 

[dr. maybe]

How about EC? This seems to be the preferred terminology in Houston. It is all pretty lame. And, if someone was truly offended by your terminology, you do not want to be in that place anyway. DON'T WORRY!!!

 

[The White Coat Investor]

How about EC? This seems to be the preferred terminology in Houston. It is all pretty lame. And, if someone was truly offended by your terminology, you do not want to be in that place anyway. DON'T WORRY!!!

While I wouldn't spend much time worrying about this little error, I would make a conscious effort to use the correct terminology at your interviews.

ED is the place, EM is the specialty, EP is the specialist, and ER is the TV show.

 

[ForbiddenComma]

I'd say it's the show more than anything else that has cemented the term "ER" in the public's mind.

Although, it may also be on how "eeeaarrrr" rolls off the tongue a bit more smoothly than "eee. Deee." Also, there are different connotations with each term. One makes you sound like a pirate, and the other makes people think your junk's on the fritz.

So maybe it's not entirely Mark Greene's fault.

 

[roja]

I really couldn't care less. I say ER all the time. I never understood why people got thier panties in a wad over this. Bigger fish to fry and all that.


Besides, most PD's don't real PS anyway. Kidding kidding. I know some of them do. And if someone is goign to blackball you for using a common terminology, well, you gotta ask yourself.....

 

[grEMreapin]

You didn't really mention the show, did you?

Where else was I gonna get my role models in healthcare from...actual MDs??? Sorry guys...Pratt is the shiznit compared to my pediatrician growing up.

And despite all of the warnings not to include it in the PS...I've actually been very happy with my interview invites so far...

Campus Student Health Centers here I come

 

[Ceez]

Honestly, the only people I've seen complain about this are on this forum. I personally don't give a damn. And since I hear program directions, chairpeople, and medical directors (all EM board certified) say ER all the time, I have no problem saying or hearing other people call my place of work "the ER."

 

[BADMD]

Honestly, the only people I've seen complain about this are on this forum. I personally don't give a damn. And since I hear program directions, chairpeople, and medical directors (all EM board certified) say ER all the time, I have no problem saying or hearing other people call my place of work "the ER."

At my graduation, one of the speakers, as part of his toast, differentiated between an ER and an ED doctor. He prefers to be an ER doctor...

 

[sleepymed]

At my graduation, one of the speakers, as part of his toast, differentiated between an ER and an ED doctor. He prefers to be an ER doctor...

and what's the difference?

 

[BADMD]

and what's the difference?

Well...an ED doctor only deals with men as the first difference.

 

[leviathan]

"I work in the ED" just sounds a little off. I've always heard it referred to as the "ER" for my entire life, so that's what sounds right to my ears. I will usually settle for a middle ground and say "in emerg".

 

[Febrifuge]

Every time we have a case study in class, and the imaginary patient is brought "to the ER," it's fine with me, because I share Leviathan's outlook.

The problem is when MD and PA instructors use the phrase "emergency room." I feel like saying, "it's a department, like Surgery or Pediatrics. It hasn't been a 'room' since like 1951." People in medicine should know better. So I always kind of sigh, and mentally correct it... and then I wonder if they really think of EM in that same outmoded way.

People who aren't involved in medicine get a lot more slack, though. If for some reason we talk about where I used to work or where I intend to practice, I try to use the word "department." Sometimes that starts a conversation, and sometimes it's productive.

I don't go around correcting people who say "ER" because one of the primary rules of EM is "try not to be a tool."

 

[WallowaWanderer]

Just don't say that you're going into ER. I've heard people say that and it sounds really dumb. It's EM that you're going into.

 

[mikecwru]

Perhaps this is common knowledge that I somehow missed, but I was just informed that some EM people are offended by the use of Emergency Room vs. Emergency Department.

Unfortunately, I used "Emergency Room" in my personal statement. Now I am anxiety-ridden that I have managed to offend program directors all over the country!

Any ideas on how to correct this little faux pas?

I don't think one slip in your PS will make much of a difference, but I would make a mental effort to say Emergency Department, Emergency Medicine, and Emergency Physician during your interviews. There are some that will take offense because they are uptight, but others will do so because they actually fought to have EM recognized as a specialty. We wouldn't call a surgeon an "operating room doctor."

I would just use the formal terms during interviews.

mike

 

[sage0408]

Thanks for all the good feedback

Thankfully, I never had an issue with referring to the specialty as Emergency Medicine, or the docs as EM Physicians (I assume this is because I never heard them referred to as anything else!) However, the general term for the place itself, among the public and even in other in-service specialties, seemed to be ER. So, it never even crossed my mind that calling it the emergency room instead of the emergency department might be offensive to some people.

I am making a conscious effort now to ALWAYS refer to the place as the emergency department!!

 

[leviathan]

Just don't say that you're going into ER. I've heard people say that and it sounds really dumb. It's EM that you're going into.

So let's get this straight:

ER/ED is fine
Emergency Department (not room) is good
EM or Emergency Medicine is good
EP / emergency physician is good.

And funnily enough, I watched a report on TV where they referred to someone as an OR doctor.

 

[chumbojumbo]

i like to refer to myself as a future ER doc....sue me.

 

[Febrifuge]

Odds are, eventually somebody will.

 

[leviathan]

Odds are, eventually somebody will.

Most likely multiple people.

 

[chumbojumbo]

just for calling myself "an ER doc"?...sweet! Looking forward to it!