The truth please!!!

[Marsdgrove33133]

---

Members don't see this ad.

Hello there people:🙂

The other night I had a party to celebrate my fathers 66th birthday. There at the party where a two Psychiatrists and a Radiology tech who works at a hospital. The discussion came up about ER Docs.😎 I want to be an ER Doc and plan on going to med-school.👍 I have asked repeatedly about the ER lifestyle and I only hear good things, for ex “It’s a cushion life style” and “yeah 15 days a month is not bad” and “Hard residency to get in because you get paid and cush lifestyle” and “$160,000 to $200,000 is roughly what’s going now a days.”

From what I was told last night it seems like that’s the worst thing to do. My question is…… CAN SOMEONE TELL ME THE TRUTH ABOUT THE ER LIFESTYLE?

Pay?
Hours/week?
Shifts?
and family?

Deeply appreciate it.
Mars 👍
Oh i live in Miami Fl, so if anyone knows how the profession is over here that would be great. 👍

 

[SoCuteMD]

Hello there people:🙂

The other night I had a party to celebrate my fathers 66th birthday. There at the party where a two Psychiatrists and a Radiology tech who works at a hospital. The discussion came up about ER Docs.😎 I want to be an ER Doc and plan on going to med-school.👍 I have asked repeatedly about the ER lifestyle and I only hear good things, for ex “It’s a cushion life style” and “yeah 15 days a month is not bad” and “Hard residency to get in because you get paid and cush lifestyle” and “$160,000 to $200,000 is roughly what’s going now a days.”

From what I was told last night it seems like that’s the worst thing to do. My question is…… CAN SOMEONE TELL ME THE TRUTH ABOUT THE ER LIFESTYLE?

Pay?
Hours/week?
Shifts?
and family?

Deeply appreciate it.
Mars 👍
Oh i live in Miami Fl, so if anyone knows how the profession is over here that would be great. 👍

Ummm...first - consider the source. How much do you REALLY think radiology techs and psychiatrists know about EM? (and PS - it's NOT an Emergency Room, it's an Emergency Department - most people on this board don't care but some people are touchy about it). You will probably get more accurate information through shadowing than you will from people in other fields of medicine, who sometimes have a warped perception of what people in the ED do.

There's no denying that the pay is good for a profession that has a 3-4 year residency requirement, BUT that should tell you that you will be giving up SOMETHING for that $$$. A salary of 160 sounds relatively low, especially for Florida (there was a thread about this earlier this week - some people are making bank of Florida, but live with the threat of frivolous malpractice, so again you see another tradeoff). I think anyone who works in a community ED would probably make over 200 based on what little I know.

EM is relatively competitive, partially because of the lifestyle. Given everything I hear, I wouldn't call EM a "lifestyle specialty" in the same way that radiology and derm are. In EM you will work nights and weekends - perhaps throughout your career. You will have your time off, but you will also have to work holidays for at least part of your career, and perhaps longer depending upon the size and dynamics of your group.

If you get into EM solely for the time off, the money, or the perceived "lifestyle" you will probably find you've made a grave mistake. Hang around here long enough and you will find that most people in EM have a unique sense of humor and approach to life. It seems to me that these "types" gravitate toward EM while everybody else would rather be anywhere else in the hospital.

With all that said - you aren't even in med school. Take it a day at a time. Pre-med, MCAT, med school application process, years 1 and 2 of med school, boards, clinical rotations, then residency applications. You've got a long way to go before you need to worry about these things.

 

[Miami_med]

Hello there people:🙂

The other night I had a party to celebrate my fathers 66th birthday. There at the party where a two Psychiatrists and a Radiology tech who works at a hospital. The discussion came up about ER Docs.😎 I want to be an ER Doc and plan on going to med-school.👍 I have asked repeatedly about the ER lifestyle and I only hear good things, for ex “It’s a cushion life style” and “yeah 15 days a month is not bad” and “Hard residency to get in because you get paid and cush lifestyle” and “$160,000 to $200,000 is roughly what’s going now a days.”

From what I was told last night it seems like that’s the worst thing to do. My question is…… CAN SOMEONE TELL ME THE TRUTH ABOUT THE ER LIFESTYLE?

Pay?
Hours/week?
Shifts?
and family?

Deeply appreciate it.
Mars 👍
Oh i live in Miami Fl, so if anyone knows how the profession is over here that would be great. 👍

Well for one, you can't do an EM residency in Miami unless you are a DO. So, if you want to do EM, you will have to leave Miami, atleast to train.

I'll let the actual docs fill you in more on the lifestyle. Socute is right however, worry about the MCAT first. I never even considered EM until I entered med school. Most people change their minds.

 

[southerndoc]

For someone who is an EMT working in a peds and adult ER, you would think you could figure this one out. How many days do the ED attendings work in your ED? What kind of lifestyle do they have?

Just a few months ago you were making posts stating your consideration for PA school and whether to get a bachelors or masters. You've also debated the autonomy of NP v. PA practitioners. You've been a pastoral counselor, and you're know considering medicine instead of PA school?

I think you should first concentrate on finding out where your career path should take you, be it medicine or PA or NP school. Worry about residency after you get into medical school.

Good luck!

 

[EctopicFetus]

Here is a source

http://www.allied-physicians.com/salary_surveys/physician-salaries.htm

From people I have spoken to take the average and do about +/- 50K depending on hours geography and a few other factors.

 

[alreadylernd]

Another thing to consider, if you aren't even in medical school yet is that by the time you are through med school and residency (at least 8 years from now), the field of EM, like all fields of medicine may change drastically. What is competitive now might not be in the future, and even things like salary fluctuate as well. There is absolutely no need to worry about stuff like that now. As everyone says, make sure you choose your field because you enjoy doing it...and if it's EM, that's great!

 

[Marsdgrove33133]

👍

For someone who is an EMT working in a peds and adult ER, you would think you could figure this one out. How many days do the ED attendings work in your ED? What kind of lifestyle do they have?

Just a few months ago you were making posts stating your consideration for PA school and whether to get a bachelors or masters. You've also debated the autonomy of NP v. PA practitioners. You've been a pastoral counselor, and you're know considering medicine instead of PA school?

I think you should first concentrate on finding out where your career path should take you, be it medicine or PA or NP school. Worry about residency after you get into medical school.

Good luck!

Thank you Southerndoc for you helpful criticism. Your right, i was only 19 at the time which was ten years ago for me. Also i wasn't really concern about getting to know the physicians personal life. I mean we would chat about little things when they would speak to us "techs" however those "chats" weren't about how many hours they worked last month or how much they got paid after taxes, or even about the relationship with their wife and kids. Your right however, i should have been more curious and asked if they ever had any lawsuits brought on to them or if their personal relationships with their love ones have been affected in any way.

Your right about me posting a few months ago about PA however i don’t understand. Don’t PA and Doctors work in the same field? Your right again about me doing pastoral work but it was in South America for a couple of years. It was a life change for me. You learn a lot about your self, about your heart, about your strengths and weaknesses.

Please excuse me if i gave you the wrong impression of my self Southerndoc however thank you for your input. i will consider it. 🙂

Also thanks guys for the input. However MIAMI MED wrote that D.O.s can only get a residency in EM. I didn’t know that. Where are these residencies?


Thanks MARS👍

 

[EctopicFetus]

👍

Thank you Southerndoc for you helpful criticism. Your right, i was only 19 at the time which was ten years ago for me. Also i wasn't really concern about getting to know the physicians personal life. I mean we would chat about little things when they would speak to us "techs" however those "chats" weren't about how many hours they worked last month or how much they got paid after taxes, or even about the relationship with their wife and kids. Your right however, i should have been more curious and asked if they ever had any lawsuits brought on to them or if their personal relationships with their love ones have been affected in any way.

Your right about me posting a few months ago about PA however i don’t understand. Don’t PA and Doctors work in the same field? Your right again about me doing pastoral work but it was in South America for a couple of years. It was a life change for me. You learn a lot about your self, about your heart, about your strengths and weaknesses.

Please excuse me if i gave you the wrong impression of my self Southerndoc however thank you for your input. i will consider it. 🙂

Also thanks guys for the input. However MIAMI MED wrote that D.O.s can only get a residency in EM. I didn’t know that. Where are these residencies?


Thanks MARS👍

For right now the only residency in Miami is at Mt Sinai and is open only for DOs. The places to train in FL are Orlando, South Florida, UF-Gainesville, and UF-Jacksonville.

 

[deleted109597]

And SAEM has links to the >100 other programs.

 

[southerndoc]

Thank you Southerndoc for you helpful criticism. Your right, i was only 19 at the time which was ten years ago for me. Also i wasn't really concern about getting to know the physicians personal life. I mean we would chat about little things when they would speak to us "techs" however those "chats" weren't about how many hours they worked last month or how much they got paid after taxes, or even about the relationship with their wife and kids. Your right however, i should have been more curious and asked if they ever had any lawsuits brought on to them or if their personal relationships with their love ones have been affected in any way.

Why not? You're asking us on here, so why didn't you ask them in person?

When I was 14 and volunteering in the ED, I asked the EP's about how many shifts they worked, their salaries, and the malpractice rate. You can ask people these things without saying "hey, how much did you get paid last year?" Simply asking what the average is doesn't offend most people.

 

[EctopicFetus]

Why not? You're asking us on here, so why didn't you ask them in person?

When I was 14 and volunteering in the ED, I asked the EP's about how many shifts they worked, their salaries, and the malpractice rate. You can ask people these things without saying "hey, how much did you get paid last year?" Simply asking what the average is doesn't offend most people.

Agreed.. I think it is rude to say hey Dr. Southerndoc how much money did you make last yr (or how much is each paycheck for YOU)?... But saying hey how much on avg do the docs you know make? and how much are they working to make this money. I think most people wouldnt be afraid to answer this Q and you are getting the same info.