What's it like being an er doc?

[Toooldforms]

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I'm thinking of possible routes to take in the future and this one interests me. Are there any er doctors here? what does a typical day/work schedule look like for you?

 

[TheBiologist]

shadow one

 

[Toooldforms]

shadow one

that's a great idea, but will they let just anyone do it? I'm not in school atm or anything

 

[Toooldforms]

I'm not in high school 😀 haha

can this be moved back to the pre-med forum

 

[Optimist Prime]

I've spent a lot of hours job shadowing an ER doc and where I'm located at least the days can definitely vary. Some days are more hectic with ambulances bringing in major injuries where the ER doc is busy resuscitating patients or patching them up to send them off to a surgeon. Most days seem to be more relaxed with the doc sitting on his computer for a few hours waiting for beds to open up while tests are being ran. A lot of what they see are what patients would normally go to a family doc for like a fever, strep throat, or a hernia but their insurance will pay if they go to an ER instead of seeing a PCP. Obviously all this is going to vary significantly depending on the area you live in.

EDIT: This is solely from a job shadowing point of view

 

[Chromium Surfer]

@Tenk is an ER doc I believe but I would agree that you should try to shadown one!!

 

[Tenk]

Emergency medicine is definitely something you can mold like most things in medicine. For instance I only work evenings/nights because I don't like to get up in the morning. I work 15-16 9 hour shifts a month. No call. Some people only work days but usually take a pay hit for this and depends on group.

Then you can have an ED that is pretty much a snooze fest, shop on amazon in between patients versus one that is a nonstop train ride straight through hell. This determines how busy you are and also how miserable you are (at least in my opinion).

I agree with others though, go shadow some ED docs!

 

[Cyberdyne 101]

Check out this jewel of a thread:
Longtime SDN member and current EM resident - AMA or don’t. Whatever.