Is Emergency Medicine the Right Choice for Me?

Abstract

One of the hardest decisions a medical student has to make is the choice of specialty. Many studies have explored what influences the choice of emergency medicine (EM) as a specialty. In this article, we elaborate on the most important incentives, including the diversity in patients' presentations, having a defined and flexible schedule, the plasticity in choosing and changing a practice location, and the acuity of care and trauma experience. Additionally, we tackle some of the challenges that emergency physicians face. For instance, having to follow a different thought process than most other physicians, as well as the patients' quality and expectations. We also address some of the concerns regarding the specialty, specifically burnout, stress, and the fear associated with maintaining a career in EM. Finally, we provide students interested in EM with some resources that can provide them with further guidance to decide whether EM is the right choice for them.

Optimizing Wellness in Academic Emergency Medicine

“…Thus, work-life balance may feel even more challenging to achieve as work demands more compromises in "life" time than the other way around. [119] It is widely accepted among academic EPs that for every hour of financially-supported administrative time provided to the academic EP, they will spend at least two hours in nonclinical work. Many nonclinical tasks do not offer any financially supported time to accomplish them, leaving academic physicians with uncredited work time.…”

Program Visits and Residency Interviews

“…Applicants should use these events as opportunities to ask resident-specific questions about the specialty, program, or the region. This is especially important given that EM is a relatively young specialty that is rapidly growing with EM residency programs that are continuously developing (18,19). The residents are a great resource for questions that might not have been answered by a program's website.…”