emergency medicine as an alternative to surgery

[ahelicoptercalled]

here's my third question for the day. I am a general surgery lover. However, I have seen from personal experience that the residents lead impossible lives (sacrificing family and personal pleasures for work). I would think that consultants have a better life, but not sure.

 

I was wondering what people thought about pursuing emergency medicine since I am so worried about lifestyle. I know I wont be doing operations, but it's still very hands-on, acute care medicine, and you become really good at internal medicine/general medicine stuff, which is also important to me.

 

What are some things I should consider before choosing emergency medicine over general surgery? I know that shift work can be weird, but I think I can get over it? Has anyone else thought like me? any thoughts?

[bigfootspartan]

I would also consider where you want to live. I was talking to a friend the other week and he emphasized how important it is to figure out whether you're ok with living in a big city your whole life. I'm just starting med this year so I'm not sure about all the specialties, but he said that generally, the more specialized you are the more pigeon holed you are into staying in a big city or even a specific city.

[cheech10]

Personally, I find shift work worse than call. I hated the fact that all my friends and family were at work during the day while I was at home, then when i went to work, they went home, so I didn't get to see them. But others don't have a problem with shift work. You'll find out which camp you fall into pretty quickly during your emerg rotation.

 

If you like acute care with a fair number of procedures, think about critical care. The lifestyle is not bad, with a large number of weeks off service throughout the year. You can also work a 2nd specialty during the off weeks for more variety, or just take the time off completely.

[nosuperman]

If you like acute care with a fair number of procedures, think about critical care. The lifestyle is not bad, with a large number of weeks off service throughout the year. You can also work a 2nd specialty during the off weeks for more variety, or just take the time off completely.

 

Are IM and EM the only residencies that can qualify you for critical care or are there others?

[cheech10]

You can also qualify through general surgery or anesthesia.

[nosuperman]

You can also qualify through general surgery or anesthesia.

 

Ah awesome, thanks!

[Lactic Folly]

I was wondering what people thought about pursuing emergency medicine since I am so worried about lifestyle. I know I wont be doing operations, but it's still very hands-on, acute care medicine, and you become really good at internal medicine/general medicine stuff, which is also important to me.

 

What are some things I should consider before choosing emergency medicine over general surgery? I know that shift work can be weird, but I think I can get over it? Has anyone else thought like me? any thoughts?

 

For your own decision-making, you should be clear about what you like about general surgery that you are hoping to find in another career. For example, anesthesia is also hands-on in the OR, and certain IM subspecialties are quite procedural (cardiology, GI).

 

With EM, you will not have continuity of care (can be a plus or minus depending on your perspective). I liked the shift work lifestyle - get to go after the work of your shift is done, no paperwork to take with you, free to run errands and do things in off peak hours. However, there are just as many who hate the lack of a regular schedule, and find it hard to adjust to night shifts, especially as the years go by. As cheech said, you'll figure out where you stand.

 

I would add that you can find both general surgeons and emergency physicians in many smaller centres, so I don't think that either would make you too subspecialized to find work outside of a major centre (although EM may be more flexible in that you do not need to build a practice and referral base, as long as you can find an opening where you wish to work).