Emergency Docs

[Guest dddd]

I was watching a news story on Emergency doctors in BC, and it got me wondering some things.

 

Are ER docs always employees of a hospital, so that you would not have an office and overhead? Is there a lot of jobs, or are all smaller hospitals staffed by Family doctors, and at a reduced wage? Are you able to also practice Family Medicine if you do the 5 year Emergency residency, and on the same lines, can you 'moonlight' after your first couple of years of residency? The news clip I was watching was saying the Emergency docs were offered 215 000 yr, for 36 hr weeks, and they did not seem to happy. Is this the normal type of income, or are these positions relatively few and far between?

 

Anyone know?

[Guest UWOMED2005]

Family docs don't earn reduced wages for covering ER shifts. . .

[Guest dakar]

yet another Emerg/Family question

 

I know in BC, those doing the 5 year ER are eligible for a general practice license after the first two years of their residency. Is the same thing applicable in Ontario? (perhaps Carolyn knows this...).

 

If not, are FRCP ER docs, after finishing their 5 year residency, allowed to set up a private general practice at some point in their lives if they decide to change up their career a bit?

 

and finally... if I were interested in the 5 year ER program, but not particularly interested in "research", but I _was_ interesting in education/teaching med students/etc., is that a valid/possible way to compete for what I know is a highly competitive residency (i.e. pitch yourself towards future involvement in teaching, med school, etc. rather than ground-breaking clinical research...).

 

Thanks for any thoughts. I would be particularly interested in any specific comments on the Toronto or Queens ER programs.

 

Many thanks

dakar

[Guest therealcrackers]

Most of the emergency rooms in larger centres will insist on either a 5-year FRCPC program in emerg or a 2+1 CFPC with the 1 being a specialized third-year program. It is expected (assumed?) that the 5-year program docs will do teaching, education, some administration (perhaps) and stay in the largest centres with the biggest ER volume. After 10 years of work experience, it has been shown that the skill set and decision making of docs from these two streams is indistinguishable. Several of the docs at the Paeds emerg at CHWO in London are from the family medicine stream; one of the residents I was with in paeds critical care did family medicine, one year of anaesthesia, and now one year of emergency for a split anaes/ER practice in Orillia or Milton starting next year.

 

In ERs in smaller centres or rural/locum, many family doctors will cover the emergency room in a rotation basis, not necessarily having done any extra training.

 

The billing codes for the procedures in the ER are the same regardless of the training the licensee has; however, the alternative funding plans as far as I know for ER docs are only in larger centres thus far; everyone else it's fee for service and cover yer own overhead.

[Guest UWOMED2005]

The rural hospital where I did my rural family placement had APP (Alternative Payment Plan) for its CCFP trained emerg docs, but I think the salary was based on the average number of visits to the emerg, so I think they made less ($95/hr) than the emerg docs at the academic centres.