AGING WELL IN EMERGENCY MEDICINE INTEREST GROUP
Choosing Emergency Medicine Marianne Haughey, MD FAAEM
E
mergency medicine is said to suffer one of the highest burnout rates of all medical specialties, and as such, emergency medicine as a specialty could certainly use some added touches of “wellness.” Further, the reputation of emergency medicine as a potentially attractive career choice has suffered, partly due to the matter of burnout and partly due to the perception of an imminent oversupply of emergency physicians. These perceptions may well have caused the growing number of unmatched emergency medicine residency positions in 2022 and 2023. Thus, there have been many discussions and suggestions about how to incorporate wellness into the lives of emergency physicians. As an associate program director, I also have had the opportunity and motive to consider and discuss challenges with the EM match over the last couple of years. As one who has a vested interest in both excellent emergency care as I get older as well as interest in how to keep our lives balanced as physicians I have had some thoughts.
But the joy! Of all the areas that I worked in the hospital, in the ED I had such direct contact with patients! I heard from them directly and even as a first-year student who had essentially wandered in off the street to shadow, I could help someone in a small way. I will always remember Steve Saef, one of the attendings in the ED early in my wanderings, pouncing upon the meal cart when it arrived, not for himself, but to hand out trays to patients saying, “being in the emergency department means always being an advocate for patients!” I helped him hand out the trays and got multiple shy “thank yous” in reply.
I will always remember… one of the attendings in the ED…pouncing upon the meal cart when it arrived, not for himself, but to hand out trays to patients saying, ‘being in the emergency department means always being an advocate for patients!
I have had cause recently to reflect on what led me to the path of emergency medicine. I entered medical school in 1988, and the ED that summer. I chose EM in 1991, matched in 1992. For reference, The TV show “ER” first aired in 1994. My career choice occurred before EM became popular. The emergency department was not glamorous, it was not pretty. Most of those I worked with were not those who were children of doctors (although some were children of nurses), as EM was fairly disreputable. It was most definitely the most blue collar of the possible medical fields. It was recognized that it was hard work and that I would get my hands very dirty if I chose it as my profession.
Of course, many patients were beyond responding, or incapable for whatever reason of summoning a verbal thanks. Some were just so ill, but some were so trodden down by society that the ability to give thanks was now beyond them. The need in these patients was beyond anything I encountered elsewhere in my rotations. Of course, the ability to have a “fresh” patient, to travel the diagnostic and therapeutic paths before any other physicians grew on me as I learned more medicine. Importantly, the devotion to providing care to all comers demonstrated by my role models was an additional, powerful draw.
EM was not the most competitive field when I entered. Of my class of 170 or so, three chose EM. I can’t speak for the others but although I did very well on my clinical rotations, I did not have the highest board scores, nor was I a member of AOA. I also knew my chosen specialty was a difficult one, with hard hours, overnight, holiday, and weekend work for the rest of my career. >>
COMMON SENSE MARCH/APRIL 2024
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