All your Q&As answered here! Study EM dishes the dirt on life as an ED doctor.
What is it like to work in an Emergency Department?
Emergency Departments are the ‘front door’ of the hospital. It is always open and usually busy! Emergency doctors diagnose patients presenting with a variety of problems, often with limited information. We rely heavily on our clinical skills, a wide range of investigations and of course the experience of our seniors. Emergency physicians work closely with a number of specialty doctors, nurses, physiotherapists, social workers and of course patients from every walk of life…if you do not like people, then A&E is unlikely to be the career for you!
But isn’t A&E really hard work? It can be, but on the flip side, your day never drags and you never get bored.
As you progress you can develop other interests such as education, research, paediatric emergency medicine, sports medicine and pre-hospital medicine including trauma, refugee, wilderness and disaster medicine. Other interests help break up the pressure of working in A&E and keep us mentally healthy.
But isn’t working so many antisocial hours difficult on your home life? It can be, but again there are many positives:
1) You are off when other people are at work, so no queuing up with everyone else at the weekend.
2) Most A&E rotas try to clump your time off so you can go on holiday without using up your annual leave.
3) The late starts are great if, like me, you are not a morning person
4) If you do have kids, then working when your partner is at home saves a fortune on childcare, plus part time work is more accessible in A&E due to its flexible nature.
5) Antisocial hours come with a higher pay banding and since we don’t actually earn as much as the Daily Mail makes out, then every penny helps.
