Examining Career Opportunities in Emergency Medicine (EM)

Do you have a broader vision of emergency medicine and the career opportunities it could provide? The vision that we share about this new specialty is very limited. Here, we will try to discuss in detail what it actually means to be an emergency medicine physician. The first thing that one should know about careers in Emergency Medicine is that they need to spend a substantial amount of time in the emergency room. Let's hope being in the emergency room for long doesn't get you exhausted. Medical students should have a fair idea about Emergency Medicine and the career opportunities it puts forth. The article informs medical students of the merits and demerits of the Emergency Medicine career and the fellowship programs associated with this specialty.

Fellowship Programs of Emergency Medicine

While you wish to reap benefits from a career in Emergency Medicine, you should agree to the idea of fellowship. The advantages of fellowships can be had only when you have a keen interest in fellowships and do not shun from it. The American Board of Emergency Medicine recognizes five fellowship programs in the field of Emergency Medicine (EM) - hospice/palliative care, medical toxicology, undersea and hyperbaric medicine, pediatric emergency medicine and sports medicine.

According to the goals that medical students want to achieve, they choose their fellowship programs from among the five mentioned above. Based on your chosen fellowship category of Emergency Medicine, you can advance your career in the same and achieve your targets. Besides, formal training in the same, some additional training in Emergency Medicine (EM) is also available. Additional training facilities are available in field like ultrasound, disaster medicine, international EM trauma/ critical care and environmental health among others.

Academic Practice as Emergency Medicine Career Opportunity

Emergency Medicine (EM) provides medical students with ‘academic practice' as a career opportunity. Those who opt for this career opportunity are referred to as academic physicians, comprising only 10%-15% of the total number of emergency physicians. Academic physicians function as faculty either at the institution they passed out from or at some other institution. The work of academic physicians includes conducting researches, guiding researchers and being involved in clinical teaching. Most of the medical students, however, prefer private practice over academic practice due to the difference in salaries offered.

There are some other reasons as well termed as the drawbacks of academic practice for many Emergency Medicine (EM) residents. The academic physician also has a number of responsibilities to shoulder including clinical teaching and medical researches as well as handle some administrative responsibilities. But academic physicians agree to the viewpoint that it's a wonderful experiencing interacting with EM residents at the universities or institutions. Choosing the career of an academic physician in the field of Emergency Medicine has its rewards as well. While practicing at universities and academic institutions, they have the opportunity of completing research projects and getting it in the print media earning respect and fame from all over.

 Emergency Medicine Career Opportunity for Adventure Lovers

The field of Emergency Medicine also provides some thrilling career opportunities. If you don't want to go along the traditional path, you can get trained in resuscitation, which means getting a person suffering from acute illness to a conscious state. An EM trained physician can take on the wilderness medicine as a career option as well as enjoy the adventure that is associated with wildlife exploration. Whether one is hiking through dense forests, gets a snake bite or undertaking a journey through a swamp where malarial risk lurks, an EM trained physician can prove to be fantastic guide and life-saver.

Emergency Medicine trained physicians can also choose a career option from among cruise ship medicine, travel medicine and international medicine. Since these physicians are specially prepared and trained for emergency situations, they just fit these categories of medicine. International medicine provides EM trained physicians with an opportunity of working with organizations like International Red Cross, International Medical Corp (IMC) etc.

The field of Emergency Medicine (EM) has flexible career opportunities across a range of medicine categories, as discussed above. EM trained physicians can select a career that suits them best. The final option always remains for those who wish to spend hours in the emergency room recovering patients from their trauma.