Career Development: Medical Specialties: Emergency Medicine

Emergency medicine is a specialty of acuity and breadth. Emergency physicians see all types of patients from pediatrics to geriatrics, from medical to surgical. Although lay people often equate emergency medicine with trauma, major trauma cases comprise less than 10% of emergency department patients, and over half of emergency department patients present with medical illnesses. Emergency medicine is a hospital-based specialty in that one will see patients in a hospital emergency department and typically not in a free-standing unit. Most emergency departments are in community hospitals with annual patient volumes of 15, 000 – 35,000 visits per year. Typically, a group of physicians will contract with a hospital to provide coverage in the emergency department. In teaching hospitals and large academic centers, annual emergency department patient volumes may be over 90,000 patients per year. Emergency department volumes have increased in recent years. Emergency physicians focus on the rapid diagnosis and initial resuscitation and treatment of patients' problems and diseases. Emergency physicians enjoy problem-solving and diagnostics. The practice also includes a variety of procedures including laceration repairs, some fracture and dislocation reductions, management of major trauma, airway management, and other invasive procedures.

Academic opportunities are just as wide ranging and include clinical and bench research, health outcomes and services research, healthcare policy, and opportunities in undergraduate and graduate level medical education.

ACGME accredited fellowship or subspecialty training opportunities include toxicology, pediatric emergency medicine, hyperbaric and undersea medicine, sports medicine, and critical care.

Residency training information:

• Duration of training (number of years): Three or four years
• Number of programs nationally: 141 programs
• Number of entering residency positions in 2008: 1,475
• Types of fellowships or subspecialties: EMS , Pediatric EM, Research,
  Sports Medicine, Toxicology
• Type of Match: Regular
• Overall competitiveness: Moderately high (99.5% available positions filled in match)

Primary faculty contact person for M1 and M2 students:

• Laura R. Hopson, M.D. ( LHopson@umich.edu )
• Student Coordinator: Heather Wourman ( cerovski@umich.edu )
  Phone: 763-6143

Medical Student Club or Interest Group:

• EMIG (Emergency Medicine Interest Group)
  Contact Person: Heather Wourman ( cerovski@umich.edu )
  Phone: 763-6143
• 2007-08 President, Chelsea White, M4 ( cwhiteiv@umich.edu )

Shadowing or Mentoring experiences available to M1 or M2 Students

• Student Coordinator: Heather Wourman ( cerovski@umich.edu )
  Phone 763-6143

Resources:

• Society for Academic Emergency Medicine
• www.saem.org
• American College of Emergency Physicians
• www.acep.org
• American Academy of Emergency Medicine
• www.aaem.org
• Emergency Medicine Residents' Association
• www.emra.org

Suggested journals, books or other information for interested students:

• Annals of Emergency Medicine
• Academic Emergency Medicine:
• Rosen Emergency Medicine: Concepts and Clinical Practice