Emergency Physician Career Guide and Counseling

Question: What is the salary of an emergency dept physician assistant in Silicon Valley, California? I want to work in an emergency department or in surgery in a hospital in the Bay Area, California. I live in Silicon Valley and was wondering what the salary is of a physician assistant working in a hospital around here. Thanks you for your help Salary websites provide inaccurate information. I checked salaries for family members that are in law enforcement in the Bay Area and the reports from the websites underestimate the true salary by more than $30,000. Thanks for your help though!

Answer: check www.salary.com

Question: emergency physician? What colleges can you go to to specialize in this field? How many years do you have to be in school to be in this field?

Answer: To become an emergency physician you first need to complete a pre-med bachelors degree (various majors to choose from, just need to make sure you meet the pre-med requirements), then 4 years of medical school...at the beginning of the 4th year of med school you'll need to start applying to residency programs. We don't have an emergency medicine residency here, so I can't really give you specifics on who has, who doesn't and how many years and emergency medicine residency is. The residency I work for is ortho and that is a 5 year residency.

Question: What makes a respectable emergency physician? I'm pursuing a career in emergency medicine and currently I'm observing as a hospital volunteer. I'm trying to take note of mistakes now so as not to make them in the future. I'm interested in the opinion of both emergency staff and patients.

Answer: never pre-judge, always be objective. respect the staff that work with you, and always think before you act.

Question: To become an Emergency Physician, what do I have to do? What classes do I have to take? What colleges can you go to to specialize in this field? How many years do you have to be in school to be in this field?

Answer: First you have to finish college for 4 years. Taking a major like Pre-med or biology or chemistry will give you the courses you need to apply to medical school. If you get into medical school, you'll take whatever courses they give you. After 4 years, you graduate and do a 1-5 year internship or residency in the specialty of your choice. It is then you can specialize in EM.

Question: How many hours per week does an Emergency Medicine Physician work? What are the pros and cons? And how is the lifestyle for emergency medicine doctors?

Answer: Lifestyle is pretty good if you don't mind nights and weekends. In our ER, docs work fourteen 12 hour shifts each month. That means that 16 days each month, they don't work. :) Pay is usually based per shift, so the more you work, the more you make. You get paid more for night shifts as well. Pros: NO CALL. Ever. Good money (although most docs make good money regardless of specialty). Cons: All-night shifts. Drunks, psychotics, and narcotic seekers.

Question: Difference between a Trauma Surgeon and a Emergency Physician? what are some differences in what they're allowed to do? How is thir scope of training different? Thanks

Answer: A board certified emergency physician is equipped for the acute management of a variety of problems including life threatening medical illnesses and injuries. The emergency physician not only works with chest pain patients and abdominal pain patients and poisoned patients and injured patients, but they do it all at the same time. They are artists at prioritizing and parallel processing. Most emergency physicians are proficient at a variety of simple medical procedures such as suturing lacerations and reducing fractures. The most important procedural skill that they have, and one that they are constantly drilling is airway management. The quickest way to die is to have something block the airway, so assessing and supporting a critical patient's airway is one of the most important jobs these doctors do. Although emergency physicians are quite well educated in the art of diagnosis, they are much less involved in the ultimate management of many of the disease processes that they identify. An emergency physician's role is not to manage the patient other than in the period of time between when the patient shows up in the emergency department and when it's decided what the next step in their care will be. Emergency physicians will either make a diagnosis or narrow down the list, and they will then decide the disposition of the patient. If further treatment is needed in the hospital, they will bring in the appropriate kind of specialist. If the patient does not need to be hospitalized, then an appropriate interim treatment plan is started, and the patient is referred to an appropriate doctor to follow up as an outpatient. Emergency physicians do not admit patients into the hospital to take care of them. They do not work in the hospital outside of the emergency department (with the possible exception of responding to an in-house emergency) and they do not do surgery. Emergency medicine involves a 3 year residency training program after medical school. Completion of this residency confers eligibility to sit for the board exams with the American Board of Emergency Medicine. Trauma surgeons are general surgeons who specialize in trauma. Any general surgeon without additional training can do trauma surgery. The surgical management of trauma is considered part of the core skill set of general surgery and is mentioned specifically in the description of general surgery by the American Board of Surgery. However, there is a recognized and board certified subspecialty of surgery in the area of trauma and critical care. The specialty of trauma and critical care is FAR MORE than the overlap of what happens in the emergency department when an injured patient is brought in. While the initial assessment of injured patients might be performed by surgeons or by emergency physicians, the management of the injured patient is performed by surgeons whether or not they need surgery. While many general surgeons are capable of doing the operative work that stabilizes critically injured patients, much fewer are able to manage the ongoing care of the injured patient in the aftermath. The difference that the board certified trauma and critical care specialist brings to bear is their expertise in critical care. The management of severely injured patients is incredibly complex and every detail counts. These specialists make the largest impact by being experts in the ICU. In some centers, trauma surgeons have a dual role as emergency general surgeons also. They will take on patients who need emergency surgery for problems unrelated to injury, especially when these patients are so sick that they need to be in the ICU. Trauma and critical care specialists do not get involved in the care of patients that are not surgical in nature. Unlike the emergency physician, the trauma surgeon has no role in the care of patients admitted for heart problems or pneumonia or urinary infections... etc. General surgery involves a minimum of 5 years in residency and often more. Fellowship training in trauma and critical care is usually 1 or 2 additional years, and can be more. Critical care is a highly academic field and fellowship training programs almost invariably include a research component. Critical care fellows are typically expected to publish scientific papers on the topic while in training. These surgeons are first boarded in general surgery and then additionally in surgical critical care. They carry dual board certifications and must maintain both. Those are some of the main defining points as I see it. There are many other similarities and differences, but these are some of the main ones. If you have other questions on the topic, feel free to contact me.

Question: What is the salary of an Emergency Room Physician Assistant? What is the salary of an ER PA? Also What is the salary of an ER Physician??

Answer: According to PayScale.com, the median salary of an emergency room physician assistant is $67,417. And the median ER physician salary is $173,452. These are median figures, which means that physician assistant salaries, and physician salaries, may be higher or lower depending on location, experience level and other factors. To find more accurate salary data for your specific PA or physician job, you can take PayScale's free salary survey. http://www.payscale.com/?src=yahooA Hope that helps

Question: what schooling do I need to become an emergency medical physician? I'm not sure where to start. What bachelors should I get? Do I need a graduate degree or do I go straight to Med School? Is 26 too old to get started on this?

Answer: 1. get a bachelors degree. you can major in anything. however, many premeds major in one of the sciences (especially bio or chem) because these majors will always fulfill medical school pre-reqs. also volunteer over the summers if possible. take on any research opportunites where available. 2. take the MCAT (standardized test) near the end of your program. ask a premed adviser about exactly when. 3. you don't need a graduate degree so you can go straight to med school. 4. after med school you need to do a year of preliminary internship. 5. a emergency medical residency lasts 3 years. total years required: 12 years (4 for bachelors, 4 for med school, 4 as an intern and resident)

Question: What schooling is needed to become an emergency care physician? Much detail, please! Many thanks

Answer: 4 years high school 4 years of medical school 2 years internship 2 years residency Plus any additional time as to your specialty. Too much detail to type. Go on line....medical school.

Question: How long does an emergency medicine physician go to college for?

Answer: four years to get a bachelor of science and then 2 more for a masters. Then you can go to med school for another 2 at least. It's a long road.