Emergency medicine physicians treat acute medical problems in hospital settings, outpatient clinics, and during transportation. They require a medical degree and residency, and must possess skills such as rapid patient assessment and triage. Their goal is to stabilize patients for further care, and they often work odd hours and in high-stress environments. The military has a need for emergency medicine physicians for battlefield hospitals and research opportunities.
An emergency medicine physician provides treatment to patients with acute medical problems that require immediate intervention to save the patient’s life or prevent future complications. Professionals in this medical specialty often work in hospital settings such as emergency rooms and intensive care units. They may also work in outpatient clinics, urgent care clinics, and companies that provide transportation for patients with acute medical conditions; doctors can fly medevac flights or travel with search and rescue teams to provide immediate help, for example.
This medical specialty requires a medical degree and then pursuing an emergency medicine residency. The emergency medicine doctor needs a combination of skills tempered with patience and the ability to keep a cool head under fire. Part of an emergency medicine physician’s practice involves rapidly assessing patients to determine immediate medical needs, triaging patients in mass trauma situations to determine who will most benefit from medical care, and providing rapid interventions to patients with acute medical conditions, such as patients in anaphylactic shock.
The goal of an emergency medicine doctor is to stabilize a patient so that he or she can receive more care from other doctors. Many consult physicians, such as orthopedic surgeons and neurologists, so that they can effectively assess patients and develop a long-term care plan once they come into contact with the patient. Having a plan in place can allow clinicians to take steps to prepare at every step, being more proactive rather than reactive in a patient’s medical care.
This job can be highly stressful. An emergency medicine doctor may work night shifts and may be employed odd hours depending on the needs of the community. Emergency rooms can be high-stress environments, and physicians often have to deal with patient deaths, meeting with family members to discuss deaths or serious medical conditions such as coma, and providing support and assistance to nurses, paramedics and other health professionals. Burnout can be common among emergency medicine physicians, and many hospitals have programs to identify warning signs and provide prompt treatment.
The military has an acute need for emergency medicine physicians to manage battlefield hospitals and stabilize patients for further treatment at advanced medical facilities. Physicians interested in cutting-edge research in this field should consider military service, as it will provide access to substantial research and development in the field of emergency medicine. It can also come with high levels of stress, as battlefield medicine tends to be very traumatic.
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