Becoming an ER doctor is a fantastic way to make a difference in the lives of others. Most people aren’t aware of the long, rewarding path that ER doctors must take in order to achieve their goal, so we’ve put together this guide for those who are interested in becoming an ER doctor.

First, you need to get your bachelor’s degree. This will be the first step on your journey to becoming an ER doctor. You’ll need some kind of science degree, so if you don’t have one already, it would be best to get one before enrolling in medical school. Once you’ve completed your bachelor’s degree and are ready to go on to medical school, you’ll need to apply for a place at one of many different schools around the country (or even abroad).

Medical school is a very intense experience—you’ll be learning about all kinds of diseases and conditions which can affect humans (and animals) in different ways than they would normally affect other people or animals who are not affected by any disease or condition whatsoever.

After completing medical school with flying colors (which means you did well enough on all your exams), you’ll then need to go through residency training in order for your education to be complete! Residency training involves working under another doctor.

How To Become An Er Doctor

An ER Doctor is a residency trained and licensed physician with M.D. or D.O. degrees that is trained in Emergency Medicine (EM). They take care of emergent or acutely sick patients upon their first presentation to the hospital.  The primary role of the Emergency medicine doctor is to first stabilize the patient, then come up with a differential diagnosis for the medical ailment, and lastly, refer the patient to the correct medical service (such as cardiology or general surgery) or discharge the patient home with appropriate treatment. Throughout this process, Emergency medicine doctors will perform physical exams, order and interpret laboratory tests and imaging, perform diagnostic procedures, provide treatment, and much more. This requires emergency medicine practitioners to have a wide knowledge of diseases that affect children and adults of all ages.

What does a Emergency medicine doctor do?

ER Doctors are highly trained physicians that have the ability to see more than one patient at the same time. They specialize in treating and stabilizing patients with acute conditions so that they can be admitted to the hospital and be seen by other specialized physicians such as cardiologists, neurologists, and surgeons.  They primarily work in the Emergency department (ED) and assess, triage, and treat patients based upon the severity of the medical problem. They treat patients with life threatening issues or the most severe problems first.

The top five most common conditions that Emergency Medicine Physician encounter are:

• Acute trauma, injury, or fracture
• Angina, chest pain, heart attack and coronary disease
• Infectious diseases
• Abdominal pain
• Musculoskeletal pain

To do their job, they perform physical exams and perform Medical procedures such as:

• Intubation
• Suturing
• Joint relocation
• Access arteries and veins
  

Additionally, they order and interpret laboratory tests and imaging including:

• Urinalysis
• X rays
• MRI and CT scans
• Arterial blood gas
• Toxicology screens
• Complete metabolic panels

Where do Emergency Medicine specialists work?

ER doctors mainly work in a hospital emergency department (ED). They may also work in urgent care centers, intensive care facilities, and may even perform emergency medical services in a pre-hospital setting. As their job is to stabilize patients with acute injuries, Emergency specialist doctors must be able to quickly evaluate medical situations and refer their patients to other doctors in medical departments such as neurosurgery, infectious diseases, and cardiology.

How long does it take to become an ER doctor?

It takes at least eleven years after high school to become an ER doctor. This includes four years of undergraduate studies, four years of medical school, and three to five years of residency depending upon the teaching hospitals where the residency programs are attended.

What major should I have to get into Medical school and eventually practice as Emergency Room Physician?

There is not a specific major required to apply to medical school and eventually practice emergency medicine. Obtaining a bachelors degree is not required but still is very common. Instead, medical schools have a list of required courses. These courses commonly include quite a few biology and chemistry courses as well as physics, math, and literature courses. As biology and chemistry make up the majority of required courses many medical school applicants tend to have undergraduate degrees with majors in these two areas.

Is becoming an ER Doc worth it?

According to the American College of Emergency Physicians, the number of patients requiring services in the emergency department has grown by 32 percent in the past twenty years. However, during this same time period the number of hospital emergency departments has decreased by 7 percent. This has led to an increasing need of emergency medicine services with decreasing availability of emergency rooms. Even with these changes in mind, the job market for emergency medicine physicians is stable and the career outlook is very good.  As with almost every medical field there are many underserved areas where an emergency room doctor is desperately needed and patients are forced to being transported to medical facilities many times 2 to 3 hours away.

How much does an Emergency Doctor make?

There are several different sources the report the average Emergency Medicine physician salary. Medscape conducts an annual salary survey, According to the Medscape Physician Compensation Report 2020, Emergency Medicine doctors make an average of 357,000 plus up to a 40,000 incentive bonus.

Another source, AAMC Careers in Medicine reports average doctor’s salaries that have a career in Academics (tied to a large research hospital). According to AAMC Careers in Medicine, Emergency medicine doctors make $290,000 as an assistant professor and  $324,000 as a full professor. However, these salaries will vary based on location, job title etc.

How much does it cost to become an ER doctor?

According to Educationdata.org, the average amount of debt garnered from medical school alone is just shy of $216,000. When taking into account the cost of student loans prior to medical school, the average debt reaches $241,600. Although physicians eventually have a healthy salary, this is still a very large about of debt to undertake. Individuals considering medicine, or emergency medicine, as a possible career path should be aware of the high costs, and long amount of time required to finish Medical training.

Do Emergency room doctors do surgery?

No emergency room doctors do not routinely perform surgery. Their job does involve performing procedures on patients that necessitate making incisions in a patients body such as placing central lines, inserting chest tubes and performing thoracotomies.  However, procedures such as removing a gallbladder, taking out an appendix or other type of major surgery would be referred to a surgeon.  Often with a severe injury the services of a Trauma Surgeon may also be needed as they have a different set of skills from a different residency education path after Medical school.

COVID 19 impact on Emergency Medicine

Since the beginning of 2020, COVID-19 has had a huge impact on jobs nationwide. Physicians and other healthcare related jobs are no exception. Overall, medical practices in the U.S. report a fifty-five percent decrease in revenue and a sixty percent decrease in average patient volume since the beginning of the COVID-19 crisis. Due to this drastic decrease in revenue, medical practices and hospitals have furloughed and laid off employees including 43,000 healthcare workers in March 2020 alone. Nine percent of independent medical practices state they have at least temporarily closed their practices. As social distancing guidelines remain in effect, remote patient engagement has soared and increased by an astounding two hundred twenty five percent.

According to a study published by the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the average emergency department (ED) visits declined by 42% from a mean of 2.1 million per week to 1.2 million per week during the last week of March 2020. However, the proportion of infectious disease illness related visits was four times normal during the early pandemic period. As the pandemic continued, emergency room visits are rising back to normal numbers, and consisting of both COVID and non-COVID related visits. Additionally, some treatments of COVID-19 are being administered in the ED. For example, medications such as Bamlanivimab and Etesevimab, are used to help treat COVID associated symptoms is administered via IV in the ED. Administration of the medication and some others are tasks that can take over 5 hours, adding to the busyness of the emergency room.

What are new innovations in the field of Emergency medicine?

One of the biggest technological advances that is changing the practice of emergency medicine is the use of point of care ultrasound, also called POCUS. This ultrasound medical technology allows emergency medicine physicians the ability to conduct a quick imaging scan which can provide a lot of diagnostic information. Additionally, ultrasound can also be used in a therapeutic manner such as aiding in the insertion of an IV. Ultrasound is also becoming smaller and more portable. The newest ultrasound models connect to phones, taking portability and ease of use even further. 

How to pursue a medical career as a Physician in Emergency medicine?

We hope that everyone reading this article now knows more about ER Doctors, their path to licensure and the huge amount of time and money it takes to complete the path to becoming Emergency Doctors. For prospective Med students that are wanting a career as an ER Doctor, your next step would be to apply to a great School of Medicine like the University of Medicine and Health Sciences. Why wait? We would like to help you make your dream of becoming an emergency room physician and helping patients with medical emergencies come true like the Doctor pictured to the right. Click on this link to start your application or to get more information about getting a Medical Degree from UMHS. 

Profiles and interviews with UMHS alumni that chose Emergency medicine as a career

If you are interested in learning more about Emergency medicine as a career, then please check out some interviews from our alumni that are practicing ER Doctors or in residency. Each has a great story to tell about how they chose EM as their career as well as why they chose UMHS as their Medical school. Click on the link below the Doctor’s name to read each in-depth interview!