"ER"

[Ace5813]

This may sound like a stupid question to many of you, but since I have never really been in a busy ER and have nothing visually to go by, how close is the TV show "ER" to the real thing. Don't get me wrong, this is not what I base my opinion about emergency medicine on, but I am curious, since I enjoy watching the show. I am really just trying to get an idea about what a day in the life of an ER physician is really like. Thanks for all of your help!

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[doc05]

ER is not reality television. It is actually a spoof of general-hospital and similar soap operas.

 

[Aloha Kid]

ER has the potential to be like the show only once in a while. However, the potential is not a everyday occurence like the show makes it out to be.

 

[anonymousEM]

unfortunately, there are not surgeons and other specialists just sitting in the ED waiting for patients to come be whisked away by the specialty service for admission for problems that have been there for years, contrary to popular belief.

Some days it feels like the TV show, but the drama is usually spread out over more than just an hour...

and my trauma attending has never been hit by a helicopter...let alone twice!

 

[mikecwru]

and my trauma attending has never been hit by a helicopter...let alone twice!

Brother, don't lose the faith.

We can dream, can't we?

mike

 

[USCDiver]

At my hospital there are more than 4 residents and attendings and the medical students don't spend their entire 3rd and 4th year rotating in the ED.

That's the main difference I can see.

 

[Chris_Topher]

Nor can I spend 2 hours babysitting a patient, holding their hand. I am supposed to see and treat 3 more similarly ill patients in that time period.

 

[euromd]

and since when does a 3rd year do an ED elective before the OB core?

this was on today's episode/rerun.

-S

 

[FoughtFyr]

and since when does a 3rd year do an ED elective before the OB core?

this was on today's episode/rerun.

-S

The better question is since when does a student match to an institution when the PD does not want them and the student does not wish to be there?

That was the case with Dr. Pratt's match to county... He was "begging" Carter to help him go to Northwestern or "anyplace but here". Carter and Weaver had a long discussion about "feeling sorry" for whichever program he would attend. Then, by the magic of television, he matches to county.

- H

 

[Idiopathic]

The better question is since when does a student match to an institution when the PD does not want them and the student does not wish to be there?

That was the case with Dr. Pratt's match to county... He was "begging" Carter to help him go to Northwestern or "anyplace but here". Carter and Weaver had a long discussion about "feeling sorry" for whichever program he would attend. Then, by the magic of television, he matches to county.

- H

He didnt match at county, he matched at N'western and then came back to county (less believable than the above scenario, actually). But remember, it is a dramatic television show, and is not necessarily trying to project the entire life of the ED on the show

 

[Idiopathic]

and since when does a 3rd year do an ED elective before the OB core?

Every year at my school. Some of the first electives most of us do are ER rotations.

 

[FoughtFyr]

He didnt match at county, he matched at N'western and then came back to county (less believable than the above scenario, actually). But remember, it is a dramatic television show, and is not necessarily trying to project the entire life of the ED on the show

I agree, but they managle the match every year. Given the local news coverage around every medical school, and the ceremony at most places, the interview trail etc. there would be enough drama to go around IMHO.

- H

 

[Firebird]

I'm not flaming, so don't get mad. This is just a thought.

Those of you who say that the ED is never as crazy as the show makes it out to be...have you actually been in an ED situated in the middle of a major metropolis like Chicago? I personally have not, but I imagine that it would be quite different than our ED's in West Virginia.

 

[Sessamoid]

I'm not flaming, so don't get mad. This is just a thought.

Those of you who say that the ED is never as crazy as the show makes it out to be...have you actually been in an ED situated in the middle of a major metropolis like Chicago? I personally have not, but I imagine that it would be quite different than our ED's in West Virginia.

Yes, several of us work or have worked in large EDs in major metro areas. It's never that crazy.

 

[VienneseWaltz]

and since when does a 3rd year do an ED elective before the OB core?

this was on today's episode/rerun.

-S

My school, too. ED is required, not elective, and we can do our clerkships in any order we want.

What I thought was funny was that the week before graduation no one seemed to know where they had matched. Then, Abby graduates and supposedly starts her internship the next day. Wouldn't want to have to relocate under THOSE circumstances.

A few years back, there was a conversation between Weaver and Chen that she wasn't allowed to make up her maternity leave because the hospital's residents weren't allowed to work more than 60 hours a week.

For all its ... um ... creativity, I am a complete junky for this show. That and The West Wing.

 

[Firebird]

Yes, several of us work or have worked in large EDs in major metro areas. It's never that crazy.

That's good to know then. I think I would love to do EM and hopefully it will work out. I'm just a first year, at this point, so I have a lot to do (especially as MD/PhD...I won't even start residency for six years).

Anyway, how competitive is EM?

 

[Sessamoid]

That's good to know then. I think I would love to do EM and hopefully it will work out. I'm just a first year, at this point, so I have a lot to do (especially as MD/PhD...I won't even start residency for six years).

Anyway, how competitive is EM?

Answering this question now does you no good, especially since you're a MD/PhD candidate. A lot of things can change between now and when you're ready to apply. Ask in a few years for a more relevant answer.

In any case, it's fairly competitive, but not like ortho competitive. Tougher than the primary care specialties certainly, and will probably remain that way.

 

[8744]

I am an MSIV doing my first EM rotation...so I'm no expert...but one of the biggest differences between "ER" and our Emergency Department is the speed of processing. On TV, patients might have to wait for hours before they are seen but once they are, medical miracles happen at an extraordinary pace. In our ED, except for trauma "stats" or bonafide medical emergencies, things proceed at a more sedate but deliberate pace.

Also, real patients are not as glamourous or quaint as TV patients. Sure they attempt to portray the seamy underbelly of society on ER but somehow the TV patients always manage to have either charm, a compelling story, or some obvious redeeming quaity. Even the villains have their charms and are interesting to watch. The reality is that it is hard to get ratings by showing obese, unwashed, non-compliant, alcoholic patients urinating on themselves and sporting nasty, disgusting, fungus-encrusted talon-like toenails.

Sorry. I hate nasty feet.

 

[8744]

For the record, my favorite medical show is Lifetime's "Strong Medicine." My wife and I never miss it. It is horrifically bad and slanted against every conservative principle that I hold dear (produced as it is by Whoopi Goldberg) but I don't care. I am an addict. I can not get enough of the pendantic dialogue, the unrealistic social quandries, and the pontificating nature of the scripts.