Women in ER

[Dryacku]

Hi my fiance in a flux trying to decide between rads and er.. .

The most impt thing to her is the amount time she will have her family and then pay...

Is there any women or anyone that comment on lifestyle in ER for women.. Do you guys get burned out after working your shift are you usually doing okay...

second question is that over time in other specalities you gain senority and pay goes up.. is that true at all for ER considering you dont have a true pt population of your own...

thanks

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[keeping-it-real]

Hi my fiance in a flux trying to decide between rads and er.. .

The most impt thing to her is the amount time she will have her family and then pay...

Is there any women or anyone that comment on lifestyle in ER for women.. Do you guys get burned out after working your shift are you usually doing okay...

second question is that over time in other specalities you gain senority and pay goes up.. is that true at all for ER considering you dont have a true pt population of your own...

thanks

i'm only a med student, but i don't think women react any differently than men. one of the attendings that works very closely with our EM interest group is a woman and she rocks as hard as any guy i've seen. also, one of the senior attendings is an older woman (i say 'older' because she shows no signs of slowing down) who's been doing this for a while and she seems to love EM and doesn't have any problems.

as a personal opinion, i think the women who go into EM tend to be less type-A and prissy than women going into other specialties. they seem to be the people that were kind of tomboyish and always wanted to take it up a notch. i don't think these types of girls/women have any problem dealing with intensity, etc anymore than some guy would. i know this is a generalization, but it's just an observation i've made.

i can't answer your second question, though as i don't have any experience with that

i'm also not very familiar with Rads, but the residents i talk to seem to be happy and the attendings seem to enjoy their job as well. someone else more familiar would have to give you a better assessment, though.

-k

 

[EctopicFetus]

I imagine one of the benefits of either of these fields is that you can work part time. This is a lot harder in say IM. Im just a XY but thats my thing. I have seen a lot of XX work parttime and they are quite happy with 6-8 shifts a month so they can spend the rest with their families.

 

[irrka]

I know that having a life outside of work was a big factor for me when i was trying to figure out what to do because i want to have a family and time to spend with them, and i think this is one of the specialties that lets you have a lot of time at home. Granted, you might not be there for the official holidays, but you're there a lot more days than you would otherwise. Rad is definitely more of the set schedule job from what i understand, so i guess it depends on what your fiancee is looking for (rads was never an option for me just because i never wanted to do it).

 

[Emergency!]

Hi my fiance in a flux trying to decide between rads and er.. .

The most impt thing to her is the amount time she will have her family and then pay...

IMO, she is forgetting a priority that is crucial - in what specialty is she going to ENJOY her job? Having family time is great, but if you hate your job, that's going to have a negative effect on your overall quality of life. I think if she picks a specialty based soley upon those two factors above, she is likely to be very unhappy in the long run. Its easy to say "oh - I wouldn't *mind* doing X specialty because it pays great and I will have a great schedule", but after a few years of it, if you don't enjoy what you are doing, you might find that you dislike it a lot.

Has she done rotations in both specialites? Rads and EM are very different fields and tend to appeal to different types of people. Most of the EM people I know found their radiology rotation to be the one of the most boring rotations they did in med school.

 

[NinerNiner999]

Agreed - these are two totally different jobs, and she should look long and hard at what makes her happy the long run (and as a result what will make her family happy too)...

 

[kungfufishing]

In medicine you will spend enough time in your job that I hope you at least start out loving it. Looking forward to work when Im en route is nice.
The "lifestyle" of EM is harder on you than people outside the field think it is, and I've been through an IM intern year (2,3,4) providing me experience with both sides of the call fence.

Either Rads or EM will offer enough time off and plenty of money. Get your fiancee to find out what she likes and do it. She owes it to herself and her future patients.

 

[doctor7]

put her to a dark room with a small lamp and a Where's Waldo Book. if she doesn't fall asleep after 45 min, i'd say rads all the way!!! what's better than a wife that does telemedicine and rakes in a ton of dough?

Hi my fiance in a flux trying to decide between rads and er.. .

The most impt thing to her is the amount time she will have her family and then pay...

Is there any women or anyone that comment on lifestyle in ER for women.. Do you guys get burned out after working your shift are you usually doing okay...

second question is that over time in other specalities you gain senority and pay goes up.. is that true at all for ER considering you dont have a true pt population of your own...

thanks

 

[faviola]

Hi my fiance in a flux trying to decide between rads and er.. .

The most impt thing to her is the amount time she will have her family and then pay...

Is there any women or anyone that comment on lifestyle in ER for women.. Do you guys get burned out after working your shift are you usually doing okay...

second question is that over time in other specalities you gain senority and pay goes up.. is that true at all for ER considering you dont have a true pt population of your own...

thanks

I think regardless of wether you're a man or woman you can work on either dept. as long as your doing something you enjoy you wont feel burned out ..ER is a tough department in itself.

 

[Mary Jane Watson]

If you have questions about women in emergency medicine, check out the ACEP website, especially the section of the American Association of Women Emergency Physicians.
http://www.acep.org/webportal/membercenter/sections/aawep/default.htm

I think EM as a career choice for women is great - the schedule is nice, the money is nice. BUT, you have to LOVE the ED. If you don't like fast-paced, multi-tasking and dealing with sometime cranky and difficult customers, think again about EM. For that matter, think again about motherhood.

MJ

 

[Hercules]

If you don't like fast-paced, multi-tasking and dealing with sometime cranky and difficult customers, think again about EM. For that matter, think again about motherhood.

MJ

Well said!