It seems that there are so many emergency medicine job opportunities, yet so few long-term stable emergency physicians in jobs. Much of this has to do with the ever-changing practice environment and at times tenuous relationship with the hospital, consultant medical staff, and regulatory bodies. Resultantly, stability even for the seemingly most sought after emergency medicine jobs is never assured or guaranteed. In this article, the author explores common practice challenges for emergency physician jobs in today's healthcare environment.
Today, emergency physicians find themselves working in a crisis environment. This is largely a result of our Nation's emergency departments (EDs) are the only sector of the healthcare system where there is a federal statue mandating that care is provided to all patient regardless of their ability to pay. Emergency physician are finding it increasingly difficult to obtain much needed on call assistance for patients needing hospitalization. This is largely because of uncompensated or undercompensated services provided by on call specialist, coupled with rising unresolved medical liability and regulation.
Emergency physicians will also find that the rest of medical community inadvertently exacerbates the existing crisis. The perceived need for hospitals to funnel as many patients as possible through their EDs cripples many tenuous EDs both financially and medically. Primary care delivered in the ED is more costly than providing the same care in a physician's office, and primary medical care received through the ED is of poorer quality.
In general, today's emergency physician is faced with numerous challenges and stressors making for crisis in the workplace. This crisis directly affects the likelihood of emergency physicians finding lasting stability, in a given practice location in most cities in the US.