Why so much Critical Care in EM now?

I'll preface this with that I'm ED trained and just completed CCM fellowship

I think more programs moving to more ICU months is important and pertinent and only makes you a better doctor. Yes, I will say that you learn EM in the ED, so there should be enough months carved out for you to adequately learn the majority of work flow, pathology, etc.

ICU months are of the highest yield for pathology, sickness, procedures, vent management and learning what sick people look like and their trajectory.

If you want to just be a triage doc in the ED, then be that doctor. There are plenty of those and, to me, they suck as ED docs. They get a dispo and forget about the patient, or they sign them out and send them up without much of a work up and/or support/lines, etc. But if you want to do the best for your patient and order the right tests, provide the appropriate support then you're going to need to know how to do some critical care (or actual medicine).

What a lot of ED docs forget is that they're still part of the spectrum of the patient's care instead of just the gateway. And they can actually make a huge impact.. even with 8-10 other patients.

This entry passed through the Full-Text RSS service - if this is your content and you're reading it on someone else's site, please read the FAQ at http://ift.tt/jcXqJW.

Why so much Critical Care in EM now?