Emergency medicine has had its ups and downs over the years with regard to desirability. Soon after the show “ER” became popular, emergency medicine programs also were suddenly in vogue. Over the interim years, the field’s cachet has declined and increased, but up until recent years, emergency medicine programs routinely filled 99% of their available spots in the Match.
The fact that 554 emergency spots went unfilled in this past Match was particularly distasteful to many emergency physicians, accordingly.
The reasons for this plummeting interest in the field is well described in a recent piece in ACEP Now. (ACEP stands for the American College of Emergency Physicians.) The authors note multiple issues, including burnout, decreasing remuneration, and systemic problems in the emergency healthcare system that frustrate clinicians.
Of note, these issues have driven out many middle-aged emergency physicians, as well.
Even if you are not interested in becoming an emergency doctor, take a look at the piece here, keeping in mind that certain factors may soon adversely affect other specialties as well.
(I’d like to give a shout out to my old friend Jonathan Fisher MD MPH who was one of the reporters on this article.)
