I am pretty sure that I want to be a doctor. I have decided what university I want to go to and decided which speciality I think I would prefer - Emergency.

I was wondering if there were any doctors from the UK who could tell me what medical schooling was like for them and what was involved both during and after.

Also, if there are any doctors or nurses from America out there I would be grateful if you could tell me a little about the daily goings on of a typical ER. This is becasue not only do I plan to work in an American ER for 7 weeks during my course but I have also considered moving to America and working there.

Any advice would be gratefully received.

Thanks

Well I have had a number of views but as of yet no posts...any reason why?

If there aren't any British staff out there I would be more than happy to hear from American doctors and nurses. I would really like to know about ERs in the USA. Although input from UK staff is also highly sought after

Thanks

I don't work ER's for good reason. There are plenty of people out there that are well suited for ER work, but I am not one of them. (I am a nurse, btw, and darn near graduating from midwifery school). Large urban ERs, especially county hospitals, are overrun with patients that have no other access to health care rather than what ER's were designed for. I externed in a large county hospital that got it's more than it's fair share of people of all ages coming in for things like colds/flu/bronchitis that had gone too long without treatment, kids who came in with minor illnesses that had not had any of their vaccinations, drunks, drug addicts, etc. And they do that mainly because ER's HAVE to treat them (yes, they do deserve it...it's the system in and of itself that is poorly designed) The trauma aspect of it was fabulous and I really learned to think on my feet and make fast sound decisions.

On the flip side, the constant barrage of people gets exhausting. If you don't have a good working relationship with your other staff members, doctors AND nurses alike, you won't survive. You HAVE to work as a team.

If you like spending time with people, taking the time to educate them as to the ins and outs of their disorder, or getting to know your patients and providing a continuum of care you may want to consider some other area of care. If you like the urgency of the ER but want what I have mentioned, try an ICU. If you like using excellent assessment skills, like technology, like building good rapport with patients but like some of the adrenaline rush, try labor and delivery...(welcome to my world!). There's lots of avenues for health care professionals. US ER's in general tend to be chronically overcrowded and understaffed (though this is true of almost any nursing unit these days), with sicker patients with less long term health care, and less resources to deal with the problems that come through the door.

I'm sure there are those that have a sunnier disposition when it comes to ER work, but I am not one of them. Good thing I don't do that kind of nursing, because it is not for me (and I thought I would love it).

How did you come to decide what specialty you wanted to do? Describe the kind of work you'd like to do, the hours you like to work, the kinds of patients you'd like to see, what you expect to be paid.

If you are an adrenalin-junkie, county hospital ER's are a great place. It's fast-paced with a good variety of general medical and trauma patients. The pay is not very good because they are usually university-based, which means you would be a government employee with all that baggage. Otherwise, most urgent care centers are not all that exciting 90% of the time, with the other 10% being stuff that you cannot properly assume care and will have to transfer to a Level I trauma center after stabilization.

Go to medical school with an open mind and let your gut instincts decide after you've rotated through your clinical courses. The overwhelming majority of medical students change their minds more than a few times during their studies.

The reason I know what I would like to specialise in is because I have known for a while that I wanted to be a doctor and my teachers know this and so have helped me get work placements in the local hospital. Here I have worked in the Accident and Emergency department, radiology, oncology, orthopedics etc etc. Out of the lot I really do like emergency best.

Thanks for your input