EM job interview

[cwhorton]

hey guys,

 

I have a job inteview in a local ER tomorrow and was wondering what type of quesitons i might possbily be asked? also any tips or words of wisdom for interviewing for an ER would be really appreciated! thanks guys

[skyblu]

I would imagine the typical questions about your background, education and experience. Also, the usual "what draws you to Emergency Medicine?", "what are your strengths and weaknesses as a provider?" and definitely questions about how you perform as a member of a team. 

 

I've had interviews that included working through a clinical scenario, too, so make sure you think through some of these. They usually involve, in my experience, the "commonly misdiagnosed presentation of a catastrophic condition". For example, older hypertensive patient with no history of kidney stones presents with colicky flank pain and "stone-like" symptoms. It's never a stone on the tests, it's always an aortic aneurysm. Belly pain int he elderly with a fairly benign exam is always (on the tests) mesenteric ischemia. Younger female with syncope and belly pain, even though she had a tubal ligation and "there's no way I could be pregnant" is a ruptured ectopic. And so on. Review differential diagnoses for common ED complaints (chest pain, dyspnea, abdominal pain - including female-specific -, headache, dizziness, ortho stuff, toxidromes, and trauma scenarios from small to major).

 

Are you a new grad? If so, I'd try to convey any previous experience that made you want to pursue EM, like your rotations or if you had healthcare experience in EMS or the ED. You want to show this is not just a first job where you'll learn a little bit of everything before you move on to your true passion of Derm or Neurology or whatever. Nobody wants to hire and train someone to then lose them a year later when they are "over the ED".

 

Good luck! EM is absolutely, positively awesome. I can't imagine doing anything else. It is demanding intellectually, physically and emotionally, and most days you end up drained in ways you didn't know you could be drained. You will likely be pissed off, elated, annoyed, sad, and thrilled all in one shift. But for some reason, us crazy EM folks would not have it any other way. Word to the wise, if you're not the "EM type" (it's a personality thing, you either are or you aren't), then it will chew you up and spit you out. I've seen it happen repeatedly. It's not for everyone, that's for sure. But if it's for you, you will love it!