Emergency rooms seem to be heading toward trouble

Kevin Drum points out what seems to be an emergency room emergency:

The Washington Post has a story today about the demise of ER physicians. It used to be a coveted position for residencies, but now senior doctors are warning against it:

They warn of burnout after covid and patients’ increasing suspicion of doctors. The pay is not as good, they say, especially as hospitals rely more on nurse practitioners and physician assistants to staff emergency departments. And job prospects may be grim, they caution, as emergency medicine residency programs aggressively expanded in recent years.

….Emergency departments are under strain as they become congested with patients waiting for beds, veteran providers quit and violence against the remaining staff grows. These factors are damaging the emergency room’s reputation as an ideal place to learn by caring for a steady stream of patients with a wide range of problems.

Every year, graduating students apply for residencies and are matched with programs that are interested in hiring them. [see chart above – LG]

Emergency medicine was in the SOAP in 2023. That is, there weren’t enough applicants for all the open positions, which means that some ER residency programs had to hire doctors from the Supplemental Offer and Acceptance Program, a sort of second-round draft for everyone who didn’t get an offer from the first round of matching.

Of course, it’s worth noting that . . .

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