First job: Community or Teaching Hospital?

bebbercorn · Mar 27, 2016

If your intention is traveling, I would take the larger hospital. You can always take a travel contract with a community hospital later, but you won't necessarily get to go the other way. I have noticed at teaching hospitals there is more of an emphasis on nurse training and assistance in certifications... so this may also be helpful to a future traveler. Good luck!

Pediatric Critical Care Columnist · Mar 27, 2016

That's true, but then there's the reality that small community hospitals are often the first point of contact for critically ill or injured patients who require stabilization before they can be transferred to a higher level of care. During that time, the staff will be doing a lot of interventions without the full array of supplies and equipment - and access to consultants - of the bigger centres, and the ability to work effectively in those situations is a great learning experience. I've listened in on a lot of calls to our referral centre where rural hospitals have the responsibility for keeping the patients alive until help arrives. You can clearly hear the organized chaos in the background as the fight for life is occurring. And most of the time they do a fantastic job of it. So that's another way of looking at it.