Terrifying Article

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I was just reading in the Jan. 29 issue of US News and World Report about how ER's have a very hard time getting specialists, such as neurosurgeons and orthopedists, to cover the ER and how patients are suffering and dying as a result.

Don't get mad, it's just something that occurred to me but I wonder if some of the trouble might be that women are now so largely represented in the ranks of physicians and these women don't want to put in as many work hours as male docs traditionally did, due to family obligations.

The article did not mention this. It talked about lawsuits, low pay, and horrendous time commitments. I just wondered.

What think the rest of you? And how dangerous is it in your own community to be in emergent need of these specialists? If you needed someone to reattach your finger or treat your brain aneurysm, could you get that care STAT? (That is, if you could first get in line ahead of the people with colds, the drunks, and other non-ER stuff)

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most doctors have live-in help or rely on spouse/so regardless of gender if they are subject to on-call

as for urgency that is why triage nurses are standard at most ers, let us home that the ptb step up to the plate and offer proper training

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I am not mad at all but I am thinking that if your statement was true the media would jump on it. The media loves the "can women have it all?" "Working mothers" etc focus. I am pretty sure if there was a correlation btwn more female docs and this problem the media would jump on it. I think that it's very likely that the problems mentioned in the article are the reasons for the problem.

The article did not mention this. It talked about lawsuits, low pay, and horrendous time commitments.
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Specializes in LTC, AC, ER, Outpatient, Urgent Care.

Every ER I've known has an "On call" list - where the specialists know they're on call, and usually - every specialty was covered.

Only recently, did I learn that our nearest hospital does not have a neurologist/neurosurgeon on call - when someone presented at our clinic with a pretty good head injury - and failed the AAO test.

I thought it was odd as well - we had to bus this guy about 40 miles away.

Thankfully, he failed the AAO test because he was drunk out of his mind with a small scalp laceration.

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Specializes in Me Surge.

Women doctors don't want to be on call, That's the most ridiculus thing I've ever heard of.

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Specializes in Med/Surge, ER.

if they didn't want to get out of bed at 3 in the morning for an emergency situation, then they should have never went to med-school to begin with, regardless of gender.

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Specializes in ER/ ICU.

All larger hospitals- level one trauma centers have all the specialty services- or they could not be certified as a level one. Smaller, community based hospitals do not attract such specialties and ship all their patients out. It has been that way forever. Level 2's have some specialties, but usually not peds intensivists or neurosurgery. Cardio- thoracic surgeons are hard to come by these days too.

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Specializes in Day Surgery/Infusion/ED.
Women doctors don't want to be on call, That's the most ridiculus thing I've ever heard of.

Seriously.

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