Medical student career advice related to emergency medicine

To describe the advisors and the advice given to residency candidate interviewees interested in specializing in emergency medicine (EM).

All interviewees at a university-based EM residency program were surveyed. Data were collected anonymously and included demographic information, characteristics of each applicant's medical school, career advice by non-EM faculty, and access to advisors who are residency-trained in and practicing EM.

Of 114 interviewees, 104 (91%) completed the survey. Only 45% of the respondents reported they were assigned an emergency physician (EP) advisor by their school, and 38% sought advice informally from an EP. Of those students receiving advice from an EP, 70% reported their advisor was residency-trained in EM. Most (57%) respondents reported receiving negative advice concerning a career in EM from non-EM medical school faculty. Of the 59 students reporting negative advice, 18 (31%) received negative comments from non-EM residency program directors, 23 (39%) from non-EM department chairs, and 4 (7%) from medical school deans. The presence of a residency training program increased the chances of a student's being assigned an EP advisor, but neither an EP advisor nor the department status of EM within the students' institutions was associated with receipt of negative advice.

Students considering specializing in EM often receive negative advice or have no assigned EP advisor. These factors may adversely affect entry into the field of EM.