In February, I worked my last shift as an ER doctor. I walked out the front door that morning after an overnight shift and felt nothing. It wasn’t bittersweet. One month later, I feel nothing but relieved. Not even a twinge of regret or nostalgia. How could this be? I spent 12 years and acquired hundreds of thousands in debt to do this thing, and now I’m walking away? When people ask superficially, I offer simple explanations. Too much adrenaline, not a sustainable career. Too much antagonism between departments, the arrogant and egotistical specialists. Too much tragedy, death and dying …

Also called the profession of the healing arts, medicine has a secret dark side lurking beneath the surface. Your “care team” might be more accurately described as a collection of antagonistic factions fighting amongst themselves for status and influence while shirking their basic responsibilities as healers. This is maybe most obvious in the standard metrics used by emergency departments across the country to measure success. Most infamously, the “LWOB” rate, or how many potential patients arrived at the ER waiting room only to leave without being seen by a provider. Other typical areas of focus include how many patients per …

“Do they think this is Burger King?” I grumbled to the charge nurse, who rolled her eyes knowingly.  We both averted our gaze from the family member hovering in the doorway to Room 5.   This was one of my pet peeves.  We were busy, completely under-staffed, just trying to keep everyone alive.  And they want us to hurry up?  I already had more tasks to complete than could possibly fit into the rest of the shift.  I took my usual approach and steered clear of the room. At least, that used to be my usual approach.  This winter, my dad …

BurnedOutDoc.com…. Musings of a burned out ER doctor.