Emergency medicine is a branch of the global medical industry that deals with acute illnesses and life-threatening conditions. Medical emergencies would arise from various unforeseen conditions. Consequently, patients treated in emergency departments may be of any age or gender and may be dealing with various health problems. It is pretty obvious that emergency physicians with such a broad patient portfolio would need extensive medical residency. Below is a detailed explanation of how to become an ER doctor, including information about ER doctors’ medical education.
What does being an ER doctor mean?
Emergency room physicians, also called ER doctors, are licensed physicians in emergency medicine. They mainly work in emergency departments and provide healthcare for patients with acute and life-threatening health problems. Emergency medicine doctors must be able to stabilize and treat patients at any given time. Thus, the physician needs to be well-focused on observing the symptoms to detect the problem correctly. To make a correct diagnosis ER doctors can use various medical tests and devices. After diagnosing the condition, the ER doctor either starts the appropriate treatment. Either, the doctor refers the patient to a fully equipped hospital. You can view more jobs here to get a sense of the roles and responsibilities of ER Physicians.
Useful skills to gain before entering medical school
Being an emergency medicine physician could be challenging and overwhelming during some periods. To handle the heavy pressure of emergency medicine and to adapt to the career dynamic easily, it is better for medical school students to have the below-listed personality traits before medical school:
- Ability to work under heavy pressure
- Multitasking
- High communication skills
- Attention to detail
- Teamwork
- Organizational skills
- Patience and composure.
It would be useful for prospective medical students to gain the listed skills before ER schooling to avoid challenges during and after medical school.
How to become an emergency room physician?
As a student wishing to have a career in emergency medicine, there are some ER physician requirements such as a medical degree and years of clinical rotations. Here is the insight on how to become an emergency medicine doctor.
Here is your starting point: MBBS
Medical residency may have different requirements depending on the region or even the country. Medical school students who are eager to become a doctor in Malaysia must start having their MBBS degree which may last 4 to 6 years.
To be able to have MBBS training, prospective medical students need to pass the medical college admission test. MCAT aims to foresee whether the candidate is properly to have a medical education or not. MCAT is applied once a year in exam centers which are located inside several colleges and universities. Students who managed to pass the medical college admission test can have an MBBS education. The education includes 2 years of pre-clinical and clinical training. During pre-clinical education, medical students would gain broad theoretical knowledge of medical sciences. On the other hand, clinical training aims to bring medical students clinical experience. After completing their MBBS, medical students can have a provisional medical license with MMC.
The approximate cost of earning an MBBS degree in Malaysia ranges between a total of RM 250,000 and RM 650,000.
The Foundation Training
Physicians having completed their MBBS would continue onto their medical residencies with 2 years of practical training called foundation training. Foundation training which is conducted at hospitals aims to equip medical school students with broad medical knowledge and useful clinical skills. Foundation training is an important part of ER physician education that lets them be competent in managing and treating patients with acute illnesses and injuries. This practical training would help aspiring emergency physicians to be equipped with higher levels of work ethic. Besides, team-working and communication skills would be beneficial for their professional lives.
Yet, before the foundation training, physicians need to pass SPM/SPMV/O-Level with a minimum of B credits in 5 subjects such as mathematics, physics, biology, chemistry, and one other equivalent. Also for medical school admission in Malaysia, future medical school students may need to know sufficient levels of English and Bahasa Malaysia depending on the university.
After the completion of the first year of foundation training, Malaysia Medical Council offers physicians full registration to practice medicine. The estimated cost of the foundation training can vary from RM 9900 to RM 11495.
Clinical rotations within the compulsory training
Future medical school students must serve the government for 2 years which is called compulsory training. This mandatory service is mainly conducted at hospitals located in rural areas of Malaysia like Sabah or Sarawak. The Medical Act necessitated compulsory training for physicians to balance the access of citizens to health care over the country. Given that, healthcare is one of the basic needs that citizens should have easy access to. During compulsory training, students would experience a wide diversity of patients and conditions that would prepare physicians for their future job scopes.
After completing weeks of rotations, medical students would become general practitioners. Thus, compulsory training is the final required educational stage for medical students wishing to have a professional life as a GP. After the compulsory service, students become medical officers. Medical officers are able to set up their own general practice or start working with a medical firm as a GP.
One needs to take an additional emergency medicine residency if she/he wants to explore this field. As we will discuss, to become an ER doctor, you must complete 4 years of a university’s master’s program in emergency medicine.
Master’s Programs in Emergency Medicine
MBBS, housemanship, and the compulsory training program are common requirements for all prospective medical students in Malaysia. Yet, having a master’s in emergency medicine, a challenging and complicated medical field, is a specific ER physician education requirement. To become a specialist in emergency medicine, practitioners must complete an estimated 4 years of master’s program at medical universities. A few of those universities are:
- the University of Malaya,
- Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia,
- Universiti Putra Malaysia,
- Universiti Sains Malaysia,
- the University of Warwick,
- Universiti Tunku Abdul Rahman.
Emergency medicine master’s programs aim to let you become familiar with current theories and practices in various medical fields within the context of emergencies, while at the same time teaching you about various medical tests and devices. A master’s in emergency medicine also equips physicians with better judgment skills, technical abilities, and ethical values to become ER doctors. The curriculum planning of the training would be similar to the following structure:
- First year: Basic medical sciences in medicine and surgery / Fundamental knowledge of medical emergencies and traumas
- 2nd and 3rd year: Emergency medicine residency or clinical duty in ophthalmology, gynecology, pediatrics, elective and dissertation, internal medicine, surgery, intensive care, and anaesthesiology
- 4th year: Advanced cardiac life support & completing dissertation
To have a master’s course in emergency medicine, medical students must have a bachelor’s degree in medicine and a minimum of one year of full registration clinical experience. Besides, students need to be registered physicians under the Medical Act of 1971 to have a master’s in medicine in Malaysia.
Physicians who have managed to complete the training above, have earned a master’s degree, become licensed doctors in emergency medicine, and are able to start working as emergency room doctors in Malaysia. There are dozens of job vacancies for emergency medicine doctors with board certification in the country.
So, how long does it take to become an ER doctor in Malaysia?
Medical education in emergency medicine would last 13 years, including 5 years of MBBS, 2 years of housemanship, 2 years of compulsory training, and 4 years of a master’s program in emergency medicine.
The journey to graduation can be a long and exhausting period for emergency medicine doctors. You may probably wonder if becoming a specialist in EM is worth the effort when you consider the cost of spending your youth in a challenging field. And, is being an emergency resident even a good career choice for you? Before you decide, see the notes below detailing some key aspects of working as an emergency room doctor.
What to do after your medical residency graduation?
Physicians completing the schooling for EM can start working as ERs in emergency rooms and departments and as an emergency room physician, you would have a payment of 83100 MYR to 282500 MYR annually per world salary. However, there are a variety of job opportunities for specialists in urgent care. Here are several career opportunities.
Alternative Career Paths in Emergency Medicine
The main goal in emergency medicine is to stabilize patients dealing with unforeseen conditions and accurately diagnose them. Correct diagnosis is super important to detect the appropriate treatments for the patient. ER doctors usually work in the emergency departments of hospitals yet they also hold positions in intensive care units, urgent care clinics, and other equivalent medical institutions. Here are some of the possible jobs for ER doctors:
Paramedic
Paramedics are physicians who provide urgent medical care to patients outside of the hospital. They provide advanced health care to patients with acute conditions. Because they typically lack various medical devices, paramedics would use basic medical procedures for stabilizing patients until they become proper for treatment in the hospital setting. Paramedics are usually directly or remotely guided by a qualified ER physician. The average salary for a paramedic working in Malaysia is approximately RM 2271 each month.
Emergency medicine technician
ER doctors also have the opportunity to work as emergency medical technicians who are medical professionals offering first-aid to injured patients away from a hospital setting. The difference between paramedics and EMTs is that paramedics are trained to provide comprehensive health care for patients with immediate ailments while EMTs are professionals in first aid. As an emergency medical technician, your main task will be to transport patients to the closest medical institution as soon as possible. EMTs can work with rescue teams, yet commonly, they shift in ambulances. The average salary for EMTs in Malaysia is 51226 MYR per year per economic research institute.
ER nurse
Emergency room nurses work in ER departments and they help ERs to treat emergency room patients. Some of their duties are to communicate with patients and their families during and after the treatment regularly, make documentation for each patient about the applied procedures, and perform triage for patients with urgent health conditions. ER nurses would earn an estimated RM 96696 a year per salary expert.
Emergency department manager
As a manager working in an ER department, you will have responsibilities to keep the efficiency of the clinic operating at high levels. ER department managers care about maintaining healthy relationships between doctors of the department and emergency room patients. To start working as an ER department manager, one must have discipline and people management skills. The median pay for a manager working in emergency rooms is MYR 192000 for a year in Malaysia per world salary.
Job types for licensed doctors in emergency medicine vary a lot. If you wish to experience different career paths as an ER, check out Doctor Jobs Today to see your options.
What are the benefits of having a career in emergency medicine?
Being able to help people with their problems and injuries is a rewarding and satisfying job with dozens of benefits such as
Many learning opportunities
Any shift in the ER department would be different from the previous one. As a result, ER doctors will always deal with new conditions and challenges. With the wide variety of ailments that would thrive physicians have many learning prospects and enhance their medical knowledge.
Collaboration in the working area
Specialists, nurses, assistants, and other medical staff working in the ER department should better have strong cooperation. It is important to be able to provide quick and qualified healthcare to ER patients. Each member working in the emergency room is super important for diagnosing and treating patients. Because the emergency needs to be stabilized instantly. Thus, each medical staff in the ER department needs to be easygoing for the association.
Job Satisfaction
As an ER doctor, you would look after multiple patients of various ages with different ailments or injuries each day. Being able to help a broad range of people dealing with acute illnesses is a rewarding and satisfying feeling in emergency medicine.
Dedicated mindset
Working in the ER department, you need to keep your attention and stay focused during the day. Even the tiniest detail may help you to diagnose an ailment so as to take care of the patient. A constantly dedicated mindset can let you succeed in any optional career path in hospitals or other medical institutions.
What would be the challenges as an emergency medicine physician?
As with all good things in life, the emergency practice has its challenging and even wearisome aspects. Some of the difficulties are listed below.
Excessive stress
While patient diversity and continuity can provide various learning opportunities for physicians, it may, unfortunately, cause intense stress and work anxiety for some ERs. Working in the emergency department can be overwhelming at certain periods. Because it requires constant attention and promptness all the time. In order to carry out your career in regularly addressing emergencies in a healthy way, it can be helpful for you to find yourself a relaxing hobby or an activity to do outside of heavy work.
Emotional pressure
Having a career path in emergency medicine, it is inevitable for medical staff to encounter dozens of tragic cases. Like, abuses, accidents, victims of violence, or terrible burns. Examining these patients closely and being able to treat them takes a great deal of composure. Especially patients who lose their lives during first aid or even before the treatment may create emotional distress for ERs.
Constant movement can be exhausting
There is an intense and continuous circulation of emergency services. And, this circulation may often be because of unforeseen diseases, sudden accidents, attacks, fights with injuries, and similar events happening at any time during the day. Emergency physicians can be mentally ready for intense working hours and workload. Yet, their physical health must also be suitable for being constantly on the move, thinking, and acting quickly, usually with minimal sleep. Or else, later in your career, you may endanger your own physical health while aiming to help others.
What should I do to continue my career in a healthy way as an ER?
If you are an emergency medicine professional dealing with one or more of the challenges, the first thing you have to do is try to find ways that would relax both your mental and physical condition to have away from working hours. And, the hobby you would have must be compatible with your personal preferences such as yoga, pilates, acting, dancing, or sculpture. Besides, an ER who is thinking about working in emergency medicine for long years must not avoid spending time with friends and family. The perfect balance between work and your private life would help you continue your profession for longer periods in a healthy way.
Whether you are not able to set the balance between your profession and your out-work life, you may try to find an alternative career trajectory alike to your interests. Just do not forget that your job and your life all depend on you. Just become aware of your satisfaction and think if being an ER is a good career choice for you.
Are you an ER Doctor looking for a new role in the healthcare industry? Here at Doctor Jobs Today, we provide the most reliable and well-curated vacancies from the best medical institutions in Malaysia. You can also access various recommendations and guidelines to help you stay on track. Get your CV ready and find your future career in Doctor Jobs Today, now!
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