EM Job Search Tips: 2022 and Beyond
Host
Ranjita Raghavan, MD
The Mount Sinai Hospital Emergency Medicine Residency, PGY-4
Guests
Saadia Akhtar, MD, FACEP
Associate Dean for Trainee Well-being and Resilience at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai
Associate Dean for GME and former EM Program Director at Mount Sinai Beth Israel
Faculty, ACEP-CORD Teaching Fellowship
Former CORD-EM President
Maria Moreira, MD, FACEP
Medical Director of Continuing Education and Simulation | Denver Health Office of Education
Director of Professional Development and Well-being | Denver Health Emergency Department
@mmoreiramd
The EM job market has been a roller coaster in recent years. What's a soon-to-be-graduate to do? Host Ranjita Raghavan, MD, shares some job search pearls from Saadia Akhtar, MD, FACEP, and Maria Moreira, MD, FACEP.
Career planning is an important part of residency, and it really starts on your first day of intern year, according to guests Saadia Akhtar, MD, FACEP, and Maria Moreira, MD, FACEP. As former program directors and former presidents of CORD-EM, both Dr. Akhtar and Dr. Moreira share a list of job search tips with host Ranjita Raghavan, MD.
EM Job Search Tips
- If you're looking to stay in academic medicine, what are Chairs looking for? 1) Fit and 2) people who have a growth mindset and want to grow with the program.
- Make sure to find mentors and reach out to your alumni networks! People want to help you, so reach out.
- Create a BATNA and talk to your mentors about it.
- BATNA: Best Alternative to Negotiated Agreement - where you consider all potential options and assign value to each of those options.
- It will help you know what is important to you and how each option fits your priorities.
- This will help you decide whether you should accept a job and what you talk about in your negotiations.
- Research the normal salaries in the area and ask a little above that range.
- Talk to people you know for needs that a particular department might have so you can see if you can bring anything to the table.
- During the interview ask good questions and find out what they are looking for before diving into your full vision so you can potentially find a way to do both things.
- Once again, connect with alumni and ask them for questions and ask them help with introductions. Also, activate your mentors throughout the journey; they want you to get a job, too!
- Remember not to negotiate against yourself - don't say things like, "I don't have an ultrasound fellowship but I still would like to do US education." Always highlight your strengths.
- Sometimes locums could still be a good way to get in for a full-time job, if you do not get what you desire at first.
- Lastly, it's OK if you don't get the perfect job - you can always change later, and lots of people do.
