Ketamine Clinics: An Option For Emergency Medicine Physicians

Emergency medicine has been known to be one of the most popular specialties for graduating medical students. Due to EM’s reputation of being a long, lucrative, and stable career, there has been a steady increase in the number of students wanting to specialize. Unfortunately, this reputation is slowly fading...

Today, many young ER doctors are struggling to find employment. Emergency medicine is seeing a bleak future ahead as the demand for ER doctors is dwindling.

Just over 15 years ago, there was a lack of supply for emergency physicians. Experts were concerned that EP supply would never meet demand. But it seems the tables have turned.

Has Supply for EPs Exceeded Demand?

According to Emergency Medicine News, the supply for emergency physicians (EP) is starting to exceed the demand. This is surprising considering that back in 2008, a report by the Institute of Medicine stated that there was a national crisis. The crisis? That EP supply may never meet demand!

What could be the problem here? As per Emergency Medicine News, an increase in the number of medical schools and EM residencies outpaced the demand for EPs. On the other hand, demand was also curtailed by an increase in the number of advanced practice providers (APP) working in the ER as well as by the corporatization of medicine. 

As stated by The Washington Post, many people are staying away from hospital emergency rooms in fear that they might contract the COVID-19 virus. And as patient numbers dropped, emergency departments were earning less and were strapped for cash. This means that many hospitals couldn’t afford to hire more EPs.

Emergency physicians are experiencing burnout now more than ever from taking care of COVID-19 patients.

Emergency Physician Burnout From COVID-19

So, has the pandemic thrown a wrench into all of this?

Despite the decrease in demand for EPs, current EPs who have been working during the pandemic haven’t had time to rest. Physician burnout is at an all time high. And although the end of the pandemic seems to be getting closer and closer, the reality is that most EPs are burning out because they never got a break.

While the rest of the public are slowly going back to normal, and even other medical specialties saw a decrease in their work, EPs didn’t since they were still in demand.

We predict that this continual overwork will inspire more EPs to consider their options outside of traditional medicine.

Emergency medicine isn’t as attractive as it once was. So do emergency physicians still have a choice?

Emergency Medicine Doesn’t Have To Be The End

As an EP, fortunately you don’t have to rely on being employed in a hospital forever. There are plenty other solutions to keep you from being burnt out while still relying on something that is relatively stable.

One solution we recommend is diversifying your income in the form of alternative physician careers. These can include becoming a doctorpreneur and starting your own ketamine infusion clinic.

And if you think that you aren’t qualified to start this type of business, here are a few reasons why we think you are more than qualified:

• You are natural multitaskers

• Shift work lends itself to make it easier for you to work on outside projects

• You are familiar with ketamine due to your training

• Handling emergencies comes second nature

• You are familiar in dealing with mental health and chronic pain patients

Need more reasons as to why you should open your own ketamine clinic? Read our blog on 5 Reasons Why You Should Open A Ketamine Clinic!

Are you ready to learn more about opening your own ketamine clinic and starting something for yourself? Join our email list and be notified about the next free webinar and open registration for Ketamine StartUp.

REFERENCES:

Cook, Thomas MD, & Adler, Jason MD (2021 April). Has the Supply of EPs Exceeded Demand? Emergency Medicine News. 

Guarino, Ben (2021 January). Young ER doctors risk their lives on the pandemic’s front lines. But they struggle to find jobs. Washington Post

Institute of Medicine (2008). IOM Report: The Future of Emergency Care in the United States Health System. Academic Emergency Medicine, 1081. https://doi.org/10.1197/j.aem.2006.07.011

Rodrigues, Robert, et al. (2021). Symptoms of Anxiety, Burnout, and PTSD and the Mitigation Effect of Serologic Testing in Emergency Department Personnel During the COVID-19 Pandemic. Annals of Emergency Medicine. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.annemergmed.2021.01.028

Emergency physicians are slowly facing the reality that the demand for their profession is slowly dwindling. But this shouldn’t discourage you as there are many other paths you can pursue. Such as starting a ketamine clinic. Read our blog to find out why this is a great option out there.

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