ER show question

[rh71]

What happened to the guy who had Parkinson's and still wanted to be a doc ? How was he written out ?

BTW, I love these 2-hour re-runs of ER on TNT weekdays...

 

[SViscusi]

He finished his rotation.

 

[rh71]

Originally posted by: SViscusi
He finished his rotation.

Does that mean he goes to a hospital of his choice as a real doc and he chose somewhere else ?

I'd love if someone could explain all the phases of a med student --> doc

I've been watching this show for a couple years and still don't know what "attending" or those other terms mean. I even thought Pratt was a full doc but apparently not.

 

[guyver01]

What's the general schedule for becoming a doctor?
After completing at least three years of college or university, the prospective student embarks on three or four years (depending on where you go) of medical school. Generally speaking, in traditional four-year programs, the first two years consist of classroom-based instruction in general medical sciences; the last two years consist of student rotations and clerkships in teaching hospitals.

Recently, there has been a trend to change the way four-year programs teach medicine, and it basically involves, in a crude way, throwing new medical students onto the wards and saying, ``Here, have fun.'' Personally, I agree with this teaching philosophy, and I welcome this trend - it lets students learn important skills like how to deal with patients and how to take a good history (you'd be amazed how many people can't). It also lets students see what the rest of their lives are going to be like, and it allows people who aren't well-suited to the profession to get out sooner rather than later. (Along with this change in teaching methodology is a change in admissions philosophy, but that's another story for another day.) Three-year programs, of which I only know of two (one at Calgary, and one at McMaster; both in Canada) are a whole other kettle of fish.

Anyway, once our hero has completed medical school, he is given his degree and his ``restricted'' medical license: he can practice medicine, legally, but only in the context of a hospital. So our hero goes off to his residency program to go be an intern (or a first-year resident). Exact requirements vary from residency program to residency program. After completing a year of residency, the new physician is technically allowed (in most jurisdictions) to go off and practice medicine independently, but for practical reasons, this almost never happens. What usually happens is that our hero continues in his residency for several more years.

What is a residency program? Glad you asked. It's like graduate school for doctors. You know how grad students are the most bitter, burnt-out chunk of academia? Same story for the residents, who are trying to get a better handle on a specific area of medicine: internal medicine, neurology, psychiatry, surgery, and - my personal favourite - emergency medicine, the baby of the medical specialty world. Residents are overworked, underpaid, and generally form the backbone of most major hospitals that have a teaching program of some kind. They're always tired and are usually very, very cranky.

Residents report to an attending physician, who supervises and evaluates their treatment decisions. You don't see this consultative process on ER, which is a shame, since it can be quite funny at times. They will work obsecene hours for anywhere from two to six or seven years, depending on the intensity of their program. Suckers for punishment move on after their residencies to take up fellowships, allowing more detailed training in a specific area of their specialty.

After either of these two phases, the physician has a couple choices. He can go work for a non-teaching hospital, in which case he becomes ``staff.'' He can go to work for a teaching hospital, in which case he becomes an attending. Or he can go into private practice (not an option for everyone), in which case he has a shot at making money.

 

[new2AMD]

you get what you asked for.

 

[MomAndSkoorbaby]

Originally posted by: guyver01
What's the general schedule for becoming a doctor?
After completing at least three years of college or university, the prospective student embarks on three or four years (depending on where you go) of medical school. Generally speaking, in traditional four-year programs, the first two years consist of classroom-based instruction in general medical sciences; the last two years consist of student rotations and clerkships in teaching hospitals.

Recently, there has been a trend to change the way four-year programs teach medicine, and it basically involves, in a crude way, throwing new medical students onto the wards and saying, ``Here, have fun.'' Personally, I agree with this teaching philosophy, and I welcome this trend - it lets students learn important skills like how to deal with patients and how to take a good history (you'd be amazed how many people can't). It also lets students see what the rest of their lives are going to be like, and it allows people who aren't well-suited to the profession to get out sooner rather than later. (Along with this change in teaching methodology is a change in admissions philosophy, but that's another story for another day.) Three-year programs, of which I only know of two (one at Calgary, and one at McMaster; both in Canada) are a whole other kettle of fish.

Anyway, once our hero has completed medical school, he is given his degree and his ``restricted'' medical license: he can practice medicine, legally, but only in the context of a hospital. So our hero goes off to his residency program to go be an intern (or a first-year resident). Exact requirements vary from residency program to residency program. After completing a year of residency, the new physician is technically allowed (in most jurisdictions) to go off and practice medicine independently, but for practical reasons, this almost never happens. What usually happens is that our hero continues in his residency for several more years.

What is a residency program? Glad you asked. It's like graduate school for doctors. You know how grad students are the most bitter, burnt-out chunk of academia? Same story for the residents, who are trying to get a better handle on a specific area of medicine: internal medicine, neurology, psychiatry, surgery, and - my personal favourite - emergency medicine, the baby of the medical specialty world. Residents are overworked, underpaid, and generally form the backbone of most major hospitals that have a teaching program of some kind. They're always tired and are usually very, very cranky.

Residents report to an attending physician, who supervises and evaluates their treatment decisions. You don't see this consultative process on ER, which is a shame, since it can be quite funny at times. They will work obsecene hours for anywhere from two to six or seven years, depending on the intensity of their program. Suckers for punishment move on after their residencies to take up fellowships, allowing more detailed training in a specific area of their specialty.

After either of these two phases, the physician has a couple choices. He can go work for a non-teaching hospital, in which case he becomes ``staff.'' He can go to work for a teaching hospital, in which case he becomes an attending. Or he can go into private practice (not an option for everyone), in which case he has a shot at making money.

residents and interns and new docs are fun to play with. 🙂

<----- mean RN

 

[rh71]

Thanks guyver01... that's good stuff.

Now back to ER (and to keep me entertained)... is this the hierarchical order of docs on the show ? I get confused sometimes because people are giving others orders when I thought they were on the same level...

Weaver
Romano (jackass)
Kovac/Carter/Lewis/Chen (attendings) / Corday (surgeon)
Pratt/Gallant (residents)
Neela/other newbies as residents
Abby (head nurse/now-resident) / Sam Taggart (new hottie as nurse)

Does that look right ? Always confused about Pratt/Gallant...

 

[rh71]

^ you guys are no fun.

 

[SludgeFactory]

I think it's like this:

Carter/Lewis/Kovac (attending)
Chen/Pratt/Gallant (resident)
Neela/Abby/newbies (med student)

I believe Gallant was still a med student up until very recently.

 

[digitalsm]

Originally posted by: SludgeFactory
I think it's like this:

Carter/Lewis/Kovac (attending)
Chen/Pratt/Gallant (resident)
Neela/Abby/newbies (med student)

I believe Gallant was still a med student up until very recently.

Gallant become a resident at the beginning of this season.