Fellow
Fellowship training is not necessary by any means, but it can be useful for community practices. Many groups are valuing certain fellowships as ways to either bolster their billing or education of their group. Examples include:
- Ultrasound: Teach colleagues and help the department bill for point-of-care ultrasound procedures.
- Pediatric Emergency Medicine (EM): Educate colleagues on best practices and help create protocols and policies for improved pediatric care.
- Administration: Helps with department flow and policies, and gains experience interacting with hospital leadership. Many community groups now have administrative fellowships on their own. This is a great option for groups that have historically infrequent openings for jobs, and if someone is interested in that group in particular, it can be a stepping stone to get a long-term position with them.
Some EM physicians split time between community and academic positions, or have hybrid community/academic positions in which fellowship could be helpful as an attractive quality for hiring.
Insider Advice
"Be open to differences in practice patterns and institutional cultures. Many hospitals will do things differently depending on resource availability, especially in the community. Remember, your goal is to take care of patients as best as you can with the tools at your disposal. Additionally, be open to administrative/committee participation. Many community groups encourage, if not subtly require, their physicians to be part of hospital committees and/or administrative teams. You'll contribute much more beyond bedside care and this is a nice way to add variety to your career outside of the repetition of direct patient care."
-R. Conner Dixon, MD, CAQ-SM
