Emergency Medicine
First-contact stabilization and decision-making for acute illness.
Emergency physicians work shifts in the ED stabilizing trauma, sepsis, MI, stroke, and undifferentiated complaints. The job is procedurally diverse (lacerations, intubation, central lines, ultrasound, joint reductions) and highly cognitive. You disposition rather than longitudinally manage. Burnout is real but the work is meaningful and the schedule is shift-based.
Lifestyle & practice
Shift work, 12 to 16 shifts per month attending, typically 8 to 12 hours each. No clinic, no call between shifts. Trade-off is circadian disruption and high cognitive load. Comp $300k to $450k.
Common fellowship paths
- Residency length
- 3 or 4 years
- Median comp
- $350k to $400k
- Burnout rate
- Among the highest in medicine
High-signal external links curated for residents and applicants.
- American College of Emergency Physicians ↗
Specialty society. Clinical policy, advocacy.
- EMCrit Project ↗
Critical care and resuscitation podcast and blog.
- EMRAP ↗
Monthly review podcast, popular with EM residents.
- WikEM ↗
EM-focused wiki, peer-edited reference.
- Emergency Medicine forum (SDN) ↗
Long-running medical career forum with active specialty subforums.
Positions
3026
All applicants
2980
Seats / app
1.02
From NRMP Charting Outcomes 2024 (most recent biennial publication). Source PDFs: MD Seniors / DO Seniors / IMG. NRMP publishes Charting Outcomes every other year, so this should refresh in early 2026 with the 2025 cycle data.
| Pool | Step 1 | Step 2 | Pubs | Research | AOA % | n |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| MD_seniors | 224 | 248 | 5.7 | 2.8 | 11.8 | 1027 |
| DO_seniors | 231 | 242 | 2.9 | 1.8 | — | 779 |
| US_IMG | 215 | 235 | 2.4 | 1.5 | — | 232 |
| Non_US_IMG | 226 | 239 | 8.0 | 2.2 | — | 84 |
Per-applicant-type match rates and mean Step scores published by NRMP every two years. Each row is one applicant pool in one cycle. Step scores reflect what matched applicants in that cycle achieved, not what programs require today.
| Year | Type | Match rate | Matched (n) | Step 1 | Step 2 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2024 | MD_Senior | 98.1% | 1027 | 224 | 248 |
| 2024 | DO_Senior | 96.2% | 779 | 231 | 242 |
| 2024 | IMG | 80.6% | 232 | — | 235 |
| 2022 | MD_Senior | 98.3% | 1332 | 234 | 247 |
| 2022 | IMG | 80.6% | 141 | 227 | 238 |
| 2020 | MD_Senior | 91.9% | 1598 | 233 | 247 |
| 2020 | DO_Senior | 83.8% | 643 | 228 | 241 |
| 2018 | MD_Senior | 91.6% | 1538 | 233 | 247 |
| 2018 | IMG | 48.6% | 72 | 232 | 241 |
| Pool | Share |
|---|---|
| MD_seniors | 48.2% |
| DO_seniors | 35.9% |
| US_IMG | 10.9% |
| Non_US_IMG | 5.0% |