Emergency Room Physician Job Description, Duties, and Responsibilities

This post provides detailed information on the emergency room physician job description, including the key tasks, duties, and responsibilities they commonly perform.

It also highlights the major requirements you may be expected to fulfill to be hired for the emergency room physician role by most recruiters/employers.

What Does an Emergency Room Physician Do?

An emergency room physician who can also be simply referred to as emergency physician treats patients who need lifesaving measures and care.

He/she normally works in the emergency section (room) of a hospital or any other form of urgent care facility with the job description mainly to attend to patients with grave/critical conditions.

The basic role an emergency room physician plays is that of making sure that the patient being attended to is first of all stabilized before the commencement of further treatment.

Stabilization of a patient must be done as fast as possible with the available resources, information about the patient and whatever he/she finds out through examination of the patient in every given situation; this is to avoid the loss of life.

In some cases also, supporting specialists and physicians/doctors are usually called upon to help stabilize the patient before proper treatment begins.

The physician’s work description normally involves carrying out tests or diagnosis and suggesting what is to be done in each emergency case.

In some cases also, carrying out an outright diagnosis might not be the best line of action. In such a situation, the physician makes basic evaluation of the patient and decides on a course of action (like referring the patient to another unit for intensive care) to be taken to save the patient.

Emergency Room Physician Job Description Example/Template

An emergency room physician performs various functions in ensuring that patients that need immediate attention are stabilized and properly cared for so as to avoid loss of lives.

The job description below is a typical example of the kind of tasks, duties, and responsibilities commonly assigned to persons who work as physicians in emergency room in most health centers and/or clinics:

• Make sure that all medical records are properly kept and maintained
  • Carry out immediate evaluation and management of emergency patients that are brought in for treatment
• Work simultaneously with staff from the emergency department and compliant facility
• Respond to all forms of cardiac/cardiopulmonary arrest with immediate effect
• Perform interpretation of electrocardiogram and make arrangement for back up from Emergency Medical Service (EMS)
• Provide instructions for discharge and complete necessary paper work for patients
• Appropriately make use of other available personnel whether professional or not so as to be able to immediately stabilize the patient in a situation where there are multiple emergency cases
• Review all medical (laboratory and x-ray) reports concerning patients.

Requirements – Skills, Abilities, and Knowledge – for Emergency Room Physician Role

When hiring for the role of emergency room physician, most employers will expect you to meet the following requirements to qualify for an interview appointment:

• The emergency room physician must have excellent communication skills especially active listening skills
• He/she must be proactive in nature. That is to say that the emergency physician must be ready at all times to handle any given emergency situation
• Must have good time management abilities. This is basically due to the fact that the job is one that requires carrying out duties effectively within a limited time frame
• He/she must possess excellent hand-eye coordination
• Must have the ability to think and act critically at all times
• Must show understanding and support to patients in emergency situations
• Must have good organizational skills
• Must possess good interpersonal skills
• Possess good decision-making ability even under pressure
• Must have a keen eye for every important detail
• He/she should be able to work as part of a team or even lead a team if need be
• Ability to stay calm even in the most chaotic of scenarios
• A degree in medicine is a prerequisite
• 2 to 6 years of residency training in a recognized medical facility/health care center (within their emergency unit)
• Must possess the required license and certification to operate within that locality or area.

Conclusion

You will find the sample job description for the emergency room physician position provided in this post useful if you are an employer hiring for the role.

You will be able to produce a great description for the position in your organization easily and clearly too by making use of the content of this post, and that will improve your chances of getting the best-qualified personnel applying for the job.

Individuals interested in a career in the field of emergency medicine will also find this post helpful in learning about the duties and responsibilities that describe the position of an emergency room physician.