Emergency Medicine focuses on the diagnosis, management and prevention of acute and urgent aspects of illness and injury and encompasses a full spectrum of undifferentiated physical and behavioural disorders. It is a relatively new speciality which is constantly being developed. With such a wide variety of challenges and areas of interest there is something for everyone and rarely a dull moment.

Your job role as an EM higher trainee involves taking a leading role in managing the sicker patients in the resuscitation area, supervising junior doctors and nurse practitioners, organising the shop floor, teaching, resolving conflicts and complaints and gaining experience in management as well as seeing the usual majors and minors patients.

The diversity of the West Midlands means trainees will rotate to a variety of hospitals serving different populations from rural District General Hospitals to inner city Trauma Units and Major Trauma Centres.

The West Midlands Deanery provides weekly Emergency Medicine registrar teaching sessions which are consultant led and syllabus based to help trainees achieve their competences and pass their FCEM exams. Many of the region’s hospitals offer local critical appraisal and management sessions as well.

The region offers a wide case mix due to its varied population and including tropical medicine cases, genetic syndromes and, sadly, complex child abuse cases. This enables trainees to learn the practical management of some of the rarer illnesses we may encounter in our careers and of the more testing situations you will be faced with as a consultant.