Welcome to the first in a series of ‘20-question’ interviews with physicians in each of the major medical specialties. For our first article we sat-down in February 2007 with Dale Woolridge, MD/PhD, FAAEM, FAAP, FACEP.

Given that Woolridge is the Director of the Emergency Medicine and Pediatric Combined Residency Program, as well as Assistant Professor of Emergency Medicine and Pediatrics at the Department of Emergency Medicine in Tucson, Arizona, we’re pleased he had time to answer one question—let alone 20.

SDN: Describe a typical day at work.

W: I attend in an Emergency Department at a Level 1 trauma center that where we care for both medical and trauma cases, as well as oversee residents who I teach bedside. I also provide didactic training and lectures, and conduct simulator training with residents. I also conduct administrative duties and resident oversight/advising

SDN: If you had it to do all over again, would you still become a Doctor? (Why or why not? What would you have done instead?)

W: Although there are negatives, all in all I would still do it all over again. I definitely chose the right profession for me. The biggest dissuasion I can see are the medical legal issues—the liability and the threat of being sued.

SDN: Why did you choose your specialty?

W: I like the variety and that I don’t have to pin myself down. My personality is also compatible to the random schedule. In short, my lifestyle is compatible. As for pediatrics, I chose kids because I enjoy caring for them over all others.

SDN: Did you plan to enter your current specialty prior to med school?

W: The decision came during my third year. I was originally going into orthopedics. But the lifestyle of an orthopedist doesn’t provide variety and I found it to be too narrow of a scope.

SDN: Now that you’re in your specialty, do you find that it met your expectations?

W: Yes. I consider myself to be very fortunate to have stayed in academics. I like the teaching involvement and the residency involvement.

SDN: Are you satisfied with your income?

W: Whenever someone goes into academic medicine, there’s a pay cut involved, but I knew that going in and I am satisfied. Sure, I could be making more in private practice, but I’m not hurting.

SDN: What do you like most and least about your specialty?

W: I like to be able to fix things fast, and Emergency Medicine allows for that. Unfortunately, the nature of emergency is that you also see underside of society—the drug seekers and others with ulterior motives. The threat of liability is also a huge negative.

SDN: If you took out educational loans, is paying them back a financial strain?

W: Not for me, because I enrolled in the Army Reserve STRAP program and they help pay back my loans.

SDN: On average: How many hours a week do you work? How many hours do you sleep per night? How many weeks of vacation do you take?

W: I work about 26 hours clinically per week, and work a total of 50 hours including teaching and administration. I’ve never been a good sleeper, so I average about six hours per night. As for vacation, I can take as much as I want. We choose our schedules six months at a time, so technically I could work all my shifts straight through and take three months off. Usually, I take four to six weeks per year.

SDN: Do you have a family and do you have enough time to spend with them?

W: Yes and yes. I have two kids who are getting older and more active, and I am able to tailor my shifts for time off.

SDN: In your position now, knowing what you do – what would you say to yourself 10 years ago?

W: I don’t have any regrets—I’m happy with the way I trained and with the job I landed.

SDN: What information/advice do you wish you had known when you were a premed?
(What mistakes or experiences have you encountered that you wished you had known about ahead of time so you could have avoided them?)

W: I would have taken more initiative early on to get clinical exposure. In third year I was thrown straight into the clinical setting. To prepare better I would have volunteered more beforehand. I also think I would have gotten my Paramedic or EMT training.

SDN: From your perspective, what is the biggest problem in healthcare today?

W: Medical liability, particularly in Emergency Medicine where you can’t establish rapport with patients as easily. For example, half of the radiographs I order are not because I think there is likely to be an abnormality, rather it’s to be overly cautious to avoid a lawsuit. I think it’s made the cost of healthcare extremely onerous on all sides.

SDN: From your perspective, what is the biggest problem within your own specialty?

W: Again, I would have to say medical liability and frivolous lawsuits. It’s inherent to the nature of Emergency Medicine, where I will not get to see these patients again, that every time I send someone home I have to be very comfortable that they don’t have anything emergent going on.

SDN: What impact do mid-level providers have on your day-to-day practice?

W: Zero—not in our department since we are resident based.

SDN: Where do you see your specialty in 10 years?

W: I see Emergency Medicine always having business and being in business. I hope that primary care will catch up to us and be able to correct the over saturation in Emergency Medicine. I’m optimistic that some of our volume will be funneled back to the clinics and allow us to focus on true emergencies.

SDN: What types of outreach/volunteer work do you do, if any? Any international work?

W: I volunteer as a physician at a local high school and elementary school, where I attend sporting events and also teach injury prevention.

SDN: Why did you select academics over private practice?

W: I want to know what’s next and want to be able to talk about theories and what is new. I also like the challenge of keeping myself academically sharp.

SDN: What mix of clinical/research/teaching work do you do? How much power do you have to change that mix?

W: Clinical is set in stone, because it pays the bills, but I’m more invested in academics. Roughly 50 percent of my duties are clinical. As far as teaching is concerned, you can do this while you’re doing clinical work, so a clinician with a passion for teaching makes it overlap. I’d say research is five percent, and teaching is 80 percent. I have the power to change that mix—I could get a grant that buys my hours down.

SDN: What are the advantages/disadvantages to academic medicine?

W: In academics there’s less money, and you often work more hours. The advantage is in the satisfaction of teaching.