1. Finish the sentence: People have a much better chance of not ending up in the ER if . . .
Dr. Dearie: …they take a proactive role in managing their health with a priority on preventive health evaluations and good dietary/lifestyle choices.
2. What’s the most common question you get asked when somebody finds out what you do?
Dr. Dearie: Inevitably “That must be an interesting job …. What’s the strangest thing you have ever seen in the ER?”
3. What one basic medical skill should everybody learn?
Dr. Dearie: CPR and use of AED (Automated External Defibrillator)
4. What’s a common misconception people have about what you do?
Dr. Dearie: Due to the version of Emergency Medicine depicted in the innumerable TV shows/movies over the last 20 years, many people feels like the ER is place of non-stop excitement, critical life and death cases and drama. The reality is that there is a significant of “routine” in the ER, interspersed with occasional critical cases.
5. Do people expect everyday to be an episode of Grey’s Anatomy or ER?
Dr. Dearie: Exactly. There was a time when those shows were at their peak of popularity that there was a nearly palpable let down when the physician walked into the room as the patient was apparently expecting Dr Meredith Grey or Dr Doug Ross!
