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Emergency medicine specialist vs trauma surgeon

The differences between emergency medicine specialists and trauma surgeons can be seen in a few details. Each job has different responsibilities and duties. Additionally, a trauma surgeon has an average salary of $406,184, which is higher than the $171,707 average annual salary of an emergency medicine specialist.

The top three skills for an emergency medicine specialist include emergency medicine, patients and critical care. The most important skills for a trauma surgeon are critical care, patient care, and trauma surgery.

Emergency medicine specialist vs trauma surgeon overview

Emergency Medicine SpecialistTrauma Surgeon
Yearly salary$171,707$406,184
Hourly rate$82.55$195.28
Growth rate7%7%
Number of jobs40,0963,750
Job satisfaction--
Most common degreeBachelor's Degree, 54%Bachelor's Degree, 25%
Average age4849
Years of experience-6

What does an emergency medicine specialist do?

Emergency medicine specialists are healthcare professionals who are responsible for treating patients with immediate care in emergency rooms or trauma centers. These specialists are required to possess skills in advanced cardiac life support, trauma care, and management of other life-threatening conditions. They must lead a team of other medical professionals during situations that are intense and stressful while making a split second lifesaving diagnosis on their patients. Emergency medicine specialists must also maintain accurate medical records to understand the medical history of their patients.

What does a trauma surgeon do?

Trauma surgeons attend to ER patients who fall into certain categories of medical conditions such as low blood pressure following a car accident or if emergency surgery is needed to prevent permanent damage or save their lives. They will assume responsibility for the patient's care if hospital admission is needed as well as follow-up care. Other duties of a trauma surgeon include evaluating, diagnosing, and stabilizing a patient with traumatic physical injury, treating patients with cuts, internal injuries, and bone fractures, and evaluating which injuries need medical intervention first.

Emergency medicine specialist vs trauma surgeon salary

Emergency medicine specialists and trauma surgeons have different pay scales, as shown below.

Emergency Medicine SpecialistTrauma Surgeon
Average salary$171,707$406,184
Salary rangeBetween $85,000 And $345,000Between $204,000 And $806,000
Highest paying CityBangor, MEGrand Forks, ND
Highest paying stateMaineMinnesota
Best paying companyPeaceHealthTrinity Health
Best paying industryProfessionalProfessional

Differences between emergency medicine specialist and trauma surgeon education

There are a few differences between an emergency medicine specialist and a trauma surgeon in terms of educational background:

Emergency Medicine SpecialistTrauma Surgeon
Most common degreeBachelor's Degree, 54%Bachelor's Degree, 25%
Most common majorPhysician AssistantMedicine
Most common collegeUniversity of FloridaDuke University

Emergency medicine specialist vs trauma surgeon demographics

Here are the differences between emergency medicine specialists' and trauma surgeons' demographics:

Emergency Medicine SpecialistTrauma Surgeon
Average age4849
Gender ratioMale, 33.6% Female, 66.4%Male, 55.6% Female, 44.4%
Race ratioBlack or African American, 5.3% Unknown, 4.5% Hispanic or Latino, 10.0% Asian, 18.4% White, 61.6% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.2%Black or African American, 1.8% Unknown, 3.8% Hispanic or Latino, 5.0% Asian, 12.7% White, 76.6% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.1%
LGBT Percentage13%12%

Differences between emergency medicine specialist and trauma surgeon duties and responsibilities

Emergency medicine specialist example responsibilities.

  • Chart patient logs on the EMR.
  • Perform EKG testing and acquire patient vitals.
  • Assist the physician with EKG's, examinations, procedures and other duties.
  • Identify proper equipment and machine use, including goal-direct focused ultrasound to accurately diagnose and quickly resuscitate patients.
  • Perform appropriate history and physical examination to a diverse caseload of patients and order appropriate diagnostic lab work and studies.
  • Develop an ambulatory pediatrics curriculum for family medicine residents
  • Show more

Trauma surgeon example responsibilities.

  • Manage all incoming medical records requests (ensuring office is within HIPPA guidelines).
  • Coordinate with patients and medical staff at civilian and military treatment facilities to schedule medical appointments and retrieve medical documentation.
  • Observe fracture plating, skin grafting, wind cleaning, amputation, and other Orthopaedic surgeries.

Emergency medicine specialist vs trauma surgeon skills

Common emergency medicine specialist skills
  • Emergency Medicine, 32%
  • Patients, 26%
  • Critical Care, 8%
  • Patient Care, 7%
  • Acls, 5%
  • IM, 4%
Common trauma surgeon skills
  • Critical Care, 44%
  • Patient Care, 29%
  • Trauma Surgery, 20%
  • Emergency Medicine, 3%
  • Private Practice, 2%
  • IV, 1%

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