Job Talk: A brief look into the life of an ER doctor

By Geraldine Nuñez

Staff Reporter

February 2022

Dr. Julie Sundaram is an Emergency Medicine Physician at Mercy Health Hospital and Trauma Center in Janesville. Dr. Sundaram describes herself as an adrenaline junkie with a passion for medicine.

How do you feel the Covid pandemic has contributed to the workforce demand in your field?

Well to be fair, I am super passionate about medicine. So I really want to say that overwhelmingly I love my job, I love what I do. I would not be a doctor if I were not truly interested in helping people.

I do believe over the Covid pandemic, we have definitely been stretched to our absolute limit in the emergency department. We’re open 24/7, 365 days a year, and many times, when there just wasn’t anywhere else for people to go, whether it was for smaller healthcare needs or for major health care emergencies, they came here. I just think that we just continued to open our arms and take everybody in, so we saw volumes of people with our standard amount of staff, so yeah we are stretched, but we love what we do so we just find ways to make it work. Covid has been tough, yup! Absolutely!

But I’ve been doing this for 20 years, this is not my first rodeo. [...]I was a doctor during 9/11 and I was in Chicago at the time. It was scary. People don't understand, but we didn't know if Chicago was next. And I was there and I just remember being told, ‘everybody report in’, this is what we do. It’s not just the pandemic that stretches us, I mean I trained in Chicago and there was the one stampede at the club that got set on fire and we, all the people who were in the ER that night, must have seen a hundred and fifty people in like a span of two hours. That's insane! So yeah...this is what we do. We stretch beyond what we think our limits are, and we figure out ways to deal with that. That’s our jam.

What kind of physical toll does this job have on your body?

I mean, we work a lot of hours. We tend to work in streaks or stretches. It's not like a 48-hour a week job. [...] We kind of just know how many hours we're gonna work. We bid out if we feel like we have more hours to give and kind of store up hours so we can take more time off.

What does average look like for you? (Is there even an average day? How many hours a day do you normally work?)

It's so variable…I mean, the standard in emergency medicine for a full time employee is twelve twelve hour shifts a month, so a hundred and forty four hours a month. I've worked in a lot of different places, so it's very regional too.

What kind of emotional or mental toll does this have on you?

I think that generally emergency medicine is very rewarding. Because when we save a life, we really save it. I can actually say that I've saved someone's life, so that's really cool. But we do have a front visual of [...] very sad things sometimes, like the mental health crisis that's going on and the addiction crisis that's going on. [...] It does weigh on you, because you see it and sometimes you feel helpless to change it. The one thing that I tell people about going into this type of field is that we are all a window pane, and each patient, each situation, each scenario is like somebody putting their fingerprint on you and you have to figure out what your personal Windex is when you get home every day. Is it reading a book, is it running a marathon, is it cooking or baking cookies?

And I think that in medicine in general, but especially emergency medicine, you will find so many people who are so passionate about whatever their “Windex” is. I love being around all these super passionate people that, though it might not be my jam, and I'm not gonna yuck anyone's yum, but you have to have that. It does take its toll, but we are prepared for that.

What is one piece of advice you have for students who wish to pursue this field?

Range. Diversity. Just don't dial it in. I mean really, truly take your time. Do interesting things, take interesting classes.

Especially in emergency medicine, we’re kind of a jack of all trades, master of none. I know a little bit about dermatology and neurosurgery and all these other things. Just really embrace range, don't embrace specialization. Everything contributes.

What are the lesser known aspects of your job?

I think nobody knows how poor you are the whole time. I mean four years of undergrad, and you're kind of having this angst and just paying out for your undergrad, and then medical school which is about 50-60 thousand a year—and that's just tuition! People who graduate from medical school often graduate with...500 thousand dollars in debt! And most specialties do make money, but most physicians are paying off their loans for the first 15 to 20 years of their careers.

I mean, I'm happy with what I did, I enjoy what I did. I like it. I love the human body, and I love serving others in this capacity. But I can see so many paths to wealth (if that's what you think is important) that don't involve that level of studying. They're real, and I honor all of those professions. My grandpa was an auto mechanic, so I spent a lot of time in his shop, and I used to fix cars, but now I think of myself as being a mechanic for people.

Do you think that the professional expectations you had for yourself in school are accurate today? (Did it take as long as you thought? Did it work out the way you expected?)

Oh my gosh, no not at all! When I went to high school I would have told you that I was gonna do plant science, like botany, and do plant genetics. That's what I really thought that I was going into. But then, I was kind of doing all this science and hanging out with the cohort of premeds, and I was doing everything they were doing. Then, I decided to go to a few premed society meetings, and then do this ambulance ridealong thing and thought, 'this seems doable' and just took the gamble.

It's four years of undergrad, four years of medical school, and four years of residency. It was very, very tough to get in, so I think that I didn't want to feel like I was putting all of my eggs in that basket because it was really scary the number of applicants that were fabulous, amazing, wonderful people that were getting rejected.

But it's not that way now. Medical school applications are way down right now. So it's actually a good time to think about being a doctor.

Do you think it was a clear cut choice for you to become a doctor where you just knew, or did it take a while to decide?

I don't think I knew. I wanted, and I hoped, but until I literally had the [acceptance] letter in my hand, I didn't want to let myself become attached to it because I was so frightened. True story, I studied a ton and took the MCAT ( Medical College Admission Test) and I realized very late that the DAT (Dental Admission Test) was being offered the next weekend and thought, 'well maybe I could become a dentist.' So I literally took the DAT the next weekend. That's how undecided I was up until the very end.

I don't think you need to know. People make it too big of a deal like you have to know, before you need to know it.

What made you choose this job?

I think once I was in medical school, that was the key. Keep marching forward and do your work, you will get through. It's really hard, but you will get through. As soon as I knew I was in medical school then I could easily choose my specialty. Then I knew what I wanted to do, for sure.