The Emergency Department Medical Director

Abstract

This article has presented an overview of the duties, responsibilities, and management roles of the emergency department Medical Director, a position that can be among the most challenging, stimulating, and exciting in medicine. However, prior to accepting a position as an Emergency Department medical director, one should have a clear understanding of what the job entails. Careful discussions with the hospital administration, medical staff, nursing personnel, and staff emergency physicians should be undertaken to learn the perceptions of these people and expectations of the position. Once the job has been accepted, using the roles, responsibilities, and duties detailed herein may be of benefit--but should always be applied with good judgment, tactful cooperation, and common sense. Finally, it should not be surprising to a medical director to find, as Spinoza did many years ago, that the excellent thing he aspires to are as difficult as they are rare.