Pros
Great clinical experience for applying to med school. I experienced working environment of a hospital and was a part of doctor-patient interactions. I learned how emergency medicine is practiced; how a wide variety of medical issues can present and are initially treated, e.g. stroke, heart attack, appendicitis, drug overdoses, acute injuries, etc. Also I absorbed a lot of the medical terminology, names of drugs (and why they were given), and decision making steps that went with each diagnosis.
Cons
The pay is very low and there is no differential for overnight shifts, even though around the clock coverage is mandatory. Benefits are minimal. Formal training is brief and cannot possibly prepare you for actually working with a doctor, who has superior medical knowledge. Doctors also have unique preferences for charting, so each time working with a different physician requires adapting to their style, which can be difficult when their is a large physician group.
