What EM job postings don't tell you

Figures on this page: publicly posted EM attending listings from employer and recruiter sites, 2025–26 sample, VitalPair analysis.

What we checked and how

• Sample. 259 publicly hosted US emergency medicine attending postings from employer and recruiter sites, found through Common Crawl / Web Data Commons and the Greenhouse and Lever job APIs. 192 of them are dated 2025–2026; we report that subset as the headline.
• Excluded. Job boards, employers whose terms prohibit automated collection, non-EM roles, 5 postings with no captured description, and 33 duplicate templates (same opening 300 characters).
• What counts. A detail counts only if the posting states it. “Competitive pay” does not count as pay.
• Accuracy. We hand-checked 30 postings against the automated extraction and agreed on 92% of details. Treat each row as roughly ±10 percentage points.
• Limits. Four agencies supplied about 30% of postings. These numbers are indicative, not a census of every EM job.

What's missing

The details most often stated were annual ED volume and shift length, and even those were missing from about half of recent postings. The terms that decide whether you can leave a job (noncompete) or start a family in it (parental leave) were missing from 98–99%.

Why it matters for work-life balance

In the 2023 graduating EM resident cohort, 97.5% rated lifestyle as an important influence on career choice, ahead of location, professional fulfillment and salary (Lu et al., 2026). Shifts per month, shift length and nights are practical details to investigate when comparing jobs.

A separate 2022 survey of 831 EM trainees and attending physicians asked about job opportunities after training: 92.4% rated the likelihood of finding any job as high, versus 49.8% for a desirable job (Olson et al., 2024). These separate surveys do not establish why those perceptions differ.

When a posting omits pay, schedule and noncompete terms, comparing jobs may require follow-up questions, interviews or a contract draft. For the burnout data, see EM burnout statistics.

The VitalPair Six

Six details every VitalPair listing must state before it goes live. “None” and “No” are real answers. Only a blank fails. Each percentage describes the labeled audit measure missing from public postings in our 2025–26 sample; it does not measure every part of the listing requirement (VitalPair, 2026).

1. 1

   Pay, in numbers

   An hourly range, salary range, or the base and RVU terms for the pay model. Not “competitive.”

   79% missing: Pay as a number (hourly or salary).

   79%

   missing

2. 2

   Schedule

   The minimum number of shifts per month.

   86% missing: Shifts per month.

   86%

   missing

3. 3

   Nights

   What is expected: no nights, minimal nights, a rotating fair share, or a nocturnist track.

   65% missing: Night expectations.

   65%

   missing

4. 4

   Noncompete

   Radius in miles and length in months. “No noncompete” is an answer.

   99% missing: Noncompete terms (incl. none).

   99%

   missing

5. 5

   Malpractice and tail

   Who pays, and whether tail is included, not needed (occurrence), or yours to buy.

   69% missing: Malpractice coverage mentioned.

   69%

   missing

6. 6

   Benefits eligibility

   The minimum hours for benefits, and whether part-time roles exist and carry benefits.

   73% missing: Health/retirement benefits described.

   73%

   missing

Missing rates: pay as a number, shifts per month, night expectations, noncompete terms, malpractice coverage mentioned, and health or retirement benefits described; publicly posted EM attending listings from employer and recruiter sites, 2025–26 sample, VitalPair analysis. Benefits eligibility (the hours threshold) and responsibility for tail coverage are distinct from the adjacent measures. The 73% figure does not measure eligibility; the 69% figure does not measure tail coverage.

VitalPair requires pay as a number. In our 2025–26 sample, 79% of public postings omitted it. Pay is one factor to compare. See jobs on VitalPair, or list a role if you hire.

True hourly rate calculator

A salary means little until you divide it by the hours it takes. Two offers with the same salary can differ by a wide margin per hour once shifts, shift length and nights are counted.

Contract checklist

Tick these off as you read an offer. Anything the posting left out, ask for in writing. The boxes are for your own use and are not saved.

• Pay stated as a number, with the pay model (hourly, salary, RVU or hybrid) and how RVUs are counted
• Shifts per month and hours per shift, and whether charting time is paid
• Share of nights, how they are assigned, and the night differential
• Weekends and holidays per month
• Minimum hours for full benefits; part-time availability and benefits
• Malpractice type (claims-made or occurrence) and who pays tail
• Noncompete radius and length, and whether it applies if you are let go or the contract is lost
• APP supervision ratio and co-signature rules
• Annual ED volume and physician coverage at peak hours
• Partnership track: years, buy-in, and voting rights
• Sign-on bonus terms and what triggers repayment
• Paid parental leave, in weeks

Pay-transparency laws

The January 30, 2026 review describes several kinds of disclosure duties. It lists posting requirements in California, Colorado, Hawaii, Illinois, Maryland, Massachusetts, Minnesota, New Jersey, New York, Vermont, Washington and D.C. Connecticut requires disclosure on request or before an offer; Nevada after an interview; Rhode Island on request and at other hiring stages. Ohio city rules vary. Delaware's posting requirement takes effect September 26, 2027 (Jackson Lewis, 2026). These are the review's dated examples. Check current local law, employer coverage and effective dates; an omitted range is not automatically a violation.

What a complete listing looks like

The VitalPair Six above, plus the details on the checklist. If a posting leaves them out, the questions are worth asking before an interview, not after an offer.

Common questions