With rapid expansion, support has been stretched thinner by the day — leading to staffing issues, inconsistent management, and declining morale, much like other ERs.
There are many horror stories (including from my own experience) about inexperienced, corporate-minded leadership lacking clinical awareness.
The “cult” vibes are hard to ignore. Expectations placed on doctors can be unrealistic, especially in the open concept environment.
You’re constantly interrupted — answering medical calls, being tapped on the shoulder, and doing “Spike 3” (aka "you will see the doctor right away"). You often end up juggling roles: receptionist, triage nurse, assistant, and even janitor — all while being the doctor.
There is also increasing pressure to hospitalize and manage critical cases that really should be referred, and you are expected to cut, too. So go ahead and add criticalist and surgeon to the list of hats you’ll wear.
Overall, the experience you have at VEG will heavily depend on local leadership. Some hospitals run like well-oiled machines, led by teams with intense loyalty where VEG’s core values truly shine. But with such aggressive expansion, you’re increasingly likely to land in a hospital with absent, inexperienced, or profit-driven management focused more on increasing case load and margins — often at the expense of staff well-being and patient safety.
You will burn out in 3-5 years.
