Drug and alcohol use in emergency medicine residency: an impaired resident's perspective.

We share the personal experience of an impaired resident who successfully completed rehabilitation and is about to graduate from an emergency medicine program and perform a brief literature review on drug and alcohol abuse in emergency medicine residencies. Residents in general are less likely than their same-age peers to abuse drugs, but a significant minority starts using drugs during residency. Emergency medicine residents have higher rates of substance use than residents in other specialties and are more likely to report current use of cocaine and marijuana.