Acute Mountain Sickness
The headache felt like my skull was splitting in half.
Posts about Emergency Medicine
Time Management Pearls for Clinicians: Optimizing Efficiency
As healthcare professionals, our days are filled with many tasks, such as patient encounters, documentation, and administrative work, not to mention keeping track of a household or family. Time management becomes crucial in ensuring that we provide quality care while maintaining our well-being. In this blog, we'll explore some valuable pearls for efficient clinical time management, and I’ll note some tips that have worked well for me.
Dive In: Deciding on Suture Material for Deep Layer Closures
Selecting the ideal suture material for deeper layers involves careful consideration since specific materials offer varying absorption rates, making them suitable for different wound depths. When speaking with Dr. Christina Shenvi on an episode of ERcast, Dr. Cohen recommended the following suture material options for closing the deeper layers of the skin (buried):
Introducing Practical Pharmacology: An Outpatient Audio Course
Nowhere is the gap between book learning and clinical practice quite so apparent as in the world of pharmacology. The best medication for Diagnosis X is Drug Y on the boards, but what about when your real-life patient is allergic to that medication? What if they can’t afford it? What if there’s a drug shortage?
Read moreHow to Repair a Facial Laceration Like a Plastic Surgeon
Emergency medicine often puts us face-to-face with lacerations requiring precision and care. Dr. Justin Cohen's visit to ERcast, alongside Dr. Christina Shenvi, illuminated the path to handling facial lacerations with the finesse of a plastic surgeon. Here are key takeaways to elevate your emergency room responses.
Beyond Delta-9: The Surge of Synthetic THC
In recent years, the landscape of cannabis accessibility has dramatically shifted, not just in conventional dispensaries but in everyday storefronts across the United States. This new wave of products, stemming from the 2018 Farm Bill's legal distinction between hemp and marijuana, has ushered in an era of synthetic cannabinoids like Delta-8 THC, Delta-10 THC, and THCA, which are finding their way into the hands of consumers and,...
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The Hidden Widowmaker
You've seen it countless times: a patient walks into the ED with chest pain, and the EKG isn't screaming STEMI. But in follow-up, they end up having a massive myocardial infarction. What is the hidden culprit lurking behind those non-alarming EKGs? Welcome to the Occlusive Myocardial Infarction (OMI) world, where traditional STEMI criteria fall short, and a new paradigm shifts our approach to acute cardiac ischemia.
Revolutionizing Preoxygenation: Insights from the PREOXI Trial
Is there anything more bread and butter in emergency medicine than intubating patients in high-stress situations? With five million adults needing emergency intubation annually, staying updated on intubation best practices is crucial. The PRagmatic trial Examining OXygenation prior to Intubation (PREOXI), just published in the NEJM and discussed on ERcast in this free segment, could revolutionize our approach to preoxygenation and, most...
Clinicians Are Only Human
Recently, one of my primary care patients sent me a routine question through the electronic medical record, asking when they should get a specific blood test to guide their medication dosing. When an hour went by and I hadn’t responded, my patient called the front desk of our clinic to ask the question over the phone and inquire why I hadn’t written back. They also wrote me another message, voicing their disappointment that I hadn’t...
Why Would I Do That? Postgraduate Emergency Medicine Training for PAs
Are you captivated by the adrenaline-filled environment of emergency medicine (EM)? You’re not alone. EM attracts 12.5% of PAs, making it a popular choice among advanced practice providers. But how do you get started in such a fast-paced, varied, and occasionally high-stakes practice environment?
"I Messed Up"
In the high-stakes world of medicine, where every decision holds weight, the inevitability of human error can loom large over clinicians. It's a reality we all face, yet admitting our mistakes and grappling with their aftermath can be one of the most challenging aspects of our profession. How do we reconcile our desire for perfection with the reality of fallibility? How do we move forward gracefully and resiliently after making a clinical...
