Emergency medicine

2,327 articles · Since 2004

Articles, page 13

Stories of an ambulance medic in Israel

December 28, 2022Dec 28, 2022

An excerpt from Side by Side with Heroes: Stories of an Ambulance Medic in Israel. The worst day of my life started out a normal day at Magen David Adom, the Israeli national ambulance service. At the end of a…

An excerpt from Side by Side with Heroes: Stories of an Ambulance Medic in Israel.

The worst day of my life started out a normal day at Magen David Adom, the Israeli national ambulance service.

At the end of a long shift, I was in the washroom with my pants around my ankles. Suddenly, I heard a loud and unmistakable beeping from the loudspeakers, followed by the call for all drivers …

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Stories of an ambulance medic in Israel

Physician voices

Working through a pandemic and watching the health care system crumble around me

Anonymous

December 27, 2022Dec 27, 2022

The first dying patient I saw as a medical student was a man newly diagnosed with lung cancer, a chronic smoker with now oxygen-dependent COPD. In rounds, our medical team stopped outside his room, and the learned men and women pontificated about what to do next with the man. Chemo? Radiation? Both? I pretended to listen and rubbed my chin with feigned discernment, trying to understand the conversation like any …

Physician voices

Can Medicare advance directives be simple?

Kevin Haselhorst, MD

December 25, 2022Dec 25, 20224

Consider Medicare enrollment with the end in mind. In case of emergency, do seniors prefer medical care or holistic care? Might they designate a medical power of attorney or a merciful power of attorney? Do they oblige CPR or sign…

The JAMA Network just published Death and End-of-Life Care in Emergency Departments in the U.S. This retrospective cohort study concludes that,

Robust systems of emergency care

…

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Physician voices

Love that allows a grace-filled release

Gigi Abdel-Samed, MD, MBA

December 21, 2022Dec 21, 2022

I stood at the head of the bed, staring down at his throat, watching as the vocal cords opened and closed as he lay unconscious, waiting to time the insertion of the breathing tube at just the right moment. The…

The call occurred moments earlier in the ER: “They need a doc for intubation.” In the middle of a busy shift, time stood still. Priorities shifted in a moment, re-organizing themselves.

Intubation: A …

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Love that allows a grace-filled release

Physician voices

My personal cemetery

Veronica Bonales, MD

December 10, 2022Dec 10, 2022

I love listening to podcasts on my way to work, and I was most excited when the second season of Dr. Death started. If you didn't listen to the first season, it was about Dr. C. Duntsch, a neurosurgeon in…

I love listening to podcasts on my way to work, and I was most excited when the second season of Dr. Death started. If you didn’t listen to the first season, it was about Dr. C. Duntsch, a neurosurgeon in the Dallas area who should never have been operating on people. He even left his best friend paralyzed from the neck down due to a botched surgery.

The second season follows …

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My personal cemetery

The Podcast by KevinMD

A doctor’s journey through constraints and creativity in the ER [PODCAST]

The Podcast by KevinMD

November 7, 2022Nov 7, 2022

Jay Baruch is an emergency physician and author of Tornado of Life: A Doctor’s Journey Through Constraints and Creativity in the ER. We discuss his emergency medicine journey, poignant cases, the importance of stories in the doctor-patient relationship, why writing…

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Jay Baruch is an emergency physician and author of Tornado of Life: A Doctor’s Journey Through Constraints and Creativity in the ER.

We discuss his emergency medicine journey, poignant cases, the importance of stories in the doctor-patient relationship, why writing …

The Podcast by KevinMD

My sister went to the hospital seeking help. Instead, she died. [PODCAST]

The Podcast by KevinMD

November 1, 2022Nov 1, 2022

"I am heartbroken at the loss of my sister. No, breast cancer didn’t physically kill her, and for that, I am grateful. Its presence in her medical history, however, quite possibly did as it was apparently used as the justification…

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“I am heartbroken at the loss of my sister. No, breast cancer didn’t physically kill her, and for that, I am grateful. Its presence in her medical history, however, quite possibly did as it was apparently used as the justification for all that went wrong. Perhaps the young hospitalist will remember …

Physician voices

Giving medical advice with moral values is deeply personal and takes courage

Kevin Haselhorst, MD

October 26, 2022Oct 26, 2022

Imagine delivering testimony to practicing emergency medicine for 30 years on the TEDx stage and my "Real Serious Illness Conversations with Parents" being condemned with this NOTE FROM TED: Please do not look to this talk as a substitute for…

Imagine delivering testimony to practicing emergency medicine for 30 years on the TEDx stage and my “Real Serious Illness Conversations with Parents” being condemned with this NOTE FROM TED: Please do not look to this talk as a substitute for health advice. This talk only reflects the speaker’s personal views and beliefs. It’s as if to say, “Beware of the doc”… who lets individuals decide how they’ll die …

Physician voices

How major depression strengthened my practice and my faith in God

Heather M. Clark, MD

October 19, 2022Oct 19, 2022

I had a fairytale courtship, engagement, and wedding to my Prince Charming. We came home, starry-eyed, ready to start our forever together. Within weeks, I began to struggle. Always an extrovert, suddenly going to my family medicine rotation took extraordinary effort. I began to worry about my every word and action. Some days, I said nothing — unsure whether I could form a coherent sentence. I decided to take time …

Physician voices

A story that changed this pediatrician forever

Elizabeth M. LeDuc, MD

October 16, 2022Oct 16, 2022

I'm a pediatrician and have been practicing for 29 years. I currently own a solo practice. Here is a story I wrote years after a patient encounter during my residency in 1993. I didn't know it at the time, but…

I’m a pediatrician and have been practicing for 29 years. I currently own a solo practice.

Here is a story I wrote years after a patient encounter during my residency in 1993. I didn’t know it at the time, but it was an experience that would shape my career in general pediatrics.

Marcus is the worst case of child abuse I’ve seen to date. He’s two years old. His mom’s boyfriend dips …

The Podcast by KevinMD

What physicians can do in Ukraine [PODCAST]

The Podcast by KevinMD

October 12, 2022Oct 12, 2022

"You can talk about Ukraine and the courage of the Ukrainian people as you talk to colleagues and patients and as you talk to family and friends in your community. The U.S. may be divided now, but we can speak…

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“You can talk about Ukraine and the courage of the Ukrainian people as you talk to colleagues and patients and as you talk to family and friends in your community. The U.S. may be divided now, but we can speak as one people in support of democracy in Ukraine. When you …

Health policy

I went to Ukraine to help. Here’s what you can do.

Michael Fine, MD

October 10, 2022Oct 10, 2022

I went to Poland and Ukraine in April and May of 2022, hoping to support the Ukrainian people in their defense of their country and democracy itself. Vladimir Putin had put the world in a vise. "Let me do what…

I went to Poland and Ukraine in April and May of 2022, hoping to support the Ukrainian people in their defense of their country and democracy itself.

Vladimir Putin had put the world in a vise.

“Let me do what I want, or you will risk nuclear war,” was the implication. We’ve seen this before, I thought. Putin is Mussolini, Hitler and Stalin all rolled into one, and he needs to be …

Conditions and diseases

Health care’s dirty secret

Anonymous

October 9, 2022Oct 9, 20224

Health care has a dirty little secret. And if you aren't part of the club, chances are that you don't know anything about it. Aside from COVID-19, short staffing, and the lack of hospital beds to accommodate those who need…

Health care has a dirty little secret. And if you aren’t part of the club, chances are that you don’t know anything about it. Aside from COVID-19, short staffing, and the lack of hospital beds to accommodate those who need them, another crisis has been overshadowed and hidden from public view.

What is the secret? Health care is dangerous.

In fact, so many doctors and nurses are choosing to leave the bedside …

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Health care’s dirty secret

Conditions and diseases

It doesn’t matter where you are in the health care hierarchy

Debbie Moore-Black, RN

October 8, 2022Oct 8, 2022

He was in the Ivy League for med school. His dad was an MD, and they lived not too far from this small town. Daddy's house, a "mini-mansion," was right around the corner. After successfully completing his residency, Dr. David…

He was in the Ivy League for med school. His dad was an MD, and they lived not too far from this small town. Daddy’s house, a “mini-mansion,” was right around the corner.

After successfully completing his residency, Dr. David became our ER physician. This was a big deal—a big fish in a little pond.
He had an aura of wealth about him. He had an arrogance about him, too.

He was new …

The Podcast by KevinMD

Meet the emergency physician who writes satire [PODCAST]

The Podcast by KevinMD

October 5, 2022Oct 5, 2022

"In the dark radiology reading rooms, only the gentle hum of the computers and the quiet chatter of residents dictating radiology reads break the silence. Among the computers sits Dr. Exner, a senior radiology resident at Hospital Woeisme. He has…

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“In the dark radiology reading rooms, only the gentle hum of the computers and the quiet chatter of residents dictating radiology reads break the silence. Among the computers sits Dr. Exner, a senior radiology resident at Hospital Woeisme. He has recently become known for a peculiar habit – he has begun …

Health policy

Ending gun violence in America should be a no-brainer

Kelly Chamberlin, MD

September 29, 2022Sep 29, 20224

Brain matter was spilling out the top of the patient’s head in the trauma bay. It doesn’t take a neurosurgeon to know that this is not normal. My pager screamed, “GSW to head – ED Room 1.” Gunshot wound to head – Emergency Department Room 1. As the neurosurgery resident physician on call that night, it was my job to evaluate this patient STAT. I wish I could say this …

The Podcast by KevinMD

4 steps to de-escalate hostile people [PODCAST]

The Podcast by KevinMD

September 19, 2022Sep 19, 2022

"The boundaries of unacceptable behavior have eroded in the past few years. Politicians, law enforcement, movie stars, health care providers, the health care system, and society, in general, are all acting badly occasionally. I’m amazed but no longer surprised every…

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“The boundaries of unacceptable behavior have eroded in the past few years. Politicians, law enforcement, movie stars, health care providers, the health care system, and society, in general, are all acting badly occasionally. I’m amazed but no longer surprised every time it happens. Patients and family members behaving badly have captured …

Health policy

Improving access to care in rural America: Keeping rural hospitals in the game

Richard Watson, MD

September 11, 2022Sep 11, 2022

Almost 20 percent of America's population lives in rural areas of the country, where accessing health care facilities and services can be challenging. The patient-to-primary care physician ratio in rural areas is only 39.8 physicians per 100,000 residents, compared to…

Almost 20 percent of America’s population lives in rural areas of the country, where accessing health care facilities and services can be challenging. The patient-to-primary care physician ratio in rural areas is only 39.8 physicians per 100,000 residents, compared to 53.3 physicians in urban areas.

Rural hospitals work diligently to meet the health needs of the populations they serve, but they have long struggled with staffing shortages, inconsistent patient volumes, …

Physician voices

10 tips for smoothing the transition from resident to academic emergency medicine attending

Arthur J. Pope, MD, PhD & Kristyn J. Smith, DO & Megan Gillespie, DO

September 11, 2022Sep 11, 2022

Congratulations! You made it through residency. On to the next stage of your emergency medicine career – attending-hood (and for some fellowship)! Here are ten tips we learned during our first year as attendings at an academic emergency medicine department.…

Congratulations! You made it through residency. On to the next stage of your emergency medicine career – attending-hood (and for some fellowship)!

Here are ten tips we learned during our first year as attendings at an academic emergency medicine department.

1. Efficiency comes with time. Start off making sure you are methodical. Unlike residency, you will no longer have an attending re-ordering hemolyzed labs or ensuring a negative HCG prior to obtaining …

Physician voices

Residency almost killed me — literally

Anonymous

September 5, 2022Sep 5, 2022

One morning, I was sitting in resident lecture. This time was supposedly protected, but we realized fairly quickly that the work still had to be done, and "I had lecture" never really worked out well as an explanation. By this…

One morning, I was sitting in resident lecture. This time was supposedly protected, but we realized fairly quickly that the work still had to be done, and “I had lecture” never really worked out well as an explanation.

By this time in the week, I had already worked 80 hours, and the luxury of sitting down for an hour in a row was the main upside to the lecture. I kept …

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Residency almost killed me — literally

Emergency medicine

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