Emergency Medicine

An emergency physician delivers a baby, and realizes that it isn’t for him

Edwin Leap, MD

Physician

March 27, 2018

I’m an emergency physician. In common parlance, an ER doc. Which means, like a little kid who will eat dirt on a dare, there’s not much I won’t try in the practice of my profession. Many of my colleagues have had far more challenging careers than me, I assure you. But I have some stories to tell. Cyanide overdose while moonlighting as a resident. Patient nearly dying from bite by …

The public’s unrealistic expectations about CPR

Skeptical Scalpel, MD

Physician

March 19, 2018

A survey of 1,000 volunteer adults found 71% regularly watched medical television dramas, but only 12% said the shows “were a reliable source of health information.”

The participants were given some brief vignettes describing scenarios where CPR was administered: a 54-year-old who suffered a heart attack at home and received CPR by paramedics, an 80-year-old with a postoperative cardiac arrest in the hospital after surgery, and a post-traumatic arrest in an …

5 ways to be financially successful as a physician

Mick Connors, MD

Finance

March 15, 2018

I was doing a procedure on a child last night, and the mother said to her son: “I want you to be a doctor, make lots of money and buy me a house.”

Of course, it was 11 p.m. on a Friday night, and I was making my riches doing a procedure on an anxious four-year-old in the emergency department.

Doctors make a good income after they finish 25 years of education …

Fixation error can be deadly in medicine

Raj Waghmare, MD

Conditions

February 26, 2018

John Grover is a nice guy. He’s fifty-five, short, a little chubby, and he has a neatly trimmed red beard. He’s the kind of guy whose eyes light up the moment you walk into the room; The kind of guy who remembers your kids’ names, their ages, and their interests. I’d met him a few times before. He’d come in once to refill his blood pressure medication because he couldn’t …

How this physician started his consulting business

Sylvan Waller, MD

Physician

February 23, 2018

I do some of my best thinking while exercising.

A few years ago, I was swimming laps in the still-dark early morning.

Swimming is one of my favorite activities. But in a pool, it gets boring staring at the bottom, so my mind often wanders off to tackle difficult problems.

That morning, like many of you, I was wrestling with the question of how to turn my passion into a successful side gig …

A kiss changed this doctor’s life

Lee David Milligan, MD

Physician

February 15, 2018

As a boy growing up in a small town in Pennsylvania, I never gave much thought to the concept of a kiss. My family gave and received kisses without hesitation. I continue to give and receive kisses from my wife and kids in the same nonchalant manner.

Until one night — on shift.

I work in the ER of a medium-sized town in southern Oregon. It was late into my shift. The …

Read more…

A kiss changed this doctor’s life

5 mistakes this doctor made when negotiating his contract

Mitchel Schwindt, MD

Physician

February 5, 2018

The final year of any residency is a time of accelerated independence, moonlighting, and an intense search for that first job as an attending. This decision is critical as one embarks on a life-long career in medicine, and it will undoubtedly blend a mix of analytics, emotion, and finance into the final analysis.

With a bit of candor, I want to share the mistakes I made when accepting my first contract …

What exactly does an emergency physician do?

Edward Lew, MD

Physician

January 25, 2018

I am an emergency medicine physician.

I save lives.

As an ER physician, my job is frequently misunderstood. A common question that patients ask is, “What specialty are you hoping to go into?” The misconception is that emergency rooms are staffed by cardiologists, internists, etc., who are trying to make extra income. That’s likely not the case anymore. Some also believe that we can take the place of their family doctor. Or …

The practice of emergency medicine is a team sport

Sandra Scott Simons, MD

Physician

January 18, 2018

“Same team!” bellowed all the frustrated parents from the sideline of a lacrosse game as we watched two teammates clash sticks while fighting to catch the same pass. Both players missed the ball, and the other team scooped it up and scored, perfectly illustrating to our kids what happens when they battle among themselves.

It’s easy to remind our kids that teammates shouldn’t fight, but it’s harder to remind each other …

A story of 2 torsions

Ronald Zacker, PA-C

Conditions

January 13, 2018

The kids were asleep, and I could hear a muted, distant moaning coming from our bedroom. It reminded me of labor pains, but there were three things making labor unlikely: my wife’s IUD, the absence of a gravid abdomen and the kind of unintentional celibacy that occurs between working parents raising two toddlers. I tried to ignore the moaning. In part, because it was a Sunday night, and the sound …

Read more…

A story of 2 torsions

10 surprising things you need to know about the emergency department

Irene Tien, MD

Physician

December 5, 2017

Despite the fact that most people will have had the misfortune of visiting the emergency department (ED) at some point in their life, I find that many folks do not really understand what happens in the ED.

1. Emergency medicine is a specialty. Yes, we actually did residency training to learn how to work in the ED. This training lasted three to four years after medical school and is sometimes followed …

I’ll never forget the eyes of a 6-year-old sexual assault victim

Debbie Moore-Black, RN

Conditions

November 23, 2017

Patsy loved playing bingo every Wednesday night. Her boyfriend of three years loved watching her daughter Jenna who was a tiny and pretty six-year-old her momma called “princess.”

Even though they weren’t related, Jenna called Patsy’s boyfriend “Uncle Billy” at her mother’s behest.

And Uncle Billy made Jenna shyer and quieter than she usually was. He’d walk in on those Wednesday nights and demand a big hug and kiss on the cheek …

The case of a fish hook in the eye

Raj Waghmare, MD

Conditions

November 22, 2017

Triage Note: Fish hook in eye. No bleeding. Tetanus up to date.

It’s a sunny weekend during cottage season. A young woman is rushed into the ER as she cups both hands over her left eye. She’s in shorts, and flip-flops, and she’s hyperventilating. Her friends follow, hands similarly cupped over their mouths. I read the triage note. I’ve never seen this before. I’ve removed dozens of fish hooks — it’s …

Read more…

The case of a fish hook in the eye

Thank you for performing CPR on my child

Mick Connors, MD

Physician

November 7, 2017

I wonder what the best thank you any physician has ever received? I think this one is mine. This recent thank you was for our efforts to not save a child but for simply allowing this family to have a few more days with their infant who ultimately passed away. This amazing thank you has deeply and positively affected me so much …

A place for music in the emergency department

Thomas Scary

Education

October 23, 2017

The emergency department is a place of unpredictability. Some days are a whirlwind, others drag, but both can be interesting. On a calmer day, I found myself, a fourth-year medical student, working with a physician I will call Dr. Smith. We discovered that we shared a common love for music, and between patients, we discussed everything from opera, to banjo, to Indian music. I am a composer and amateur classical …

Emergency medicine can be exhausting. Here’s what this doctor does to unwind.

Edwin Leap, MD

Physician

October 15, 2017

So I’ve finished up at one job and moved on to another. I was a director for a year, and it was a learning experience. Right now I’m nearing the final approach after working a long run. Last week I had five nights, 12 hours duration each. I stayed in a hotel near the hospital. Then, after two days off at home, I started a run of five days, of …

How the pain scale and patient satisfaction leads to death

Edwin Leap, MD

Physician

October 9, 2017

Unless you’ve been living under a rock, you’re well aware that the United States is in the grip of a really big epidemic of opioid abuse. The epicenter of much of this has been my beloved Appalachia. My home-town, Huntington, WV, might as well be re-named “Oxycontin,” or maybe “Heroinville.” It’s ugly.

Enormous amounts of ink have been spilled on this topic, and …

5 ways doctors can cope when natural disaster strikes

N. Bande Virgil, MD

Physician

October 5, 2017

The ice storm of 2013 in Atlanta, Georgia made headlines for weeks described as “snowpocalypse” and “snowmageddon.” It looked like something from a sci-fi movie — the end of the world, an alien invasion. It was the subject of social media memes and discourse for quite some time. In the midst of all that human frustration, there were ice-trapped cars, parents who struggled to reach children trapped at elementary schools.

Physicians, …

The story of how a hospital is being sacrificed for money

Niran S. Al-Agba, MD

Policy

September 20, 2017

There is a 4,300-strong grassroots movement known as “Save Our Hospital” gaining notoriety in Albert Lea, Minnesota. This story is symptomatic of the fact that hospital consolidation has slowly become a national pastime. With declining revenue under the Affordable Care Act, mergers increased by 70 percent, leaving small communities scrambling for health care access. The latest casualty in the “hospital-consolidation-for-sport” trend is Albert Lea, a small …

The surprising sleeping arrangements of an emergency physician

Edwin Leap, MD

Physician

September 15, 2017

I used to practice locums medicine; which for the lay person means traveling to different jobs, sometimes several states at a time. During that time I stayed in a lot of hotels. But, occasionally, I had more unique accomodations. Obviously, if you travel enough, you’ll sleep in an airport here and there. No big deal. I actually like sleeping in airports occasionally. When you’re stuck, you’re stuck. Weather or …

Emergency Medicine

Most Popular

Past Week

Past 6 Months

Recent Posts

Subscribe to KevinMD and never miss a story!

Most Popular

Past Week

Past 6 Months

Recent Posts