Emergency Medicine
Voices for the voiceless: lives lost in translation
Too often, language and cultural barriers prevent diverse immigrant patients from receiving the quality treatment they deserve. Hospitals frequently fail to provide basic translation services that are efficient and culturally complementary for immigrant patients or fail to train health care professionals on how to incorporate these services into treatments. This lack of proper care for immigrant patients is a discriminatory, biomedical issue that robs them of their voice and rights.
Imagine: …
Inside the ER: What my visit taught me about patient care
For the second time in my life I visited the ER. I woke up early yesterday morning with unremitting, 7.8/10 left lower back pain accompanied by chills, nausea, and vomiting. Why 7.8? Well, I definitely could have imagined pain worse than an 8, but it seemed bad enough to go to the ER, so it surely must be worse than a 7, right? Just like all my patients, I have …
The maternal and child health crisis in Sudan: a call to action
The war in Sudan, which began in April 2023, has created one of the world’s largest displacement crises, forcing more than 10 million people to flee their homes. The warring sides, the Sudanese Armed Forces and the Rapid Support Forces, are inflicting horrendous violence on people across the country. Hospitals have been attacked, markets bombed, and houses razed to the ground, leading to a catastrophic toll on the health of …
The deadliest condition in emergency departments deserves a new diagnostic approach
Today, most emergency departments (EDs) face overcrowding, high patient volumes and a strain on our increasingly limited staff and resources. As a result, the average patient experiences ED wait times of about two-and-a-half hours, with some reaching nearly four hours.
The possibility of sepsis makes these delays even trickier. More than one-third of all in-hospital deaths are attributed to sepsis, making it the Read more…
The shocking impact of incivility in health care: Are your team’s behaviors putting patients at risk?
Continuous quality improvement undoubtedly contributes to the ongoing honing of best practices in medicine. This health care-specific parallel of total quality management programs in business helps us daily inch closer to the ultimate goal of eradicating patient harm. Health care professionals familiar with these variation-reducing processes are likely well-versed in the popular Ishikawa fishbone diagram. While the focus is intended to be spread across materials, processes, equipment, and …
After Hurricane Helene: How Asheville rose from the floodwaters stronger than ever
The floods came and we were not ready. Miles from the ocean, flanked by mountainous sentinels, we never thought to build an ark.
The skies darkened and the deluge commenced. Rapturous winds splintered ancient oaks and rent open the heavens. Barbarous gusts cleaved power lines, fractured telephone poles, brought a power grid to its knees. The lights went out in the west. Feeble candlelights flickered to life as the rivers swelled. …
The little boy who taught me the power of education in the Guatemalan highlands
Walking through the narrow alleyways and past artisanal businesses in the Lake Atitlán region of the Guatemalan highlands, a swarm of children followed us as if we were a parade or a moving tourist attraction. As a global fellow through the Stanford Freeman Spogli Institute (FSI), I served as an interpreter and interviewer in this underserved region with extreme poverty a few …
Rising ER wait times signal larger health system challenges
Emergency department (ED) wait times are on the rise across the United States, a troubling trend that reflects deeper systemic challenges in the nation’s health care systems. According to data from the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, the median time spent in the ED has increased from 2 hours and 15 minutes in 2018 to 2 hours and 40 minutes in recent years. Data from …
Changing the narrative: medicine and resilience in Israel
Since the massacre on October 7, 2023, there have been misconceptions of Israel as a country and of the medical consequences of the terrorist attack. There have been charges against Israel of “colonization” and “genocide.” These accusations are accompanied by a rise in antisemitism in our communities, universities, and medicineRead more…
How these doctors overcame ethnic conflict to unite in medicine
In 2024, I met a Tamil doctor at an event. We spoke of memories from our childhood in Sri Lanka. We had one stark memory to share: burning bodies in stacks of tires, with beheaded human beings nearby. This was life in the Sinhalese-Tamil ethnic war in the eighties, nineties, and beyond, coupled with a Marxist-Leninist insurrection in the country.
Yet, there we were, two doctors, one born a Tamil and …
A game-changer in methamphetamine treatment
The standard treatment for methamphetamine poisoning is “sedate and wait.” There is no antidote to methamphetamine; instead, we typically aim to cover up the unwanted symptoms. We prescribe our favorite sedative, Ketamine or a B52 cocktail (Haldol 5, Ativan 2, Benadryl 50), and often multiple dosages are required to control the agitation and ensure the safety of both the patient and …
Balancing values and metrics: the modern physician’s dilemma [PODCAST]
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Join us for an insightful podcast episode featuring Shideh Shafie, an emergency physician. We’ll delve into the profound values that drive physicians to serve humanity and alleviate suffering, and discuss the impact of …
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Breaking barriers: the urgent need for disability inclusion in medicine
Diversity and inclusion—we talk about them. Some organizations have targets. Some even have communication campaigns on them. Yet, in medicine, like many other professions, we lag. According to American Medical Colleges (AAMC) data, “Only about 3 percent of doctors in the United States have a disability.” As an emergency department doctor with a spinal cord injury who uses a wheelchair, this data is thought-provoking.
Why are we not moving the …
ER doctor’s adrenaline-fueled night: from life-saving procedures to unpredictable chaos
From the beginning of medical school, you are taught the rules of patient assessment; you are taught the “ABCs” – airway, breathing, and circulation. You don’t move on to B until you have established A. You don’t move on to C until B is established. If at any time you lose A or B, you go back to the beginning. Emergency medicine doctors are all about A. My first patient …
Medical heroes of October 7: the story of Dr. Amit Frenkel and Soroka Hospital staff
An excerpt from Battles in White: October 7 attack: The story of the medical, nursing, and rescue teams.
Dr. Amit Frenkel is an intensive care physician at Soroka Hospital. He is married and a father of three, his wife is a psychiatrist, and his eldest son is a soldier serving in the south of the country. The family lives in Meitar, a small pastoral settlement a fifteen-minute drive from Soroka. In times of …
Uncovering hidden challenges: Women in medicine [PODCAST]
Improving equity and population health through social determinants of health
Social determinants of health (SDoH) have a strong potential to positively and negatively affect health outcomes, but providers have traditionally faced substantial roadblocks in identifying patients who need SDoH interventions.
The result of this gap is often missed opportunities to improve patient health at the individual and population levels.
SDoH factors are responsible for up to 80% of health outcomes, according to the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, yet patients and providers …
From ER to wallet: Understanding medical expenses [PODCAST]
Mistakes make us better doctors [PODCAST]
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Join us for an insightful exploration of the complexities of managing mistakes in health care with our guest, Josh Schwarzbaum, an emergency physician. Together, we’ll discuss the importance of embracing errors as opportunities …
Past Week
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Forced voicemail and diagnosis codes are endangering patient access to medications
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How President Biden’s cognitive health shapes political and legal trust
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The One Big Beautiful Bill and the fragile heart of rural health care
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America’s ER crisis: Why the system is collapsing from within
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Why timing, not surgery, determines patient survival
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How early meetings and after-hours events penalize physician-mothers
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Past 6 Months
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Forced voicemail and diagnosis codes are endangering patient access to medications
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How President Biden’s cognitive health shapes political and legal trust
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Why are medical students turning away from primary care? [PODCAST]
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The One Big Beautiful Bill and the fragile heart of rural health care
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Why “do no harm” might be harming modern medicine
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Here’s what providers really need in a modern EHR
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Recent Posts
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Why the heart of medicine is more than science
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How Ukrainian doctors kept diabetes care alive during the war
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Why Grok 4 could be the next leap for HIPAA-compliant clinical AI
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How women physicians can go from burnout to thriving
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What a childhood stroke taught me about the future of neurosurgery and the promise of vagus nerve stimulation
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Beyond burnout: Understanding the triangle of exhaustion [PODCAST]
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Past Week
-
Forced voicemail and diagnosis codes are endangering patient access to medications
-
How President Biden’s cognitive health shapes political and legal trust
-
The One Big Beautiful Bill and the fragile heart of rural health care
-
America’s ER crisis: Why the system is collapsing from within
-
Why timing, not surgery, determines patient survival
-
How early meetings and after-hours events penalize physician-mothers
-
Past 6 Months
-
Forced voicemail and diagnosis codes are endangering patient access to medications
-
How President Biden’s cognitive health shapes political and legal trust
-
Why are medical students turning away from primary care? [PODCAST]
-
The One Big Beautiful Bill and the fragile heart of rural health care
-
Why “do no harm” might be harming modern medicine
-
Here’s what providers really need in a modern EHR
-
Recent Posts
-
Why the heart of medicine is more than science
-
How Ukrainian doctors kept diabetes care alive during the war
-
Why Grok 4 could be the next leap for HIPAA-compliant clinical AI
-
How women physicians can go from burnout to thriving
-
What a childhood stroke taught me about the future of neurosurgery and the promise of vagus nerve stimulation
-
Beyond burnout: Understanding the triangle of exhaustion [PODCAST]
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