Emergency medicine

2,327 articles · Since 2004

Articles, page 37

The CDC word ban: an attack on the patients I treat

January 2, 2018Jan 2, 201818

When I read the Washington Post article about the CDC censoring seven words last Friday night, my mind immediately jumped to the youth I take care of every day in my Baltimore clinic. It felt like a direct attack on the very patients I became a doctor to treat: the transgender young person initiating gender-affirming hormone treatment; the young woman seeking inpatient addiction treatment for the first …

Medical education

If you don’t teach IMGs, maybe you should start

Denelle Mohammed

December 30, 2017Dec 30, 20175

“I don’t teach IMGs.” It was such a simple and concise statement. Four words. But it felt like a bullet that was heated in the depths of hell had pierced through my heart when I heard those words. My ears…

“I don’t teach IMGs.”

It was such a simple and concise statement. Four words. But it felt like a bullet that was heated in the depths of hell had pierced through my heart when I heard those words. My ears burned and I felt physically ill. I wondered to myself, “Am I really that bad at medicine? Am I even going to make it? Should I just quit?” I felt lesser …

Physician voices

During the holidays, we should take time to be a little kinder

Foreign BornMD

December 25, 2017Dec 25, 2017

As I walked into the room, I see my patient lying in bed, eyes closed. His wife of 50-plus years sat in the recliner next to him grasping his right hand. The holiday season was upon us. My patient has…

His wife was staring at the pretty scenery outside with her weary, tired eyes. It had started snowing this morning. …

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Physician voices

To this physician, thankfulness is his lifeline

Jeffrey Collins, MD

December 16, 2017Dec 16, 2017

The complaint was constipation. In the exam room, a quiet girl stood in a too big johnny, her eyes staring down at the floor. The 13-year-old was here with her “aunt.” Like over 50,000 children before her, she’d made the fifteen hundred mile plus journey from El Salvador to escape the violence of government and gang fighting, perhaps not knowing Mara Salvatrucha and the other gangs hung out only a …

Medical education

Going skin deep: Is a tattoo ethically binding?

Cody Mullens

December 14, 2017Dec 14, 2017

There's currently an image in heavy circulation making its way around the internet of a hospital patient's chest tattooed with the words "Do **not** resuscitate," accompanied by what is assumed to be the man's signature. This 70-year-old patient arrived at…

There’s currently an image in heavy circulation making its way around the internet of a hospital patient’s chest tattooed with the words “Do **not** resuscitate,” accompanied by what is assumed to be the man’s signature. This 70-year-old patient arrived at an emergency department unconscious with elevated blood alcohol levels. He did not have any form of identification on him, and his health care providers did not have an identifiable means …

Medical education

Why aren’t doctors allowed to grieve?

Kirsten Lederer

December 9, 2017Dec 9, 20175

My alarm went off at 4:15 a.m. I lay in bed dreading the day ahead of me. By 4:50 a.m., I arrive at the nursing home where I was doing a geriatric rotation. A stack of charts and a patient…

My alarm went off at 4:15 a.m. I lay in bed dreading the day ahead of me. By 4:50 a.m., I arrive at the nursing home where I was doing a geriatric rotation. A stack of charts and a patient complaint list was awaiting me. On the list were the usual suspects: a follow up for lab results, a fall, abdominal pain. And at the bottom was a note on …

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Why aren’t doctors allowed to grieve?

Physician voices

Celebrate the joys of working in medicine

Rachel Matar, PA-C

December 6, 2017Dec 6, 2017

I keep a spare set of scrubs in my car. It’s an act of preparedness, informed by experience. A couple of months ago, I came out of an ED room after performing a particularly unsavory procedure and noticed that my left knee was wet. Disgusted, I shared my misfortune with my coworkers, and all of them had the same sympathetic response; they mirrored my grimace and cautiously offered hope: “Maybe …

Physician voices

10 surprising things you need to know about the emergency department

Irene Tien, MD

December 5, 2017Dec 5, 201715

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…

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 …

Drugs and prescribing

Did diet pills kill my co-worker and friend?

Jennifer Bradley, FNP-C

December 4, 2017Dec 4, 20173

I remember just moving to Atlanta and having breakfast with a new-found friend I had met while working at a hospital as a registered nurse. The food at our chosen eatery was far from great. But I must say, my friend’s enthusiasm for life, specifically living in Atlanta, was fulfilling enough to make me forget the chef’s lackluster culinary skills. She was warm, outgoing, adventurous, somewhat inquisitive — just what …

Physician voices

If we are serious about addressing the opioid epidemic, this is what we should do

Justin Berk, MPH, MBA

December 1, 2017Dec 1, 20172

Multiple state leaders, including Maryland Gov. Larry Hogan, and even President Trump have declared states of emergency in response to the opioid epidemic. Policymakers claim to be battling this public health crisis on all fronts, but one arena continues to…

Roughly half of all incarcerated individuals suffer from addiction. And in the two weeks following their release, former prisoners are 129 times more likely …

Physician voices

An emergency physician travels to Puerto Rico. Here’s what she saw.

Amelia Breyre, MD

November 30, 2017Nov 30, 2017

“In Puerto Rico, we call those plants morir vivir,” said a patient who sat by the side of the road while we checked her blood sugar. When I reached to touch the small fern, it swiftly closed its leaves shut, and then after a few minutes cautiously reopened. As a young doctor I was fascinated with the poetry of the name. “It’s just like us Puerto Ricans,” she smiled.

For two …

Physician voices

How to stay out of the ER this holiday season: advice from an emergency medicine doctor

Irene Tien, MD

November 29, 2017Nov 29, 2017

The holiday season is stressful enough without having to try to fit a visit to the emergency department (ED) in your schedule. Getting medical care on a major holiday can be especially difficult because most, if not all, offices and urgent cares are closed. This can make the ED wait longest around the holidays. Here are some tips to keep you out of the ED this holiday season.

1. Make sure …

Medical education

Today’s divisive political climate and our ability to treat our patients without bias

Shane Sobrio, MD

November 26, 2017Nov 26, 201721

Politics are divisive. That should not be a shock to anyone. However, the political climate in the USA at the moment is more than just divisive. Lately, I have noticed that there is an underlying disdain for those we disagree with in a way that even my grandparents say they have never seen in this country. The current political climate pervades nearly every aspect of our society, from pop culture …

Conditions and diseases

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

Debbie Moore-Black, RN

November 23, 2017Nov 23, 20174

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…

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 …

Conditions and diseases

The case of a fish hook in the eye

Raj Waghmare, MD

November 22, 2017Nov 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…

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 …

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The case of a fish hook in the eye

Physician voices

Do yourself a favor: Leave the country and see how health care is abroad

Craig Bowron, MD & Peter Melchert, MD

November 16, 2017Nov 16, 201711

Here’s some advice for your career in health care: Leave the country as soon as possible. This has nothing to do with the president’s attempts to euthanize the Affordable Care Act. Or with EMRs, Medicare reimbursements, or the burnout surveys…

Here’s some advice for your career in health care: Leave the country as soon as possible.

This has nothing to do with the president’s attempts to euthanize the Affordable Care Act. Or with EMRs, Medicare reimbursements, or the burnout surveys you get from your employer, who also sends emails aimed at getting you to work faster and more efficiently.

It’s none of that. You need to leave the country, just for a …

Drugs and prescribing

Battling the opiate crisis on the front lines

Tom Fowler, MD

November 16, 2017Nov 16, 2017

Jim Johnson is the director of the West Virginia Office of Drug Control Policy, and an advocate on the front lines of the opioid epidemic. During his previous job as the police chief from Huntington, WV he spearheaded a comprehensive initiative of education, syringe exchanges, and Naloxone distribution that has shown promising results in a community where up to 10 percent of the population is plagued with opioid dependence. His …

Physician voices

The rise of patient navigators is a sign that medical billing needs to be reformed

Michael Kirsch, MD

November 12, 2017Nov 12, 2017

To accomplish certain tasks, we need a little help from our friends. No one can do it all, although many of us are more resourceful than others. Some folks are adventurous and dive into a new arena with excitement. They may be tinkerers who aren’t afraid to play with new gadgets. Sure, they might break some china, but they are apt to widen their skill set and enrich their lives. …

Physician voices

A patient readmission: Could it have been avoided?

Hans Duvefelt, MD

November 10, 2017Nov 10, 2017

It is not unusual to see a patient for a timely transition of care visit after a hospital admission and within a minute of entering the exam room know with all the bones in your body that this person needs…

The funny thing is that when that happens, if the patient has Medicare, we may indirectly suffer financially from such “avoidable readmissions.” We belong to …

Physician voices

This emergency physician is the drunk whisperer

Zahir Basrai, MD

November 10, 2017Nov 10, 2017

I have picked up Mr. Reynolds (not his real name). He is a frequent visitor to the ED for alcohol intoxication. He was found drunk on a street making a scene, and a good samaritan called him in. Paramedics bring…

I have picked up Mr. Reynolds (not his real name). He is a frequent visitor to the ED for alcohol intoxication. He was found drunk on a street making a scene, and a good samaritan called him in.

Paramedics bring him in. He is not bashful about showing his discontent for his arrival to the ED. He promptly flips off the charge nurse and continues to verbally berate the paramedics. The …

Emergency medicine

Articles, page 37

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