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Emergency medicine

2,327 articles · Since 2004

Articles, page 38

Physician voices

3 skills that make physicians excellent in business

2

Let’s get one thing straight: You already have kick ass skills as a physician, skills that are valuable outside of clinical care settings. So whenever my physician friends turn to me for advice on making a transition in their career,…

Let’s get one thing straight: You already have kick ass skills as a physician, skills that are valuable outside of clinical care settings. So whenever my physician friends turn to me for advice on making a transition in their career, I have to remind them: It’s not about learning new skills, it’s about translating your existing skill set to new business applications. Think digital health startup CEO, chief medical officer, …

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3 skills that make physicians excellent in business

Conditions and diseases

Psychological first aid can mitigate the effects of overwhelming trauma and loss

My grandmother was filled with grief as she told me by phone about life on the island of St. Thomas after Hurricanes Irma and Maria had blasted through it. “Tears keep running from my eyes uncontrollably because everyone on the…

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My grandmother was filled with grief as she told me by phone about life on the island of St. Thomas after Hurricanes Irma and Maria had blasted through it. “Tears keep running from my eyes uncontrollably because everyone on the island is suffering,” she lamented, then paused, too sad to continue. I could picture her in her …

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Psychological first aid can mitigate the effects of overwhelming trauma and loss

Physician voices

Thank you for performing CPR on my child

2

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…

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 …

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Thank you for performing CPR on my child

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Physician voices

A resident’s dream turns into cold reality

It’s every emergency resident’s dream to be part of a big procedure: The rush of a heart-pounding, adrenaline-filled moment of slamming in a chest tube, "criching" someone or being part of the big show — a thoracotomy. The holy grail.…

It’s every emergency resident’s dream to be part of a big procedure: The rush of a heart-pounding, adrenaline-filled moment of slamming in a chest tube, “criching” someone or being part of the big show — a thoracotomy. The holy grail. Cracking a chest, performing intracardiac massage, cross-clamping the aorta. A last-ditch effort to pull a patient away from the clutches of the grim reaper. A typical level-one center hums to …

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A resident’s dream turns into cold reality

Health policy

Why Medicare cannot stay solvent: a case study

2

My spry, 90-year-old patient decided she had a urinary tract infection two weeks ago. She had difficulty urinating and the constant urge to void with no fever, no chills, no back pain, no bloody urine. She was advised to come…

My spry, 90-year-old patient decided she had a urinary tract infection two weeks ago. She had difficulty urinating and the constant urge to void with no fever, no chills, no back pain, no bloody urine. She was advised to come in for an appointment the same morning, but this didn’t suit her. The alternative choice was to see her urologist who made time available that same day. She decided this …

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Why Medicare cannot stay solvent: a case study

Physician voices

My heart goes out to all of the first responders

It’s hard to put into words the horror we all feel about the events in Las Vegas. So I won’t try. But what I will try to do is point out an often unspoken reality. Which is that those who…

It’s hard to put into words the horror we all feel about the events in Las Vegas. So I won’t try. But what I will try to do is point out an often unspoken reality. Which is that those who work in emergency care constantly face terrible things with courage and skill and keep coming back for more. And everyone needs to remember that all those folks society counts on …

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My heart goes out to all of the first responders

Medical education

A place for music in the emergency department

3

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.…

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 …

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A place for music in the emergency department

Physician voices

The first day of my ER rotation is one that this doctor will never forget

Text message: Me: “Mom you alright? I just heard that there was an explosion at the Pepsi Center.” Mom: “What are you talking about? I am fine, everything is OK over here.” Earlier that day: It’s the first day of…

Text message:

Me: “Mom you alright? I just heard that there was an explosion at the Pepsi Center.”

Mom: “What are you talking about? I am fine, everything is OK over here.”

Earlier that day:

It’s the first day of my first ER rotation as an intern.

I had endured months on medicine, neurosurgery and the medical ICU. I am finally home back in the ER. I am hoping that today will be a somewhat …

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The first day of my ER rotation is one that this doctor will never forget

Physician voices

A Veterans Day tribute

This is a letter I wrote to my wife’s grandfather for Veterans Day back when he was still alive. He was pretty proud of it, and that made me smile because I knew that if nothing else, he deserved to…

This is a letter I wrote to my wife’s grandfather for Veterans Day back when he was still alive.  He was pretty proud of it, and that made me smile because I knew that if nothing else, he deserved to be proud of what he did for America.  When he died a few months ago, I was able to muster up the fortitude to read it at his funeral.  Here …

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A Veterans Day tribute

Physician voices

Do physicians deserve our mercy? #silentnomore

33

Recently, a video went viral when a woman complained about the lengthy wait time at a clinic. On video, we see the physician asks if the patient still wants to be seen. The patient declines to be seen, yet complains…

Recently, a video went viral when a woman complained about the lengthy wait time at a clinic.  On video, we see the physician asks if the patient still wants to be seen.  The patient declines to be seen, yet complains patients should be informed they will not be seen in a timely manner.

The frustrated physician replies, “Then fine … …

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Do physicians deserve our mercy? #silentnomore

Physician voices

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

3

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…

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 …

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

Physician voices

No female physician should have to feel that her gender is a factor limiting her success

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A father and a son are in a car accident. The father dies instantly, and the son is taken to the nearest hospital. The doctor comes in and exclaims, “I can’t operate on this boy!” “Why not?” the nurse asks.…

A father and a son are in a car accident.  The father dies instantly, and the son is taken to the nearest hospital.  The doctor comes in and exclaims, “I can’t operate on this boy!”

“Why not?” the nurse asks.

“Because he is my son,” the doctor responds.

How is this possible?

***

I first saw this riddle in a Washington Post article in October 2016. I was four years out of residency, and for the …

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No female physician should have to feel that her gender is a factor limiting her success

Physician voices

After Las Vegas: What is the change that needs to occur?

49

Las Vegas: 59 dead, 500+ injured. I worry about our medical colleagues who will suffer tremendously while treating the injured; they will be wracked with guilt for the patients they could not help and false back to the horror of…

Las Vegas: 59 dead, 500+ injured. I worry about our medical colleagues who will suffer tremendously while treating the injured; they will be wracked with guilt for the patients they could not help and false back to the horror of that night and the ensuing days and weeks caring for the living. We must find ways to support each other help them cope as well as looking for sensible solutions.

My …

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After Las Vegas: What is the change that needs to occur?

Physician voices

How the pain scale and patient satisfaction leads to death

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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,…

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 …

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How the pain scale and patient satisfaction leads to death

Health policy

Anti-immigrant policies put people at risk during Harvey. And that’s just the beginning.

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As Harvey’s devastation raged through Houston recently, the city's mayor was compelled to address rumors that those seeking aid could be deported. In the wake of a statewide ban on “sanctuary cities,” the mayor sought to reassure the Houston area's…

As Harvey’s devastation raged through Houston recently, the city’s mayor was compelled to address rumors that those seeking aid could be deported.

In the wake of a statewide ban on “sanctuary cities,” the mayor sought to reassure the Houston area’s more than 500,000 undocumented immigrants that they would not be targeted for deportation at emergency shelters.

Nevertheless, out of the disaster …

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Anti-immigrant policies put people at risk during Harvey. And that’s just the beginning.

Physician voices

5 ways doctors can cope when natural disaster strikes

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…

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, …

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5 ways doctors can cope when natural disaster strikes

Physician voices

A strategy for working in the ER: Serenity now, insanity later

When I meet a new person, and they find out I am a pediatric ER doctor, the most common response is a variation of: “Oh, that must be hard,” accompanied by a sympathetic frown. The statement is well-intentioned, but I…

When I meet a new person, and they find out I am a pediatric ER doctor, the most common response is a variation of: “Oh, that must be hard,” accompanied by a sympathetic frown.

The statement is well-intentioned, but I wonder — is their view of medicine closer to “Grey’s Anatomy” or “Scrubs?” (Hint: “Scrubs” is a better show and a more accurately reflects life in medicine.)

I imagine they think my …

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A strategy for working in the ER: Serenity now, insanity later

Physician voices

Social norms are not the norm in the ER

Social norms are not the norm in the ER. Things that are regarded as gross in the real world are an everyday occurrence. Our ER especially lived in a special universe where all social graces were stripped away, and the…

Social norms are not the norm in the ER. Things that are regarded as gross in the real world are an everyday occurrence. Our ER especially lived in a special universe where all social graces were stripped away, and the rawness of humanity is what remained.

I begin my night shift. I hadn’t taken a solid nap before my shift, and I am now headed into round 3 of 4. Nights …

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Social norms are not the norm in the ER

Physician voices

An episode of racism in medical school. Did it affect her care years later?

The young woman was curled up in a ball. She was sweating and shivering from pain. As she answered my questions — all my many, many questions — tears fell silently from her eyes. I was a third-year medical student,…

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The young woman was curled up in a ball. She was sweating and shivering from pain. As she answered my questions — all my many, many questions — tears fell silently from her eyes.

I was a third-year medical student, and the resident I was working with had asked me to evaluate this woman. She had

…

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An episode of racism in medical school. Did it affect her care years later?

Physician voices

How can we solve the rural clinician shortage?

25

I was recently at a meeting where some very influential physicians were discussing a question that I’ve been thinking about for a while: how do we find medical staff for rural emergency rooms and hospitals? It’s a tough question, because,…

I was recently at a meeting where some very influential physicians were discussing a question that I’ve been thinking about for a while: how do we find medical staff for rural emergency rooms and hospitals? It’s a tough question, because, increasingly, it seems that young physicians are trained to work in urban hospitals. Those are also the places these young doctors prefer to practice. Big hospitals and teaching centers in …

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How can we solve the rural clinician shortage?

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