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Emergency medicine

2,327 articles · Since 2004

Articles, page 44

Physician voices

A Muslim American physician goes to war

4

For soldiers, there are many fears. Will I do my job? Will I succeed in my mission? Will my colleagues in arms be harmed? Will I be injured? Will I die? For the American Muslim who volunteers to engage the…

For soldiers, there are many fears.  Will I do my job?  Will I succeed in my mission?  Will my colleagues in arms be harmed?  Will I be injured?  Will I die?  For the American Muslim who volunteers to engage the enemies of the United States on foreign soil, there is a new worry.  What will my home country do to my family while I am gone?

Recently, Dr. Ghazali A. Chaudry, …

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A Muslim American physician goes to war

Physician voices

Going to a walk-in clinic? 6 essential things you must know before you visit

17

A friend of mine recently had a very sore throat. She knew how to manage her symptoms — lozenges, warm tea and the like. But she was worried she might have strep and would, therefore, need antibiotics. That should be…

A friend of mine recently had a very sore throat. She knew how to manage her symptoms — lozenges, warm tea and the like. But she was worried she might have strep and would, therefore, need antibiotics. That should be a simple question to answer with a quick trip to the primary care clinic. Except that her primary care physician was booked, and if she wanted an unscheduled appointment with …

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Going to a walk-in clinic? 6 essential things you must know before you visit

Physician voices

David Newman betrayed patients and emergency medicine

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I remember that morning in January 2016 very well. I opened up my Twitter feed to find many people linking to an article that made me stop dead in my tracks. The New York Post was reporting that Dr. David…

I remember that morning in January 2016 very well.  I opened up my Twitter feed to find many people linking to an article that made me stop dead in my tracks.  The New York Post was reporting that Dr. David Newman had been accused of sexually assaulting a patient in his emergency department.  He was accused of giving the patient a dose of propofol and then sexually …

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David Newman betrayed patients and emergency medicine

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Physician voices

Does racial bias compromise patient care?

14

Recently, Dr. Michelle Herren, a professor of pediatric anesthesiology at the University of Colorado and Denver Health Hospital, resigned after posting racist comments on her Facebook page. In particular, she wrote that Michelle Obama speaks “ebonics” and stated that our…

Recently, Dr. Michelle Herren, a professor of pediatric anesthesiology at the University of Colorado and Denver Health Hospital, resigned after posting racist comments on her Facebook page. In particular, she wrote that Michelle Obama speaks “ebonics” and stated that our first lady has a “monkey face.” Dr. Herren ended her post by affirming that she is not racist but was “just calling it like it is.” This post remained on …

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Does racial bias compromise patient care?

Physician voices

Can we say that women doctors are just better for everyone?

11

Recently, my friend had a patient. The guy, patient with a history of autoimmune disease came in with pain, anxiety, and tachycardia. She walked in and felt the psychosomatic overlay. What was her intervention? Meds? Psych? Nope. She closed the…

Recently, my friend had a patient. The guy, patient with a history of autoimmune disease came in with pain, anxiety, and tachycardia.  She walked in and felt the psychosomatic overlay. What was her intervention? Meds? Psych? Nope.

She closed the door, held his hand, pulled out her mom self and let him tell her for 15 long minutes about his hard life. The nurse watched the monitor as his heart rate dropped in …

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Can we say that women doctors are just better for everyone?

Physician voices

We didn’t save his life. We did better than that.

2

"Well? Did you save him?" "No. We did better than that." He came in pulseless. The machine performing chest compressions with the rhythmic thud, thwack, thump. His ribs heaving under the force of the compressor, keeping his heart artificially beating.…

“Well?  Did you save him?” “No. We did better than that.”

He came in pulseless. The machine performing chest compressions with the rhythmic thud, thwack, thump. His ribs heaving under the force of the compressor, keeping his heart artificially beating. The plastic tube secured in his airway forcing puffs of air to inflate his lungs.  His skin slightly purple-gray, on that narrow brink between life and death. His eyes like speckled …

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We didn’t save his life. We did better than that.

Physician voices

Why this emergency physician is thankful this holiday season

I hugged them longer than any 10- or 11-year-old wants to be hugged by their mom, and tried not to cry tears of gratitude that they were in my arms. The last kid their age I saw was the one…

I hugged them longer than any 10- or 11-year-old wants to be hugged by their mom, and tried not to cry tears of gratitude that they were in my arms. The last kid their age I saw was the one I had resuscitated and admitted to the PICU just hours before, and it took my breath away to think about that happening to my sons. I had to make one …

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Why this emergency physician is thankful this holiday season

Physician voices

An emergency physician’s brush with death

One of the terrible things about being a physician who has spent his adult life working in emergency rooms is that you have a certain terrible clarity about the dangers of this life. It’s why we’re forever pestering our loved…

One of the terrible things about being a physician who has spent his adult life working in emergency rooms is that you have a certain terrible clarity about the dangers of this life. It’s why we’re forever pestering our loved ones with phone calls and texts: “Are you there yet!” Or telling the children, “Be careful! After midnight there are too many drunks on the road!” Met, of course, with …

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An emergency physician’s brush with death

Physician voices

10 things you should know about airline medical emergencies

3

Man collapses at 30,000 feet. Quick, who’s in charge? Hint: It’s not the doctor. Last month, Dr. Tamika Cross was told to sit down when she tried to help an unresponsive man. Why? Apparently, the flight attendant was looking for…

Man collapses at 30,000 feet. Quick, who’s in charge? Hint: It’s not the doctor. Last month, Dr. Tamika Cross was told to sit down when she tried to help an unresponsive man. Why? Apparently, the flight attendant was looking for an “actual” medical doctor, not a black woman. Turns out she’s not the only doc making headlines for being turned down in …

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10 things you should know about airline medical emergencies

Physician voices

Buprenorphine: One way works. One doesn’t.

3

Buprenorphine was a fantastic drug in the emergency department. Patients would come to our ED feeling awful from opiate withdrawal, and we made them feel so much better. We can recall so many patients coming in vomiting, anxious, sweaty, dehydrated,…

Buprenorphine was a fantastic drug in the emergency department. Patients would come to our ED feeling awful from opiate withdrawal, and we made them feel so much better. We can recall so many patients coming in vomiting, anxious, sweaty, dehydrated, and looking awful — and with one or two shots of buprenorphine, we made them feel well enough to take on the task of beating opiate addiction. A clinic in …

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Buprenorphine: One way works. One doesn’t.

Physician voices

Time is fleeting and doctors must focus on what’s important

It’s August. I’m looking out the windows of our log house and across the immense variety of green leaves, on oak and birch, mountain laurel and sycamore, magnolia and honeysuckle. It’s a rain forest here. Indeed, after a long dry…

It’s August. I’m looking out the windows of our log house and across the immense variety of green leaves, on oak and birch, mountain laurel and sycamore, magnolia and honeysuckle. It’s a rain forest here. Indeed, after a long dry spell, we’ve had days and days of soaking rain, with breaks in the clouds so that the sun raises steam from the earth like water coming up in the garden …

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Time is fleeting and doctors must focus on what’s important

Physician voices

Makeup and the female physician

Every day, millions of women across the United States find themselves in predicaments confronting the quality of their appearance. And their makeup. While this may seem a non-issue in the emergency medicine world, it is something that you, as a…

Every day, millions of women across the United States find themselves in predicaments confronting the quality of their appearance. And their makeup. While this may seem a non-issue in the emergency medicine world, it is something that you, as a female professional, or that your female colleagues, have no doubt encountered. Before walking out the door, you have to consider not just what means of transport to take to …

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Makeup and the female physician

Physician voices

Handheld electronic devices are the thieves of our meaningful moments

11

A few weeks ago, my employer sent me to a three-day out of town conference. I had mixed emotions. It would put a burden on me to work more than usual both before and after it, but I couldn’t help…

A few weeks ago, my employer sent me to a three-day out of town conference. I had mixed emotions. It would put a burden on me to work more than usual both before and after it, but I couldn’t help but look forward to the blissful, uninterrupted sleep I would get in a cozy, quiet hotel room. There was guilt when I realized that my wife would shoulder the full …

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Handheld electronic devices are the thieves of our meaningful moments

Physician voices

Pretending the world is homogeneous is a dangerous path

2

I was at work a few nights ago. We had had a patient death early in the morning before I got there, and the body was still in the room awaiting the JP’s arrival. The family was en route back…

I was at work a few nights ago. We had had a patient death early in the morning before I got there, and the body was still in the room awaiting the JP’s arrival. The family was en route back with the children (he was only 57) and the body was not presentable. Blood, saliva, a gaping mouth and lividity with rigor were a bad combination for the kids to see. …

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Pretending the world is homogeneous is a dangerous path

Physician voices

Patients are not fast food. Stop treating them that way.

6

I had never heard the term “throughput” before a meeting at our hospital two years ago. It was used to discuss how the emergency department (ED) could yield greater profits by faster patient turnover. Coordinating various duties (including intake, admitting,…

I had never heard the term “throughput” before a meeting at our hospital two years ago. It was used to discuss how the emergency department (ED) could yield greater profits by faster patient turnover. Coordinating various duties (including intake, admitting, and cleaning staff; lab and radiology; nurses and doctors) patients could be shuttled into and out of the ED earning the hospital $2 million more per year.

This strategy was implemented …

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Patients are not fast food. Stop treating them that way.

Physician voices

What this physician learned from Pantsuit Nation

6

A few months before election day, a grassroots group was created on Facebook called Pantsuit Nation. As the name probably implies, it was a group for Clinton supporters, where we shared our positivity about Hillary Clinton as a candidate and…

A few months before election day, a grassroots group was created on Facebook called Pantsuit Nation. As the name probably implies, it was a group for Clinton supporters, where we shared our positivity about Hillary Clinton as a candidate and offered endless empowering stories about why we were voting for her. The group was secret, but as its numbers swelled to over 3,000,000, it was hard to keep …

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What this physician learned from Pantsuit Nation

Physician voices

A frazzled doctor finally learns how to relax

I’m in the midst of a run of shifts in the emergency department. I’m doing locums away from home. Last night, I left work at about 3:30 a.m. (My shift was 6 p.m. to 2 a.m.) It was busy —…

I’m in the midst of a run of shifts in the emergency department. I’m doing locums away from home. Last night, I left work at about 3:30 a.m. (My shift was 6 p.m. to 2 a.m.) It was busy — not “crazy busy,” just “normal busy.” I finished my last note, wrapped up the information about the one patient I was leaving behind with the valiant night doctor and headed …

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A frazzled doctor finally learns how to relax

Physician voices

A physician’s compassion well has run dry

6

As she lay on the gurney telling me she was tired and having vaginal bleeding yet again, I was doing my own biopsy of her medical record. It stated very clearly that palliative care and hospice had been recommended to…

As she lay on the gurney telling me she was tired and having vaginal bleeding yet again, I was doing my own biopsy of her medical record.

It stated very clearly that palliative care and hospice had been recommended to her for her end-stage gynecologic cancer. So, why, I’m thinking, highly annoyed, is she now in the ER, late at night, creating problems for me? Why could she just not accept …

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A physician’s compassion well has run dry

Physician voices

Flying the deadly skies

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Recently I've seen a number of reports of women who are denied the ability to help in a plane emergency because they are not believed to be doctors. While most of the denied women are of color, since this became…

Recently I’ve seen a number of reports of women who are denied the ability to help in a plane emergency because they are not believed to be doctors. While most of the denied women are of color, since this became public a large number of women of all races have come forward because of similar racial and gender discrimination.

I am an emergency physician, and I was once called to duty …

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Flying the deadly skies

Physician voices

Physicians need to take a broader approach in their first job search

Four years ago, I was having a conversation with a friend of mine. We had graduated residency the same year and our careers had taken us to different parts of the country. It was ACEP 2012. We’d been mingling with…

Four years ago, I was having a conversation with a friend of mine. We had graduated residency the same year and our careers had taken us to different parts of the country. It was ACEP 2012. We’d been mingling with old friends and current colleagues, and the conversation turned to kids.

I told him my wife and I were getting ready to start having children. He said he and his wife …

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Physicians need to take a broader approach in their first job search

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