How I Work Smarter: Molly Estes, MD, FACEP, FAAEM
One word that best describes how you work? Efficiently Current mobile device iPhone 11 Pro Computer MacBook Air What is something you are working on now? This survey :) In seriousness, trying to complete a survey-based study on the effects of virtual rotations on the 2020-21 EM application cycle. How did you come up with this Idea/Project? This idea was generated by a subcommittee I am a part of through the Advising Students Committee in EM (ASCEM) through CORD. After brainstorming about the effects that the required conversion to virtual rotations might have had on this year's students applying into [+]
How I Work Smarter: Rodney Fullmer, DO, MBS
One word that best describes how you work? Passionately Current mobile device Samsung Galaxy 9 (sorry not an apple/mac guy) Computer PC- Dell XPS What is something you are working on now? I am working on two very cool education projects right now within our ED. I am creating a new curriculum for our senior ED residents at Swedish called MastER's Class. The curriculum aims to prepare senior ED residents for life post-residency; looking at everything from contracts, litigation, finances, wellness, the business side of EM, job opportunities outside of the ED, and many more. Resident T-ED talks. Swedish ED [+]
SAEM Clinical Image Series: What’s This Thing on My Face?
A 91-year-old female patient presented with her family after concern for multiple new lesions on her face and hands. The patient thinks the lesions grew over the course of a few months. There is no pain at the sites, no erythema, and no pruritis. She has caught the lesions on clothing and bedding, which has irritated the lesions on occasion, and the family is concerned/embarrassed by the growths on her face, which are harder to conceal than those on her hand. [+]
SAEM Clinical Image Series: Finger Pain
The patient is a 24-year-old female who presents to the emergency department for left middle finger pain and swelling. She is right hand dominant and works in a kitchen. The patient states that ten days ago she avulsed the distal tip of the left middle finger, including the majority of the nail. At that time, the patient was evaluated at an outside hospital where the wound was cauterized with silver nitrate due to soft tissue bleeding. Since then, the patient states that she has had swelling over the dorsal distal phalanx. [+]
How I Work Smarter: Megan Stobart-Gallagher, DO
One word that best describes how you work? Innovative Current mobile device Galaxy S10 Computer Lenovo Yoga (my 2nd one!) What is something you are working on now? I wish I could say something wonderfully innovative, but I am mostly just working on tying up numerous projects with our medical education fellows that resulted from the global shift to virtual learning. However, I have had a blast over the last few months building an asynchronous Toxicology curriculum with one of my fellows and a new EMS curriculum for our interns. My next project as chair of our clinical competency committee [+]
IDEA Series: Handheld Ultrasound for Emergency Medicine Residents Rotating on Cardiology Services
Point-of-care ultrasound (PoCUS) has become an essential skill that emergency medicine (EM) residents learn during their training [1]. Accordingly, most EM programs schedule a block early in residency dedicated to obtaining and interpreting high-quality PoCUS images. Likewise, the ability to efficiently diagnose and manage acute cardiovascular pathologies is a critical aspect of EM, and most EM residents also rotate on a cardiology service to develop these skills. Despite evidence that PoCUS improves the ability of both cardiologists and non-cardiologists to quickly diagnose cardiac disease at the bedside, integration of this relatively novel technology on cardiology services is often limited by [+]
SAEM Clinical Image Series: Edema Got Your Tongue?
A 57-year-old male presented to the emergency department with a swollen mouth for three hours. He reported never having experienced this before and denied starting any new medications. The patient endorsed a feeling that his mouth was swollen and had difficulty swallowing. The edema had been increasing in size since its onset. He had been drooling for the past hour and endorsed mild pain around the area. He denied any shortness of breath, rash, nausea, vomiting, or other areas of edema. His past medical history included hypertension, diabetes, and allergies, with no known drug allergies. [+]
SAEM Clinical Image Series: Sun-burnt Hands and Lips
A 44-year-old Caucasian male with a past medical history of hepatitis C presents with a complaint of pain, swelling, and skin blistering of his hands. He also notes skin sores on his nose, lower lip, and the tops of his ears. The patient claims that these have become progressively worse since starting work a month ago in outdoor construction. The patient denies the use of medications or illicit drugs and denies any medical allergies. He admits to tobacco use and daily alcohol use. The patient denies any other symptoms. [+]
PEM Pearls: To Scan or Not to Scan? CT Abdomen in Children with Blunt Torso Trauma
An 18-month-old female with no past medical history is brought in by ambulance after a motor vehicle collision (MVC) at highway speed, restrained in an appropriate car seat. Mom was also brought in after delayed extrication with an obvious femur deformity. EMS reports that the patient had emesis on the scene, was fearful but calm, and has been moving all extremities. Vitals per EMS: HR 120, BP 100/60, RR 30, SpO2 99%, Temp 36.5 C Initial Exam: General: crying Neuro: Glasgow Coma Scale (GCS) of 13 (eyes shut unless talked to, crying spontaneously, moving all extremities) MSK: atraumatic chest, [+]
SAEM Clinical Image Series: The Insidious Rash
A 60-year-old African American female with a history of hypertension presents to the emergency department for an itchy, diffuse rash. She first noticed the lesions a few years prior, and they have progressively become larger and more inflamed. The lesions have become severely pruritic over the last couple of months. Steroid creams did not appear to improve symptoms. Currently, the lesions on her arm have become painful with yellow drainage. The patient denies nausea, vomiting, and fever. [+]