Hero spotlight: Dr.Todd Raine

There are incredible people doing incredibly inspiring work in Emergency Medicine. I wanted to restart the hero series, which had fallen off the radar a few years ago, featuring amazing people in our specialty. Today’s hero spotlight is on Dr. Todd Raine (@RaineDoc). He is a Staff Physician and IT Coordinator at the Providence Healthcare Department of EM and Clinical Assistant Professor at the University of British Columbia’s Department of EM. Despite these notable accomplishments, he is famous in the social media world for his innovative creation of a Google-based EM search engine GoogleFOAM.com, which many of us use to perform social media site searches online in the field of EM. His search engine is a “unified search of all FOAM sources on the Web.”

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By Michelle Lin, MD|2026-06-16T16:03:59-07:00Aug 15, 2013|Medical Education, Social Media & Tech|

Patwari Academy videos: Spider and Hymenoptera bites

These two videos continue on the theme of envenomations. Watch these great videos on the consequences and management of bites by spiders and Hymenoptera species (bees, wasps, ants). Hymenoptera bites can cause all sorts of complications, but one of the most worrisome includes anaphylaxis, which is also reviewed in the video.

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By Michelle Lin, MD|2019-01-28T21:56:58-08:00Aug 11, 2013|Environmental, Patwari Videos|

Patwari Academy videos: Snake bites!

There are about 8,000 snakebites per year in the United States ~~and 10% are fatal~~ (see comments)! If this doesn’t scare you enough to view these videos, watch these videos to see Dr. Rahul’s Patwari’s amazing digital drawing skills. In addition to a brief 4-minute overview on snake bites, Rahul also goes more in depth about crotalids (rattlesnakes) and elapids (coral snakes) specifically.

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By Michelle Lin, MD|2019-01-28T21:57:12-08:00Aug 4, 2013|Patwari Videos|

PV Card: Intimate partner violence

In the Emergency Department, we too often under-estimate our patients’ likelihood for intimate partner violence (IPV). Unfortunately, there is no perfect screening test to detect this. So one must maintain a high index of suspicion. Once you detect it, what questions should you ask to ensure her/his safety and how do you optimize the resources available to her/him?

Created by Trevor Wilson (UCSF medical student) and Dr. Beth Kaplan (UCSF/SFGH), the following PV pocket card reviews how to screen, document, intervene, and provide resources for the patient. Learn the “SAFE” questions.^1,2

PV Card: Intimate Partner Violence

Go to ALiEM (PV) Cards for more resources.

References

Ashur M. Asking about domestic violence: SAFE questions. JAMA. 1993;269(18):2367. [PubMed]
Moyer V, U.S. P. Screening for intimate partner violence and abuse of elderly and vulnerable adults: U.S. preventive services task force recommendation statement. Ann Intern Med. 2013;158(6):478-486. [PubMed]

By Michelle Lin, MD|2021-10-06T19:50:43-07:00Jul 31, 2013|ALiEM Cards, Trauma|

Critical Care Series by new ALiEM writer Dr. Todd Seigel

Welcome a new superstar blogger, Dr. Todd Seigel (@ToddSeigelMD), to the ever-growing ALiEM team. I first met Todd at the recent Society of Academic Emergency Medicine meeting. At that time, he was an already established clinician-scholar-educator at Brown University. He had already graduated from residency and was returning to fellowship training to get his board-certification in Critical Care Medicine. I’m thrilled that he is now at my home institution (UCSF) doing this fellowship, where I couldn’t resist recruiting him to join our all-star cast of blog authors. Today is the first of hopefully a long series of critical care/resuscitation topics that are practically relevant for all practicing emergency physicians.

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By Michelle Lin, MD|2016-11-11T19:02:41-08:00Jul 30, 2013|Critical Care/ Resus|

Quick clinical tip: Elson’s test for the finger

Injuries to the hand are fraught with multiple, concurrent injuries. Many injuries may have chronic debilitating complications, if not detected early. One such example is a finger laceration with a concurrent extensor tendon injury, causing delayed boutonniere deformity formation and limited function. Review the anatomy of the extensor tendon. View the video on how to perform the Elson’s test to detect a central slip tendon injury.

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By Michelle Lin, MD|2026-06-16T16:03:47-07:00Jul 29, 2013|Orthopedic|

Patwari Academy videos: ECG intervals and segments

Last week, the Patwari Academy videos covered ECG basics on rate, rhythm, and axis. Here is another set of three videos discussing ECG intervals and segments — specifically the PR interval, QRS interval, and ST segments. Again, this is a nice review on ECG concepts.

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By Michelle Lin, MD|2019-01-28T21:57:28-08:00Jul 28, 2013|ECG, Patwari Videos|

About Michelle Lin, MD

PV Card: Intimate Partner Violence

References