About Michelle Lin, MD

ALiEM Founder and CEO
Professor and Digital Innovation Lab Director
Department of Emergency Medicine
University of California, San Francisco

Getting a subpoena: What is an expert witness?

Well, it’s an inevitable part of working in an Emergency Department. I got a subpoena recently and now have to go in to testify on a trauma patient. I’ve gotten a few subpoenas before on trauma patients, but fortunately most cases were settled out of court.

First of all, I think it’s an ethical responsibility of emergency physicians to describe what we saw and did in the care of the injured patient in the legal system. However, I have found that the few lawyers I have interacted with slowly expand their scope of questions to cover things NOT in the medical chart. Has this happened to anyone else? They essentially start to ask me things which an “expert witness” should answer. Expert witnesses receive expert witness fees. (more…)

By Michelle Lin, MD|2019-02-19T18:53:03-08:00Aug 31, 2010|Medical Education|

Article Review: Rethinking the premed requirements

Think back to your college years. Remember those premed courses that you had to take? Biology, chemistry, physics… oh my. How helpful were these in your preparation for medical school and clinical practice?

In 1981, the Association of American Medical Colleges assembled a group, the General Professional Education of the Physician and College Preparation for Medicine (GPEP) to relook at these premed requirements. In 1984, the published a report “Physicians for the Twenty-First Century”. They advocated that the intensive premed requirements overly skews students’ education towards a “narrow objective of medical school admission”. Education is not balanced to include broader liberal arts learning, which may teach students more about humanistic values and communication skills.

(more…)

By Michelle Lin, MD|2016-11-11T19:00:31-08:00Aug 30, 2010|Education Articles, Medical Education|

Paucis Verbis card: TIMI risk score

How do you risk-stratify undifferentiated chest pain patients in the Emergency Department? There are a multitude of causes for chest pain. We are always taught to think of the 5 big life-threats: ACS, PE, aortic dissection, tension pneumothorax, and pericardial tamponade.

So how do YOU risk-stratify your patients for unstable angina (UA) and non-ST elevation myocardial infarction (NSTEMI)? STEMI’s are usually obvious. UA and NSTEMIs — not so much.

Fortunately a 2000 JAMA article and a followup Academic Emergency Medicine 2006 study have solidified the TIMI risk scoring system as a reasonable risk-stratification tool for all-comer ED patients with chest pain requiring an ECG.

Generally there is an upslope in risk at a TIMI score of 3 and greater.

PV Card: TIMI Risk Score

Adapted from [1, 2]
Go to ALiEM (PV) Cards for more resources.

References

Pollack C, Sites F, Shofer F, Sease K, Hollander J. Application of the TIMI risk score for unstable angina and non-ST elevation acute coronary syndrome to an unselected emergency department chest pain population. Acad Emerg Med. 2006;13(1):13-18. [PubMed]
Antman E, Cohen M, Bernink P, et al. The TIMI risk score for unstable angina/non-ST elevation MI: A method for prognostication and therapeutic decision making. JAMA. 2000;284(7):835-842. [PubMed]

By Michelle Lin, MD|2021-10-18T10:09:44-07:00Aug 27, 2010|ALiEM Cards, Cardiovascular|

New guest blogger: Dr. Robert Cooney

Welcome to new superstar guest blogger, Dr. Robert Cooney! Today’s post is his first (of hopefully many).

Rob-Cooney-circle

By Michelle Lin, MD|2019-09-10T14:04:44-07:00Aug 23, 2010|Life|

Paucis Verbis card: Croup

The most common cause of stridor in pediatric patients is croup, or laryngotracheobronchitis. The distinct high-pitched, seal-like,”barky” cough can be heard from outside the patient’s room often.

Check out the YouTube clip above. Go to the 1:15 mark (near the end) to hear the barking cough. Poor but cute kid.

What is the current treatment regimen? Did you know that the traditional treatment with cool mist or humidified air have shown to be of no added benefit?

PV Card: Croup

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Go to ALiEM (PV) Cards for more resources.

By Michelle Lin, MD|2021-10-19T19:29:51-07:00Aug 20, 2010|ALiEM Cards, ENT, Infectious Disease, Pediatrics|

Trick of the Trade: Modified HAT trick revisited

I finally tried the Modified HAT (Hair Apposition Technique) trick for the closure of scalp lacerations. I have used the traditional HAT trick multiple times but not the modified technique.

What’s the difference?

Instead of using your fingers, the modified approach involves the use of two instrument clamps to help twist and pull the hair strands taut. It turns out that this makes a huge difference, especially for short hairs. The clamps allow you to grab the hair strands so much more securely, before instilling a tissue adhesive at the twisting points.

The nice added benefit was that my chubby fingers were now out of the procedural field. This allowed my assistant to more easily see and reach the hair twisting points with the Dermabond applicator.

Check out the finished product of this 2.5 cm laceration on the scalp vertex.

Bottom line

The simple addition of two instrument clamps provides significantly superior control, stronger tensile strength, and better exposure when twisting hair strands together. Try it.

By Michelle Lin, MD|2019-11-20T18:11:20-08:00Aug 18, 2010|Tricks of the Trade|

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