ALiEM Book Club: Medical Apartheid
Rallies by white supremacists in Charlottesville, VA and the subsequent milquetoast response from the White House shocked many Americans. These events invoked a national discussion about how many of our public monuments, built to celebrate triumphs and critical moments from our country’s past, can also exhibit appalling acts of malevolence and cruelty, treatment that today is unacceptable. Similarly, our understanding of medical history has evolved. While many of us are aware of particular atrocities, such as the Tuskegee study or the nonconsensual obtaining of Hela cells from Henrietta Lacks, these stories are by no means isolated, and there are times in our country’s history in which harm was bestowed upon vulnerable populations, especially African Americans. Medical Apartheid unveils the long history of medical experimentation performed on African Americans and highlights some of the origins of our country’s health disparities. We provide a synopsis and discuss the book in greater detail on the Google Hangout below.
The ALiEM Faculty Incubator is thrilled to announce that 
ALiEM has generated an annual report every year since 2013 to summarize our team’s work, and reflect on both the organizational goals we have met and accomplishments we have achieved. 2017 is no different. Under the leadership of Dr. Michelle Lin, ALiEM has grown to become an international organization with over 80 volunteers, all helping to write for the blog and contribute to projects like 
Our third case of season 5, 
The EM Match Advice Series is back with another regional episode. This time, our team pulls the curtain back on the EM programs in Detroit, where residents learn to master EM while experiencing the city’s exciting rebirth. Outstanding clinical opportunities and collaboration with other programs in the area are just 2 of the many reasons to explore these residency programs. Co-hosted by Drs. Michael Gisondi (Stanford) and Michelle Lin (UCSF), watch the video or listen to the podcast to learn more about each one!
Early recognition of a patient presenting with a toxidrome is essential to providing high-quality emergency care. Learners are often first exposed to this topic, however, in one comprehensive grouping, which makes it challenging to learn the nuances that distinguish one toxidrome from another. Both learners and experienced clinicians alike often employ rote memorization (and sometimes suboptimal mnemonics) to differentiate these presentations. This can make it difficult to convert the details into long-term memory.