What medical educator does not dream of improving their lecturing skills? As a junior faculty member, I aspire to constantly challenge myself to do this better and better. As a part of this quest, I have read ample books that have inspired change in my material – but no one has been more impactful on my lecture skills than Nancy Duarte.
The Case of the Late Letter prompted some great discussion around how to properly ask for a letter of reference and what students and preceptors might do when things get down to the wire. As usual, I was extremely impressed by the rich discussion that evolved over the week. We are now proud to present to you the Curated Community Commentary and our two expert opinions. Thank-you again to all our experts and participants for contributing again this week to the ALiEM MEdIC series.
Programs across the country are in the midst of the residency selection process. Fourth years have submitted personal statements, CVs, and letters of reference and are starting on the interview circuit. Obtaining letters is a hot topic for students but it is also important topic for preceptors and educators to consider their role in this process too! This month’s ALiEM MEdIC series case hopes to elicit our community’s considerations about the best and worst practices for requesting and responding to reference letter requests. Join us for this discussion!
The full title of Gerd Gigerenzer’s book is Risk Savvy: How to Make Good Decisions [Amazon], which is exactly what makes this book so relevant, not just to the everyday reader, but to the medical reader. We make decisions every day in the medical field that range from the complex of intubating someone with low reserve or difficult airway anatomy to the less life-and-death decision of when to best time a quick food break between seeing patients. Of course, we also help our patients make very complex decisions, especially in the ED when time is short but risk can be high. And it certainly is not an easy task to attempt to bring family members up to speed on the ins and outs of intubation vs BiPAP or the complex statistics associated with radiation exposure when working up a pregnant patient with a potential pulmonary embolism. Gigerenzer’s book does a beautiful job of helping the reader not only understand how to break down the complexity of risk, but also how to go about explaining it.
At the 2014 American College of Emergency Physicians Scientific Assembly, ACEP passed Resolution 44, officially recognizing Emergency Medicine Pharmacists as valuable members of the EM team. Nadia Awad (@Nadia_EMPharmD) summarized the importance of the resolution’s passage on the EMPharmD blog. The role of an EM Pharmacist has been outlined by the American Society of Health-System Pharmacists (ASHP). In addition, Zlatan Coralic (@ZEDPharm), one of ALiEM’s regular contributors, framed the EM Pharmacist as the ‘ultimate consult service.’ The intent behind this post is not to discuss the role of the EM Pharmacist, but to highlight the rigorous training process through which most EM Pharmacists have traversed to work in this amazing specialty.
The Case of the Ebola Outbreak Ethics prompted some great discussion around the ethics of care for a patient who possibly has an Ebola infection. As usual, I was extremely impressed by the rich discussion that evolved over the week. We are now proud to present to you the Curated Community Commentary and 2 our two expert opinions. Thank-you again to all our experts and participants for contributing again this week to the ALiEM MEdIC series.
The news has been rampant with discussions about Ebola lately, but many centers are handling the integration of learners into their disaster plans differently. This month’s ALiEM MEdIC series case hopes to elicit our community’s considerations on the ethical and educational principles behind education during a possible outbreak scenario. Join us as we discuss this topic!