What is the correct management of dermatitis after handling the creature pictured?
It’s time to talk about gender equity in medicine. Significant gender disparities exist in both healthcare institutions and professional societies. These disparities persist even in fields that are predominantly female, such as pediatrics. In fact, although women comprise 72.3% of active pediatricians, only 27.5% of pediatric department chairs across US medical schools are women. Why does this disparity exist? What can we do to address it? In this episode of the Little Big Med podcast, host Dr. Jason Woods discusses these questions with Dr. Nancy Spector, Professor of Pediatrics at Drexel University College of Medicine and Executive Director of the Executive Leadership in Academic Medicine (ELAM) program.
A 24-year-old male presents with progressively worsening left groin pain for six weeks after he began training for a marathon. He states he had x-rays done by his PCP that were negative four weeks ago and was diagnosed with a groin strain. X-rays were obtained and featured to the right.
Although escharotomy is rarely performed by emergency physicians during the initial management of burns, it is a life and limb-sparing skill important to know as a trainee and provider in emergency medicine [1,2]. There are few models made to accommodate procedural training, and the ones available are often cost-prohibitive. It is critical to have a method for learning and practicing this important procedure [3,4].
The novel coronavirus pandemic (COVID-19) resulted in the cancellation of educational experiences for emergency medicine (EM) residents at many institutions, including emergency medical services (EMS) ambulance ride alongs. The Accreditation for the Council of Graduate Medical Education (ACGME) requires that residents have educational experiences related to EMS, emergency preparedness, and disaster medicine. EMS experiences must include ground unit runs, direct medical oversight, and participation in multi-casualty incident drills [1]. There are few dedicated EMS curricula published in the literature, and those in existence incorporate physical ride-alongs [2].
Radiology teaching during medical school is variable, ranging from informal teaching to required clerkships [1]. Many of us likely received an approach to a chest x-ray, but approaches to other studies may or may not have not been taught. We can do better! Enter EM:Rad, a series aimed at providing “just in time” approaches to commonly ordered radiology studies in the emergency department. When applicable, it will provide pertinent measurements specific to management, and offer a framework for when to get an additional view, if appropriate. We recently covered the elbow, wrist, shoulder, ankle, and foot. Next up: the knee.
Figure 1: Normal AP knee x-ray. Case courtesy of Dr Andrew Dixon, Radiopaedia.org, annotations by Stephen Villa MD.
Have you ever been working a shift at 3am and wondered, “Am I missing something? I’ll just splint and instruct the patient to follow up with their PCP in 1 week.” This is a reasonable approach, especially if you’re concerned there could be a fracture. But we can do better. Enter the “Can’t Miss” series: a series organized by body part that will help identify injuries that ideally should not be missed. This list is not meant to be a comprehensive review of each body part, but rather to highlight and improve your sensitivity for these potentially catastrophic injuries. Now: the knee.