I am Dr. James Willis, Associate Residency Director: How I Stay Healthy in EM
Dr. James Willis is an emergency physician practicing in Brooklyn, NY. Being the Associate Residency Director, he enjoys diving into the educational aspect of his portfolio, while keeping up with his clinical work. For Dr. Willis, maintaining balance is key. So when he’s not working, he’s enjoying time with is family and playing with his son. Here’s how he stays healthy in EM! [+]
Program Evaluation: What is it, and what are key considerations?
Recently the ALiEM Faculty Incubator had a dynamic discussion about Program Evaluation. This Google Hangout featured Dr. George Mejicano, Dr. Chad Kessler, and Dr. Megan Osborn, facilitated by Dr. Lalena Yarris. Listen to the podcast version of their conversation as they take a deep-dive into program evaluation and learner assessments. We also provide a text-based synopsis of the discussion. [+]
Aaron Brown, MD, FACEP
Curriculum Director, [+]
Ultrasound For The Win! – 46M with Diffuse Abdominal Pain #US4TW
Welcome to another ultrasound-based case, part of the “Ultrasound For The Win!” (#US4TW) Case Series. In this case series, we focus on a real clinical case where point-of-care ultrasound changed the management of a patient’s care or aided in the diagnosis. In this case, a 46-year-old man with a history of alcohol abuse presents with diffuse abdominal pain. [+]
PEM Pearls: Calming techniques while repairing a laceration
Most children who come into the Emergency Department present with pain or experience pain during their ED stay.1,2,3 Pain and distress during a procedure can leave a lasting impact on a child and contribute to mistrust of the medical system and compliance with future procedures.1 ,4,5 Children who use active forms of coping report less pain and distress during a procedure.3 To help with coping, when feasible, involve parents or family, nursing and a child life specialist. If the parents are willing, try to get them involved in all parts of the medical procedure.2,3 This includes positioning the patient with a parent in [+]
AIR Series: Respiratory Module (2017)
Welcome to the Respiratory Module! After carefully reviewing all relevant posts from the top 50 sites of the Social Media Index the ALiEM AIR Team is proud to present the highest quality procedure content. Below we have listed our selection of the 12 highest quality blog posts within the past 12 months (as of August 2016) related to Respiratory emergencies, curated and approved for residency training by the AIR Series Board. More specifically in this module, we identified 4 AIRs and 8 Honorable Mentions. We recommend programs give 4 hours (about 20 minutes per article) of III credit for this module. [+]
I am Dr. Michael Epter: How I Promote Wellness in EM
Promoting the wellness and resilience of his residents and colleagues is a passion for Dr. Michael Epter. He has become a leading spokesperson on the topic within the residency leadership community. With over a decade of experience as a program director, as well as the challenges he worked through caring for twins born at 24 weeks, he has plenty of wisdom and insight to share on how we can help promote wellness in EM! [+]
MEdIC Series: The Case of the Resident At Risk
Welcome to season 4, episode 4 of the ALiEM Medical Education in Cases (MEdIC) series! Our team (Drs. Tamara McColl, Teresa Chan, John Eicken, Sarah Luckett-Gatopoulos, Eve Purdy, Alkarim Velji and Brent Thoma) is pleased to welcome you to our online community of practice where we discuss the practice of academic medicine! This month, in keeping with our theme of physician wellness and mental health, we present a case of a junior resident who feels completely out of her comfort zone when she realizes that her senior resident may be suffering from depression and having thoughts of suicide. [+]
PEM Pearls: Brief Resolved Unexplained Events (BRUE)
A 2-month old boy was brought in by his mother after an episode of the child’s face turning blue and a pause in breathing. Mom reports this lasted a few seconds. The mother was terrified, so she brought the baby to the ED. Sometimes infants briefly stop breathing or go limp. How do we determine if an infant is low-risk for serious illness? Earlier last year, the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) released guidelines on the evaluation and management of Brief Resolved Unexplained Events (BRUE, replacing a 30-year old label “apparent life-threatening event” or ALTEs).1 [+]
Calling all EM residents: Join the Resident Wellness Consensus Summit!
It seems that the 2017 year is quickly shaping up to be one of grassroots action both politically and now in emergency medicine (EM). On May 15, 2017, we are launching a joint initiative FOR residents BY residents with Essentials of EM, EM Residents’ Association (EMRA), and the Wellness Think Tank. This event will serve to not only help centralize the conversations about wellness and resiliency, but identify some actionable items and build toolkits to help chip away at this towering problem. Deadline to sign up: March 31, 2017. Join us! [+]
Highlights from Second Annual EM Wellness Week
The second annual Emergency Wellness Week is coming to a close. This week we featured wellness initiatives that you can use to boost wellness in your emergency department, talked about the importance of debriefing, talked to the White Coat Investor about financial wellness, and shared ways to improve wellness in just 30 minutes! Through the collaboration of ALiEM, The Wellness Think Tank, ACEP, CAEP, HippoEM, and CanadiEM- we hope that you have learned some techniques to improve your own wellness and that you will carry some of the techniques with you through the rest of the year! [+]