PV Card: Palliative Care Screening in the Emergency Department
What is Palliative Care? It is specialized medical care focusing on improving the care and quality of life for patients with advanced illness by decreasing suffering. It can be delivered concurrently with curative care. Early identification of patients who are likely to benefit is key. How do you decide whether your patient could benefit from a palliative care consult? Hot off the presses We just published in Academic Emergency Medicine a validated screening tool to identify ED patients who would benefit from palliative care [PubMed abstract].1 In an effort to accelerate knowledge dissemination, the checklist is reproduced here in PV card form. Be sure [+]
PV Card: One Minute Preceptor – NERDS Mnemonic
As we transition into the new academic year, rising senior residents and new attendings will face a difficult challenge: precepting a medical student or a new intern. Teaching in the Emergency Department is unique because it must be fast, efficient, and adaptable to the many different parts of our clinical practice. We are often trying to balance multiple patients in systems with numerous barriers, thus adding the responsibility of teaching can seem overwhelming. [+]
2015 ALiEM Essentials of EM Fellowship Winners and Runner-Ups
The 2015 Essentials of EM Fellowship competition was fierce with submissions by U.S. EM residents from around the country. Based on the four predefined judging criteria (design, relevance, content accuracy, and innovation), one submission stood out above the rest. Congratulations to the winner Dr. Gabe Sudario (University of California San Francisco-SFGH), who will attend the 2015 Essentials of EM conference in Las Vegas as the ALiEM Essentials of EM Fellow with all expenses paid. Check out today’s PV card, which was Gabe’s blog submission. [+]
MEdIC Series | Case of the Unseasoned Senior (SMACC Edition)
We had the remarkable pleasure of facilitating a MEdIC workshop at the Social Media and Critical Care (SMACC) conference in Chicago this past month. We shared our process with those who participated and spent time developing cases. We’d like to thank the participants from our workshop for their hard work! The below is one of the final products that our amazingly engaged and enthusiastic group come up with. The case generated meaningful discussion in our SMACC live session, and we hope that it will be as engaging in the online forum! We look forward to hearing what you think about our Case of the Unseasoned [+]
60-Second Soapbox: New podcast series featuring Drs. Lin, Riddell, Shaikh
We are excited to announce our new podcast series, 60-Second Soapbox! Each episode, one lucky individual gets exactly 1 whole minute to present their rant-of-choice to the world. Any topic is on the table – clinical, academic, economic, or whatever else may interest an EM-centric audience. Don’t worry if your are microphone-shy. We will carefully remix your audio to add an extra splash of drama and excitement. Even more exciting, participants get to challenge 3 of their peers to stand on a soapbox of their own! [+]
AIR Series: Respiratory Part 2 (2015)
We found an enormous amount of respiratory content and thus have divided the respiratory module into two modules. While the first module focused on general respiratory issues, this second module is focused on airway and pulmonary embolism. Below we have listed our selection of the 15 highest quality blog posts within the past 12 months (current as of March 2015) related to respiratory, curated and approved for residency training by the AIR Series Board. In this module we have 4 AIRs and 11 Honorable Mentions. We strive for comprehensiveness by selecting from a broad spectrum of blogs from the top 50 listing per the Social Media [+]
Assessing and Managing Delirium in Older Adults
Every day in the Emergency Department we see older adults with dementia who have developed delirium and are brought in because of worsening agitation, combativeness, or confusion. In order to care for them, we have to consider what the underlying cause of their agitation may be, but we also have to protect the patient and staff in case of violent outbursts. Older adults experience a phenomenon termed ‘homeostenosis’ in which their physiologic reserve and the degree to which they can compensate for stressors is narrowed, putting them at risk for delirium. This post will outline [+]
Poll : How do you use the PV cards?
In our effort to take the Paucis verbis (PV) card series to the next level, we are interested in knowing how YOU use the cards. We would appreciate your answers to the following 4 questions. Also if you have any comments/suggestions regarding the PV cards and how we can make them better please, use the Comments section. [+]
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EMS Fellowship: 10 Questions I Wish Applicants Would Ask the Fellowship Director
Well, it is EMS fellowship interview season again, and every year after the lovely encounter with very well qualified candidates, I am left wondering if they have achieved a good return on their investment of time and money coming to visit us. Did they really get a good idea of the important aspects of our program, or will they just have to make an educated guess about whether they would be happy spending a year or more with us? [+]
Considering a Medical Toxicology Fellowship?
Every year, EM residents ponder whether to do a fellowship. In the ALiEM Chief Resident Incubator, a handful are very interested in a medical toxicology fellowship, but I woefully am unqualified to provide any advice. So in a “phone a friend” moment, I boldly sent out an email requesting advice and insights. I received two amazing replies from Dr. Lewis Nelson (NYU) from a fellowship director’s perspective and Dr. Annie Arens (UCSF) from a fellow’s perspective. [+]