Most Followed #FOAMed Twitter Users
As the Free Open Access Meducation (FOAM; #FOAMed) movement has continued to flourish over the past few years, Twitter has become a vital method for disseminating/discussing educational and clinical content. We thought it would be interesting to see who is being ‘followed’ on Twitter in the FOAM world. Certainly, the metric of Twitter followers does not necessarily correlate with quality. And, it misses newcomers to the FOAM scene and those with a more focused area of expertise/interest. We are more interested in understanding the landscape such as who is involved, geographic locations, areas of expertise, and association with blogs/podcasts. [+]
ALiEM Bookclub Review: David and Goliath
What is the essence of the underdog? Are they truly disadvantaged? Or occasionally, are they disruptors that provides them with a brilliant new perspective on things? Therein lies the question central to Malcolm Gladwell’s latest New York Times Bestseller. This is the key concept behind the latest book by Malcolm Gladwell’s book, David and Goliath [Amazon link], and the topic of this month’s ALiEM bookclub discussion. [+]
PV Card: Pediatric Ingestion Dose Thresholds for ED Referral
Clinical Toxicology has published guidelines for out-of-hospital management of 16 distinct overdoses and their dose thresholds, above which, pediatric patients should be referred to the Emergency Department for evaluation. Clinical Toxicology is the official journal of the American Academy of Clinical Toxicology (AACT, @AACTinfo), the American Association of Poison Control Centers (AAPCC, @AAPCC), and the European Association of Poisons Centres and Clinical Toxicologists (EAPCCT). There are two caveats to be aware of regarding these guidelines. They were developed between 2005 and 2007. New medications have been approved since that time and there may be more recent data available. As with any poisoning, dose is [+]
Intraosseous Rapid Sequence Intubation
Intravenous (IV) rapid sequence intubation (RSI) is by most considered the gold standard practice for securing an airway in the critically ill. There are, however, scenarios where it may not be possible to get rapid IV access in a timely manner (i.e. severe cutaneous burns, hemorrhagic shock, IV drug users, and/or the morbidly obese). It has been reported that intraosseous (IO) drug administration has similar pharmacokinetics to IV administration, but there have only been a handful of cases reported using the IO route for RSI. In this post we will discuss intraosseous rapid sequence intubation and if it is a feasible [+]
MEdIC Series: The Case of the Justified Junior – Expert & Community Commentary
The Case of the Justified Junior presented a case of a learner that disagrees with his senior resident, a senior resident that may be biased in her decision making, and an attending faced with the opportunity to teach around this whole situation. And at the center of it all, we have a patient that may be at risk if the wrong decision is made. In keeping with our mandate with the MEdIC series, we launched this case last week and waited for the crowd to speak up and help us solve the case. We also asked two esteemed colleagues to [+]
Anxiolytics and Hypnotics: Are They Doing Harm?
A patient presents to the emergency department complaining of increasing insomnia due to anxiety. She states that she is not actively suicidal nor homicidal but she has trouble “turning off her brain” at night in order to sleep and her insomnia is worsening her anxiety. She has a history of morbid obesity and smokes 1 pack of cigarettes per day. In order to help you consider writing her a prescription for 5 mg of zolpidem as you presume it to be a benign way to deal with her current sleep disorder. But what does the evidence say about these drugs [+]
Preventing Nightmares: A Guide for Medical Students and Residents
Nobody likes waking up in the middle of the night gasping for air. When you make a mistake in the emergency department, that’s exactly what happens. Nightmares. [+]
Director of Growth, Strategic Alliance Initiative, Center for Innovation [+]
MEdIC Series | The Case of the Justified Junior
“With great power comes great responsibility…” – Stan Lee ‘Tis the season of transitions. This summer marks the annual promotion day for most medical professionals. We transition between junior to senior, from clerk to resident, from resident to new attending. And with this comes increased responsibilities, including teaching. This month, we ask you to come and help us think through a difficult situation that might occur between various levels of learners and supervisors. [+]
Welcome new ALiEM-EMRA fellow Scott Kobner
We are excited to announce our inaugural 2014-15 ALiEM-EMRA Fellow for Social Media and Digital Scholarship, Scott Kobner, who is a second-year medical student at New York University School of Medicine. Scott brings a unique perspective to ALiEM and the FOAM community. He has worn many hats in the past, which will serve him well towards being a more versatile and mature clinician. He has been an EMT and EMT trainer, a scribe, a child-life volunteer, and New York Free Clinic patient educator. His focus recently has been on improving patient education especially in the Emergency Department. [+]
Welcome new ALiEM-CORD Fellow Dr. Sameed Shaikh
It is with great pleasure that announce our inaugural 2014-15 ALiEM-CORD Fellow for Social Media and Digital Scholarship, Dr. Sameed Shaikh, from Sinai-Grace Emergency Medicine Residency Program/Detroit Medical Center. As a PGY-2, he already has an impressive multimedia skill set, including website design, video editing, photography, and electronic music composition. He is currently using his skills for good rather than evil at his residency program to match medical education and medicine in general with currently available technological solutions. [+]