MEdIC Series: The Case of the New Job Negotiations
The final year of residency is challenging. Your responsibilities at work increase. Exams loom. And the job or fellowship hunt begins… This month in the MEdIC series we present the case of Jamal, a senior emergency medicine resident who is torn between the job he desires and the job that others are suggesting that he pursue. Join us as we ‘listen in’ on his conversation with his friend Cindy (a Pulmonology fellow) as they compare their adventures in new job negotiations. [+]
Social Media Index (SM-i) on ALiEM
The Social Media Index (SM-i) started with a pilot on BoringEM. The rationale for the experiment was that the health care professionals creating Free Open-Access Medical Education (FOAM) resources had no way to measure their impact in the way that scholars (h-index) and journals (Impact Factor) do. This made it difficult for them to quantify the impact of their work and for the consumers of FOAM to distinguish between reputable and unproven websites. While I am aware of the many imperfections of the index as it now stands, I believe the pilot demonstrated that there is enough value in the concept to justify [+]
Faculty hero: Dr. Stacey Poznanski
As part of a series on Faculty Heroes, I wanted to highlight Dr. Stacey Poznanski (Director of EM Undergraduate Education and Assistant Professor of EM at Wright State University), who has done amazing things in EM. Most recently I had the pleasure of co-presenting at the 2013 International EM Teaching Course with Stacey at our Powerpoint Resuscitation workshop. The following are some of her thoughtful words of wisdom for those interested in EM, education, and academics. [+]
ALiEM Journal Club Question 4: Reimbursement Tied to Diagnosis
For the ALiEM – Annals of EM global journal club on the article “Emergency Department Computed Tomography Utilization in the United States and Canada”, discuss question number 4 on the topic of reimbursements tied to diagnosis: The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) proposed instituting a new process metric OP 15 “Use of Brain CT in the Emergency Department of Atraumatic Headache.” OP 15 measures the percentage of ED visits for atraumatic headache (ie, ED billing codes for tension, cluster, migraine, and nonspecific headaches) among Medicare beneficiaries who have a brain CT performed on the same day. ED patients [+]
ALiEM Journal Club Question 3: Malpractice and CT Use
For the ALiEM – Annals of EM global journal club on the article “Emergency Department Computed Tomography Utilization in the United States and Canada”, discuss question number 3 on the topic of malpractice and CT use: Discuss some of the important differences between the current health care systems and medical malpractice environments in Canada and the United States. How might these differences affect CT use in the emergency department (ED)? How might the implementation of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act in the US affect these differences? [+]
ALiEM Journal Club Question 2: Estimation of CT Counts
For the ALiEM – Annals of EM global journal club on the article “Emergency Department Computed Tomography Utilization in the United States and Canada”, discuss question number 2 on the topic of estimation on CT counts: Do you think the National Hospital Ambulatory Medical Care Survey (NHAMCS) method is likely to overcount or undercount CTs? What about the method used for calculating use in Ontario? Would these biases likely make the authors’ estimate of the overall difference between these countries too large or too small? Defend your answer. [+]
ALiEM Journal Club Question 1: Bias
For the ALiEM – Annals of EM global journal club on the article “Emergency Department Computed Tomography Utilization in the United States and Canada”, discuss question number 1 on the topic of bias: The authors use distinct methods for tallying computed tomography (CT) use in the 2 countries. List the biases that could occur in counting CTs by each method. [+]
Inaugural Global EM Journal Club – hosted by ALiEM and Annals of EM
CT imaging is a powerful tool in diagnosing pathological medical conditions. Despite this, there is appropriate concern about the “magnitude of imaging-related financial costs and radiation induced malignancies.” In this month’s Annals of Emergency Medicine journal publication, Berdachl et al published about “Emergency Department Computed Tomography Utilization in the United States and Canada.” This article was selected by the journal as the featured piece for a Journal Club discussion. In this inaugural global EM journal club, ALiEM and Annals are collaborating to provide a more dynamic discussion of some of the posed questions. The focus is on teaching concepts around HOW to [+]
NEWS FLASH: ALiEM and Annals EM are hosting a Global Journal Club
In an unprecedented collaborative effort to accelerate knowledge translation and education, ALiEM is officially partnering with Annals of Emergency Medicine. Together we will be hosting a global Journal Club discussion on ALiEM using the journal club questions posed in the journal’s journal club questions. Here’s how YOU and your colleagues can participate… [+]
All Benzodiazepines are Metabolized by the Liver
We sometimes hear information stated as fact that may not be entirely accurate. One such example is, “I’m going to use lorazepam because it isn’t metabolized by the liver.” Let’s set the record straight. ALL benzodiazepines are metabolized by the liver. [+]
