Health Insurance 101 for the Emergency Physician
A 28 year-old single man with type I diabetes mellitus presents to your busy Texas emergency department in diabetic ketoacidosis (DKA). This is his third hospitalization for DKA in 5 months. When you ask the patient about his current medication regimen, he admits that he frequently skips doses as a cost-savings measure. He shares that he works 45 hours a week at a small local grocery store, makes minimum wage ($15,660 pretax), and has no health insurance. His prescribed insulin regimen, consisting of Lantus at bedtime and Humalog with meals, costs approximately $600 a month. [+]
ALiEM is Growing
You’ve probably noticed by now, but ALiEM is going through some pretty significant changes–especially in the way that the site looks and feels. We’ve shifted the platform that was used to create ALiEM and taking a few minutes to explain why. [+]
Beyond the Abstract: A Return to Work Policy for New Resident Parents
More women than men entered medical school in the United States for the first time in 2017. Will this generation also set new trends in parenting during their training? One study suggests that 40% of female residents plan to have a child while in residency.1 Can our graduate medical education system withstand even a modest increase in the number of resident parents? Can your hospital? [+]
Study: High Prevalence of Physician Burnout Among Emergency Medicine Residents Across the U.S.
In March 2017, our ALiEM Wellness Think Tank launched an ambitious initiative to try to identify the prevalence rate of U.S. emergency medicine (EM) resident burnout across the country. No study to date had been done to assess this. Amazingly we got a response from over 1,500 confirmed U.S. EM residents from 193 residency programs purely through our social media, email listservs, and Wellness Think Tank outreach efforts. We measured burnout using the Maslach Burnout Inventory-Human Services Survey (MBI-HSS). This 22-item MBI-HSS is the most common, validated tool used to measure burnout in healthcare professionals. [+]
Top 5 Reasons to Join the 2019-20 Chief Resident Incubator
The ALiEM Chief Resident Incubator (“CRincubator”) launches its fifth class today. Every year’s class has a unique personality with wide-reaching projects. But all the chief residents share consistent characteristics – a deep dedication to resident education and wellness, a growth-minded approach to learning, and a desire for ongoing professional development. Are you an incoming chief resident in emergency medicine with a similar outlook, looking for a year-long community of your peers to share ideas with and bounce ideas off of? Want access to CRincubator alumni and respected educators in our field? Sign up early enough to attend our in-person launch [+]
IDEA Series: A Workshop to Reflect on Personal Resilience
The Problem Burnout is a well-known syndrome characterized by poor self-care, dehumanization, exhaustion, and reduced effectiveness. The study of wellness and resilience among emergency medicine (EM) providers and trainees has recently blossomed, largely as a consequence of recent tragedies of physician suicide, provider distress, and an increased awareness the impact burnout has on both personal and professional domains. While there are ongoing discussions on practices to best address burnout, methods have focused on promoting resilience, mindfulness, and provider engagement.1 [+]
Winner of the 2019 ALiEM-EEM Fellowship Contest: Dr. Tim Montrief
After receiving numerous high-quality submissions, we are proud to announce the winners of the 2019 Essentials of Emergency Medicine (EEM) Education Fellowship contest! Dr. Tim Montrief from the Jackson Memorial/University of Miami Emergency Medicine residency program has won the blog post competition. A blinded EEM voting panel with input from ALiEM selected his winning post: Trick of the Trade: Bubble Study for Confirmation of Central Line Placement. We are thrilled to feature it today on the blog and look forward to meeting him in Las Vegas in May at the 3-day event. This weekend, we will also feature 2 other excellent [+]
Influenza Update: IDSA 2018 Guidelines Detailed Review
Symptomatic influenza A and B infections cause worldwide morbidity and mortality every year. Annual vaccination remains the greatest prophylactic measure, but the vaccine is not 100% effective due to mismatch between the circulating and vaccine virus strains. Although most individuals will recover from influenza without incident, some specific patient populations are at high risk for severe complications. The Infectious Disease Society of America (IDSA) recently updated their clinical practice guidelines.1 We review these key updates, including recommendations on who to test, treat, and provide chemoprophylaxis. [+]
Post It Pearls initiative is moving from Twitter to Instagram
My 2017 new year’s resolution was to create brief educational pearls on shift called Post It Pearls, which I published to Twitter. I have increasingly noticed that many of my target learners are not on Twitter. They are, however, on Instagram. So this year’s resolution is to test out how whether Post It Pearls would reach more learners and thus be more impactful on my Instagram account (@MichelleLinMD). [+]
Instagram: The next frontier for ALiEM in digital education
For almost a decade, ALiEM has been on the forefront of digital education in emergency medicine. By leveraging the power of social media, we have been able to provide quality teaching pearls to our learners. Although we have helped to pioneer FOAMEd on Twitter and Facebook, you may have noticed our absence in your Instagram feed. Today, we are excited to announce the launch of @aliemteam on Instagram. Alongside travel photos, puppy videos, and hilarious memes, look forward to bite-sized educational morsels and a behind-the-scenes look at ALiEM. We can’t wait to share with you some of our weekly features. [+]