1 07, 2009

Tricks of the Trade: Let there be light!

2016-10-26T17:05:44+00:00

July 1st, 2009 | Tricks of the Trade |0 Comments

By: Michelle Lin, MD

In various ACEP News Tricks of the Trade columns, I have mentioned the importance of adequate lighting to visualize subtle injuries or pathologies. Traditional room overhead lighting is insufficient, especially if you are looking for that needle-in-a-haystack laceration in thick scalp hair or a tiny foreign body in a wound.

If you are using a traditional Tungsten penlight, you need to invest in a LED light source. LED penlights are very small (can fit on a keychain), super-bright, long-lasting, and costs only $3-30.

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30 06, 2009

Faculty spotlight: Dr. Ghazala Sharieff

2019-01-28T23:56:49+00:00

June 30th, 2009 | Uncategorized |0 Comments

By: Michelle Lin, MD

It’s not every day that you get to meet and hang out with a fun, funny, humble, spirited, and super-smart person. I first got to know Dr. Ghazala Sharieff on the lecture circuit. She’s one of the major go-to speakers for anything related to pediatric EM. When I’m stuck in a dilemma about a pediatric patient, I think – WWGD? What would Ghazala do?

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29 06, 2009

Article review: Teaching when time is limited

2016-10-26T17:05:44+00:00

June 29th, 2009 | Education Articles |0 Comments

By: Michelle Lin, MD

A 2008 British Medical Journal article focused on practical tips and approaches to teaching in busy environments. This is especially relevant to those of us in Emergency Medicine. We are balancing trying to take care of patients, teach eager learners, and troubleshoot logistical hurdles while trying to find 30 seconds to eat dinner or have a bathroom break! I wonder how many emergency physicians have hydronephrosis at any given time on a shift... Someone should do a study.

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25 06, 2009

Humorous distillation of specialty personalities

2016-10-26T17:05:44+00:00

June 25th, 2009 | Medical Education |2 Comments

By: Michelle Lin, MD

If only I had this flowchart when I was a first-year medical student! I too have always felt that emergency physicians have a little baseline crazy in them to be happy and successful in the specialty.

This diagram has been floating around the web for years now, and I wanted to share with you. It’s a humorous (partly because there’s some truth to it) decision tree on how to choose your medical specialty. Did you decide upon the right field?

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24 06, 2009

Tricks of the Trade: Tissue adhesives and tegaderm

2016-10-26T17:05:44+00:00

June 24th, 2009 | Tricks of the Trade |0 Comments

By: Michelle Lin, MD

Tissue adhesives for wound closure often seem to intentionally make a bee-line straight for high-risk areas such as the eye. To avoid inadvertent application of the tissue adhesive, Dr. Hagop Afarian (UCSF-Fresno) utilizes a transparent tegaderm tape with an oval cut out of the center to provide a protective barrier. Immediately after application of the tissue adhesive, the tegaderm can be carefully peeled off to reveal a still-drying, well-circumscribed aliquot of glue over the wound. Be sure that the wound is dry, and the edges are well-apposed prior to tissue adhesive application.

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23 06, 2009

Faculty spotlight: Dr. Renee Hsia

2016-10-26T17:05:44+00:00

June 23rd, 2009 | Uncategorized |0 Comments

By: Michelle Lin, MD

There are so many interesting and inspiring EM faculty and none more so than in our own department at San Francisco General Hospital. Dr. Renee Hsia is a rising superstar in our department who has received numerous fancy awards and grants including the prestigious Robert Wood Johnson Faculty Scholar award. She makes me feel small, insignificant, and uncultured. For instance, I thought Eritrea was a rash. Anyway, read below to see what I mean. Good thing I can at least beat her in foosball.

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22 06, 2009

Article review: Interruptions during oral case presentations

2016-11-11T19:01:59+00:00

June 22nd, 2009 | Education Articles |0 Comments

By: Michelle Lin, MD

Do you remember when you were a medical student and had to present patient cases to the ED attending? How often did they interrupt your presentation, and did this affect your learning experience?

These were the questions that the following article by Dr. Rachel Chin (a super-mom colleague of mine at SF General) and Dr. Glen Yang answered in her 2007 publication in the Academic Emergency Medicine journal. Pubmed citation

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