I recently took an extended vacation at the end of residency, and had some time to reflect upon nearly an decade of medical training. I write this as an letter to my younger, naive self, in hopes that trainees may learn from my experiences. Dear PGY-1 Shahbaz, I have some big news for you: things are going to change. Don’t bother memorizing the SIRS criteria, its going to be gone in a few years. …
Shared decision making
Resource utilization in medicine is becoming an increasingly critical issue (as also noted by the number of discussions we’ve had on it here at CanadiEM), and this acknowledgement is important. However, once we’ve accepted the harms (to the patient and system) with excessive over-utilization, we can begin to look at ways to address and optimize physician behaviour. There are many ways to approach the subject, and one that is often cited is Shared Decision Making …
#AnthroEve: An Intro to Anthropology and Medical Enculturation
I am becoming quite expert in navigating the look of confusion on my colleagues’ faces when I tell them that I am completing my master’s in anthropology. I can see behind their glazed eyes, in real time, the exotic mental images they are conjuring of the famous cultural anthropologist Margaret Mead or the comical similarities in social functioning between me and fictional physical anthropologist Temperance Brennan. A few remember that Paul Farmer is an anthropologist …
Want to be a (simulation) Olympian?
A five year-old boy is brought into your resuscitation bay by EMS after falling out of a motor-boat in the frigid waters of the St Lawrence river. CPR was started at the scene and when he arrives he has regained a pulse but is hypotensive with a decreased level of consciousness. Your heart races as you assemble your team and divide up responsibilities – “we need an airway assessment, vascular access, get him …
A Resident’s Perspective on CBME
Editor’s note: This is the second post in a series of posts related to CBME. Read the medical student perspective here. This post was written by a current Royal College EM trainee at Queen’s University who has a keen interest in education and who has been extensively involved in the transition to CBME locally and nationally. Competency based medical education (CBME) – is it an ideology, an educational overhaul, or a make-work project from …
The Opioid Crisis: Centre for Excellence in Emergency Preparedness Review
Editor’s Note: Dr. Carl Jarvis is an Emergency Medicine Physician, and a director for the Centre for Excellence in Emergency Preparedness (CEEP). Nationally, CEEP’s mandate is to support and inform structures and processes in ensuring an standard of excellence in health emergency preparedness. Most recently, the organization has taken to addressing the growing opioid crisis within our country, here Dr. Jarvis helps to provide some further insights to first line providers. Opioid crisis: why is it …