As we continue to develop educational models within medicine, old paradigms need to be examined and discussed. In a recent post on the ICENet Blog, Dr. Lynfa Stroud discussed perceptions on service and education in residency training programs. Dr. Kaif Pardhan (@kaifpardhan), a staff Emergency Physician at the University of Toronto, and recent FRCP graduate, provides an counterpoint and some further considerations to Dr. Stroud’s arguments. Service and Education: Two separate issues? Dr. Stroud raises an interesting point as it relates to service …
Waves of FOAM: Does the discussion of quality and impact suggest #FOAMed’s maturation?
The founders of the Free Open Access Meducation (FOAM; #FOAMed) have described the phenomena as a movement. Historically, social movements have come in multiple waves. Feminism, for instance, is thought by many scholars to have at least 3 waves (some would argue 4), each with its own characteristics and stance on how to achieve its ends. If FOAM is a movement, it is likely to have similar waves of FOAMites with variable perspectives …
Keep Emergency for Emergencies? Reframing the basic assumption
Emergency departments (ED) are open 24 hours a day, 365 days a year. Health conditions can develop or worsen at a moments’ notice, making the ED a necessary safety net for even the best healthcare systems. However, the very characteristic that makes the ED essential also leaves it open to abuse. When there is nowhere else to go it is an attractive location to bring the intoxicated, the homeless, the destitute – the …
Counterpoint: SHPOS…we haven’t heard of it
This Counterpoint is an open letter from a group of Canadian learners and physicians that was written in response to a recent National Post Article (How a SHPOS is born: What doctors call their very worst patients) which described a phrase the author suggested is “commonly” used in medicine. Our work was submitted as a letter to the editor in response to the article but we have not received any correspondence from the National Post. We are publishing this on a …
Counterpoint: Don’t use Steroids for Tinea!
Following the publication of the recent Boring Question: Steroids for Tinea? piece, Dr. Erin Dahlke, an FRCPC dermatologist from Toronto, put together the following counterpoint. Please give her a warm BoringEM welcome and join in on the discussion. What do you think? – TChan
Counterpoint: Think Medical School is for you? Be brave.
This Counterpoint is an open letter that was written in response to a recent Globe & Mail commentary (Think medical school is for you? You’re probably wrong, Globe & Mail, July 16, 2014) which took a pessimistic perspective on the pursuit of medicine as a career. This piece contains the reflections of a resident physician, Sarah Luckett-Gatopoulos (BoringEM Resident Editor), who has just newly graduated from medical school.