Happy Holidays and Happy New Year from BoringEM! With the holiday season is upon us, I want to take a moment to thank our writers and editors for the exceptional work that they have done over the past year and our readers for making all of that work worthwhile.
Life beyond medicine | Parenting as a resident: A Male Perspective
Editor’s Note: This week we bring your the male perspective on parenting as a resident. -TChan Let me start by saying that my life plan involved going straight through college, and like an old steam engine train, chugging straight through medical school and residency before even thinking about getting married or having children. My logical mind decided that this is what made the most sense. After all, how could I get married or …
Boring Question: How useful are physical examination manoeuvres for an adult patient with suspected meningitis?
Background For a patient who presents with a headache, it is imperative to consider a broad initial differential diagnosis to rule out life threatening causes such as meningitis. Bacterial meningitis is a medical emergency with an annual incidence of 4 to 6 cases per 100,000 adults, with early treatment considerations being essential (1). We are commonly taught to consider a triad of symptoms including fever, neck stiffness and altered mental status. However, the …
Life beyond medicine | Parenting during Residency: Can it be done?
Editor’s Note: This is the first in a series of posts about life that exists beyond the bounds of the hospital. This is the first of two posts about parenting during residency, the next post will follow and provide the male perspective. – TChan Parenting during Residency: Can it be done? Sure! Is it difficult? Definitely. Then again, so are so many things you’ll attempt over the course of your medical training. When …
KT Corner: Isolated Loss of Consciousness in Pediatric Head Injury
In this post, Dr. Kirsten Weerdenburg reviews a recent article looking at the value of isolated loss of consciousness in children with blunt head injury as a predictor for clinically significant brain injury on CT. Article Title: Lee, Lois K., et al. “Isolated loss of consciousness in children with minor blunt head trauma.” JAMA pediatrics 168.9 (2014): 837-843. DOI: 10.1001/jamapediatrics.2014.361 Why this paper is important? Loss of consciousness (LOC) is an element on history that frequently influences …
Tiny Tip: Determining capacity in an emergency – The CURVES Mnemonic
Determining capacity in a patient that needs to make an emergency medical decision can be a huge challenge for emergency physicians with substantial legal and patient-oriented consequences. As emergency medicine providers we need to be able to make this determination confidently and decisively. By preparing our approach in advance we can be more confident in our decisions. In November 2014, EM:RAP (check it out!) had a great segment on decision making capacity and …