So I’ve been performing eye exams on and off for the past 4 months. First in a emergency room up north and now at an occupational health clinic. If anything, I’ve learned 2 things: (1) everyone does the examination differently but every step gets done. (2) You’re going to see a lot of eye injuries. Human’s eyes are just asking to be injured. They are wide open every second you’re … Continue reading Simple Foreign Body Removal from the Eye
So I’m going to keep this post short & sweet. Today my preceptor and myself ran through a really interesting case about hyperkalemia (elevated blood potassium). Interestingly one of the potential urgent treatments was dialysis. Did I remember this? Yes. Did I remember all the other potential cases for urgently dialyzing someone? Nope. But you bet your arse I do now thanks to the mnemonic AEIOU. For starters there are two … Continue reading Mnemonic for Urgent Hemodialysis
So today my lead preceptor was super exited right from the get-go. A fresh off the press study by the American College of Physicians (ACOP) daringly suggested what their occupational health clinic had been practicing for >15 years: manage low back pain alternatively before attempting opioids & save surgery as the absolute last option. Not the first. This is crucial for several reasons. (1) It has been estimated that over 80% of Americans will experience low back pain … Continue reading American College of Physicians (ACOP) New Guidelines for Treating Low Back Pain
So today my preceptor gave us 2 cases! This was a complete surprise since (1) we’ve never done more than 1 case in a day and (2) it’s a Monday, our busiest day of the week. Thankfully not today. I was especially excited for the first case since its topic was “GI Bleed”. Instead of presenting the whole case, for now I’m just going to explain the mnemonic for … Continue reading Mnemonic for GI Bleeds
Within 30-minutes of my elective Emergency Medicine rotation I was reading an Xray. I had no idea what I was looking at, but I was reading it none the less. There was just so much on the screen! Where do I start? Do I look at the top or bottom? How about that weird bone that looks more curved on the right, wait, is that even the … Continue reading Reading Chest X-rays (Updated)
I went back and forth on the idea before finally caving in and attending the 2017 Chicago Auto Show on opening day, Saturday 2.11.17. I haven’t gone in 3 years and unsurprisingly, not much has changed. But maybe that’s a good thing since what I saw both times I really liked. Large crowds that were easily navigable, never waited more than 2-minutes to sit in a car … Continue reading 2017 Chicago Auto Show
I’ve slowly realized how critical being able to perform a quick & thorough evaluation of the hand is. While my occupation health rotation has me seeing more shoulder and knee cases each week, the hand has been frustrating. With such a small body area relative to a shoulder or knee, there’s a lot of information a clinician needs to obtain and relay to others effectively. Until … Continue reading Quick & Efficient Hand Examination
I’ll keep this short for studying purposes. I love coming upon the right thing at the right time. Who doesn’t? Somethings it just feels like fate. So I’m about to start driving home with nothing to listen to (darn YouTubers and their non-daily uploads), when I start scrolling through YouTube’s “suggestion” column. That in itself is a dangerous place. YouTube is crazy accurate at pushing everything you want to … Continue reading Jia Jiang on Rejection – Ted Talk
It’s exactly 364 days till I match and I’m already petrified. Where will I match? How high on my rank list will it be? Which program? Which state? Will I be near my family or in the middle of nowhere practice medicine on a buffalo? Once the ball starts rolling your brain doesn’t stop. It’s relentless. It’s a wheel constantly turning in the back of your … Continue reading The Anxiety of Match. It’s Real.
So yesterday the awesome attending I work with started a new “game” at the conclusion of the day, oral board style cases, and I love it! He pitches us a one liner representing a commonly seen patient and says “so what do you want to do?” and lets us have at it. We have to ask about everything and nothing gets done unless we tell someone to do … Continue reading Practice Oral Board Cases
The Book of OI 