Category: Medical

Medical

Chapman Reflex Points (Voodoo?)

There’s always areas of medicine you never knew existed until someone removes the blindfolds from before your eyes. While I’m assuming the majority of people can at least stumble through some botched definition of Acupuncture I’d be willing to wager you’ll be greeted with blank faces if you asked about Chapman Reflex Points. Defined by Wikipedia as “small, discrete tissue texture changes located just deep to the skin. The Chapman … Continue reading Chapman Reflex Points (Voodoo?)

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Medical

Prescription Writing 101

So this is critical. When your clinic gets crazy busy and your preceptor leans over and says “write out a prescription for… ” you better not have a deer in the headlights look (like I’m sure I did the first couple times). Granted, while there is a universal system in place for writing out prescriptions via old school pen & script pad, most major hospitals have upgraded … Continue reading Prescription Writing 101

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Medical

Careerealism: What They Don’t Tell You about Being an EP (Repost)

Work smarter, not harder. That’s the motto I attempt to live my life by and recently I broke that rule. I spent well over an hour over the past 2 weeks trying to locate an article my preceptor showed me about what the life of an emergency physician is like. What not to do: search every combination of phrases you vaguely remember, in every order, on any credible website you … Continue reading Careerealism: What They Don’t Tell You about Being an EP (Repost)

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Medical

Simple Foreign Body Removal from the Eye

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

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Medical

Mnemonic for Urgent Hemodialysis

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

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Medical

American College of Physicians (ACOP) New Guidelines for Treating Low Back Pain

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

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Medical

Mnemonic for GI Bleeds

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

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Medical

Quick & Efficient Hand Examination

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

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