March 10, 2018
A healthy female in her 20s presents with nausea, vomiting, and fever. She was feeling great until she re-heated some leftover Taco Bell and now has no idea what might be causing her symptoms. On exam, you are surprised to find a petechial rash around her eyes: This
February 25, 2018
A 40-year old asthmatic presents to the ED with non-productive cough for two weeks. She has no other past medical history. She dropped her kids off at school, and being healthy and without a primary care physician, then drove herself to a hospital for some
February 23, 2018
Patient satisfaction is all the rage in Emergency Departments. Long gone are the days of emphasizing cost-effective care, replaced by the need to greet patients immediately, cater your care to the patient’s wishes, and order a shotgun approach of labs and imaging studies to capture
February 10, 2018
An elderly woman was cutting some meat and potatoes at home when she thinks the tip of her knife broke off. She didn’t realize it until she picked up a piece of potato and ate it, felt something in her throat, and then realized her
January 25, 2018
A healthy 21 year old female presents with sore throat: She has fever, sore throat, and anterior cervical lymphadenopathy. A rapid Strep test is positive and you’re happy to finally have one straightforward disposition on what has been an otherwise tedious shift. Before you can
January 14, 2018
It’s a conundrum as old as time itself: you have a pregnant female who presents with anything (abdominal pain, toothache, ingrown toenail) and you order a urinalysis. The results are frustratingly murky – a few bacteria, no white blood cells, no nitrites or leukocyte esterase.
January 12, 2018
A 34 year old guy drove himself to the hospital because he was playing the new Zelda game on the Nintendo Switch and started having some chest pain. He mentioned it to his wife, who forced him to come to the hospital. He had no
December 27, 2017
“CUT THESE JIGGERS OUT OF ME!” I could hear this patient screaming from the hallway. At least it was a break from the monotony of chest pain, abdominal pain, and dizziness workups. I walked into the room and saw a woman scratching and digging at
December 14, 2017
I get a lot of questions from residents and new attendings about the liability ER physicians take on when co-signing charts for APPs (advanced practice providers, aka nurse practitioners/physician assistants). To start, a small disclaimer: local practices vary and there are certain guidelines that many
