A poignant and insightful essay regarding the evolution of our society's perspective on death and dying

"Our unrealistic attitudes about death, through a doctor’s eyes" by Dr. Craig Bowron.

Even the best in emergency medicine can't avoid medical malpractice lawsuits ....

Peter Rosen MD reveals in Bouncebacks! Medical and Legal that he has been sued about "half a dozen" times.  Fortunately for him he never had to settle or go to court as he was eventually dismissed from all cases. 

Book Review: "Bouncebacks! Medical and Legal" by Micheael B. Weinstock and Kevin M. Klauer

Bouncebacks! Medical and Legalbrings the reader straight to the sidelines of ten medical malpractice cases providing an inside look into the courtroom as the plaintiff and defense argue their cases.  The authors spare the reader of some of the nitty gritty workings of litigation by summarizing portions of it but are sure to focus in when necessary to provide blow-by-blow accounts at critical junctures.  Intertwined with the case presentations are post-trial interviews with some of the attorneys - plaintiff and defense - and medical experts to get their inside thoughts on the case.  There is additional case commentary solicited from some of the most renowned minds in emergency medicine including Gregory Henry, Peter Rosen, Jerry Hoffman and more. 

If this book has a downside it is that one or two of the ten cases presented have already been discussed in detail on podcasts, EMRAP and Risk Management Monthly.  So if you subscribe to these, there may be some redundancy. 

Ouch! ED Physician, fresh out of residency, hit with 4 million dollar lawsuit for missing heart attack.

I don't know the details of the case but from the info in the lay press I feel sorry for all involved.  Dr. Stephen Heirendt, fresh out of residency two years ago, got hit with a 4 million dollar settlement after a 43 year old patient he evaluated and discharged home with chest pain NOS / bronchitis died of a heart attack. 

Can you predict the motion of the slinky?

This is for the little nerd in all of us ...

Slinky starts in the position noted in the picture on the left.  The person drops it and the slinky ends up on the ground, as highlighted by the arrow, in the picture on the right.  Can you predict the motion of the slinky as it falls?  Hint: Where is the slinky's center of mass?

Watch video to see what happens in slow motion.



Explanation of the physics here.

A look back at the evolution of emergency medical care from the New England Journal of Medicine

"The ER, 50 Years On" is an interesting article published in the NEJM which takes a look at the evolution of emergency care over the past five decades.  It's amazing to see how things have changed in such a short period of time and makes me wonder what the emergency care landscape is going to look like years from now with the implementation of ACOs and health care reform.

A few interesting statistics:

• Presently emergency care accounts for 3% of health care spending and employs 4% of US physicians yet handles 11% of outpatient visits, 28% of acute care visits and half of hospital admissions.
• Presently the aggregate ER admission rate is 16.5%

To read the NEJM, click here.

This video has nothing to do with EM but had to share.

I've replayed this no less than 10 times. Talent embodied.



Source

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qLosf1gOCKw&feature=related

What percentage of US adults believe antibiotics will treat virus infections?

45%

Here are some other interesting findings regarding scientific literacy among US adults:

Source

Roth, Mark. "Why does US fail in science education?" Pittsburgh Post Gazette. 20 March 2011.

Extreme wilderness medicine: Surgeon performs his own appendectomy

Wow!  Click here to read story from The Atlantic.

Can you get withdrawal symptoms from a placebo?

Source

http://twitter.com/professorfunk

What is the best way to learn?

1. Mnemonics
2. Test taking
3. Practicing weaknesses, ignoring strengths 

Two NY times articles deep dive into research which examine methods to optimize learning:

Test-Taking Cements Knowledge Better Than Studying, Researchers Say

Secrets of a  Mind-Gamer: How I trained my brain and became  a world-class memory athlete.

A daily dose of hilarity: MD teaches cardiac arrhythmias by dancing!

Presenting the top 10 emergency medicine journal articles of 2010 .... (drum roll please) ...

According to Journal Watch, here, they are.

Follow the link to read a synopsis and analysis of each study.

An interesting look into the psyche of Dr. Scott Augustine, inventer of the Bair Hugger

Click here to read the NY Times article.

Happy Holidays!

Oldies but Goodies

We as ED practitioners use about 55% of our medical knowledge, 98% of the time; and the other 45%, 2% of the time. Given this, the "other 45%" is prone to deterioration unless occasionally tuned up. In a new series of posts which will appear occasionally, Oldies but Goodies, I will re-post some of My Emergency Medicine Blog's previous entries in hopes of keeping the rigs well oiled. Happy learning, or rather, re-learning.

Need a Yiddish interpreter in a pinch to help communicate with a patient or their family? Swahili? Not a problem ...

To try Google Translate for yourself, click here.

To check out a recent NY Times article about this valuable tool, click here.

A daughter's account of her recent experience in the ED with her dying father ...

From the NY Times, "An Ill Father, a Life-or-Death Decision"

Rolling eyes. A shame.

Are you going to convert your IRA to a Roth?

If you need a bit of help deciding, click here to view a research document from Vanguard which is the best article - in terms of being both objective and comprehensive - that I've found regarding an IRA to Roth conversion.


Source

https://personal.vanguard.com/us/home?fromPage=portal

Quirky medical humor ...

By French graphic designer Jean Jullien. To see more of his stuff, click here.

Happy New Year!

USC Essentials of Emergency Medicine Conference ... Streaming Live NOW (Nov 6th)!

http://www.essentialslive.com/essentials-stream-2/

Thanks to Michelle Lin at Academic Life in Emergency Medicine for turning me on to this.