Nine Steps to The Best Medical Notebook You'll Ever Use

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Author: Philip A Castrovinci MD
Undersea Medical Officer
US Navy

While a medical student, I remember a fourth-year emergency medicine resident with a notebook of his own creation. We did not see a single patient over a dozen shifts that he didn't pull out the notebook to extract some high-yield crucial information about the variety of conditions we came across. It was like a clown car of medical knowledge. He let me look at it. It was glorious. What I found was, and subsequently copied, was the best medical notebook I have ever seen. I forget what I learned during those dozen shifts, but the organization of the medical notebook will stay with me for the rest of my career.

A Message to Students in these Uncertain Times

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Author: David Fine, MD

AAEM/RSA Board Members, Liaison to the AAEM/RSA Education Committee, and AAEM/RSA Medical Student Council

Medical school is undoubtedly a stressful time, but studying medicine in the context of a pandemic is a challenge that brings about additional stressors, anxiety, and uncertainty. The changes that have been implemented are a result of safety being a number one priority. I also feel it is important to recognize the difficult situation that students are facing.

The Changing Landscape of Pre-clinical Medical Education

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Author: Alexandria Gregory, MD
AAEM/RSA Editor

Originally published: Common Sense
May/June 2020

In mid-February, the National Board of Medical Examiners (NBME) and Federation of State Medical Boards (FSMB) announced that the United States Medical Licensing Examination (USMLE) Step 1 scoring would be changed to pass/fail as early as 2022.1 Many rejoiced about the potential for residency programs to emphasize other parts of applications rather than a test that does not evaluate the most clinically-relevant medical knowledge, while others expressed concern about the logistics of the decision and whether it would truly have its intended effect. Regardless of where you stand on the issue, it is important to recognize the implication this has regarding how preclinical education may change in upcoming years in medical schools across the country.

Intractable hiccups: a presentation of COVID-19

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Author: Jaclyn H. Jansen, MD MS
Emergency Medicine Resident

Department of Emergency Medicine, Indiana University School of Medicine 

Indianapolis, Indiana

ABSTRACT

BACKGROUND: 

While patients with COVID-19 infection most frequently present with fever, dry cough, and dyspnea, other symptoms have been associated with viral infection. This case report describes a patient presenting without respiratory complaints, initially screened as low-risk for COVID-19. With known communal spread, it is paramount to recognize unusual presentations of COVID-19 infection including hiccups and gastrointestinal complaints. Early recognition and isolation of patients with possible infection while in the emergency department improves provider safety and patient care.

The Moral Dilemma of COVID-19

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Author: Andy Mayer, MD FAAEM
Editor-in-Chief Common Sense
Originally published: Common Sense

May/June 2020

Certainly, there is only one issue which is dominating all thoughts, prayers, and efforts on our planet right now and it is COVID-19. Hopefully where you are, your life and practice will only be incredibly inconvenienced and that your family, your community, and your hospital will be spared the worst of this pandemic. Many areas may be relatively spared by early social distancing and the shutdown of many aspects of daily life which until last month we took for granted. This crisis has brought to the forefront many ethical and moral dilemmas which our society and world need to face with open eyes and minds. Our medical capabilities in our modern prosperous society are currently been taxed past the breaking point in the hotspots of the COVID-19 pandemic. We need as a profession and as a society to consider the correct response to the complex and difficult decisions which physicians on the frontlines are now making or may eventually be facing where conditions are worse. Even if we manage to make it through this pandemic without running out of ventilators and do not lose too many talented and selfless healthcare professionals there may be a next time.