Value of the Secondary Assessment
A doctor’s take on why a detailed secondary assessment is essential to properly diagnose patients.
Deepen Your Empathy
/*! elementor – v3.20.0 – 26-03-2024 */ .elementor-widget-image{text-align:center}.elementor-widget-image a{display:inline-block}.elementor-widget-image a img[src$=”.svg”]{width:48px}.elementor-widget-image img{vertical-align:middle;display:inline-block} The first time I was involved in a major trauma case, I was an undergraduate intern on my first night on the surgical service. I was paged to the ED for a victim of a motor vehicle accident. I arrived to the stabilization […]
Never Assume Anything
/*! elementor – v3.20.0 – 26-03-2024 */ .elementor-widget-image{text-align:center}.elementor-widget-image a{display:inline-block}.elementor-widget-image a img[src$=”.svg”]{width:48px}.elementor-widget-image img{vertical-align:middle;display:inline-block} Sometimes things are not as they seem. It can be a hard lesson to learn for some of us. We are educated in the pathophysiology of disease, but patients are not. Patients don’t know what is important medically in their story, only what […]
Case Study: Young Man with Severe Chest Pain
/*! elementor – v3.21.0 – 18-04-2024 */ .elementor-widget-image{text-align:center}.elementor-widget-image a{display:inline-block}.elementor-widget-image a img[src$=”.svg”]{width:48px}.elementor-widget-image img{vertical-align:middle;display:inline-block} He was sitting up leaning slightly forward when I entered the exam room. This 22-year-old man said he started having severe central chest pain that he described as sharp while playing soccer. He decided to lay down on the sidelines and see if […]
Is the Scene Safe?
/*! elementor – v3.21.0 – 18-04-2024 */ .elementor-widget-image{text-align:center}.elementor-widget-image a{display:inline-block}.elementor-widget-image a img[src$=”.svg”]{width:48px}.elementor-widget-image img{vertical-align:middle;display:inline-block} Many years ago when I was a resident, I learned that personal safety is a real concern for healthcare providers. In the ED where I was working, interviews with patients who had psychiatric problems were carried out in a dedicated room. This room […]
When Licorice Attacks
And from foods you least expect.
Just A Muscle Relaxer
/*! elementor – v3.21.0 – 18-04-2024 */ .elementor-widget-image{text-align:center}.elementor-widget-image a{display:inline-block}.elementor-widget-image a img[src$=”.svg”]{width:48px}.elementor-widget-image img{vertical-align:middle;display:inline-block} Back pain, wants muscle relaxer. That was the chief complaint entered by the nurse. I glanced at that and reviewed the vitals as I entered the room. A middle-aged man was standing holding his back with one hand and leaning supporting himself against […]
Mr. X-Ray
When you’re a new doctor in a small town, all the dissatisfied patients come to check you out. The very worst are referred directly to you by your new partners in an attempt to turf them to the unsuspecting new guy. “Go see the new doctor – he specializes in your problem.” One morning while […]
The Blue Lady
/*! elementor – v3.21.0 – 18-04-2024 */ .elementor-widget-image{text-align:center}.elementor-widget-image a{display:inline-block}.elementor-widget-image a img[src$=”.svg”]{width:48px}.elementor-widget-image img{vertical-align:middle;display:inline-block} Sometimes people are too reliant on internet information. Instead of carefully assessing their situation, they immediately search for an answer on Google. Too much sensational and typically inaccurate medical TV shows have raised the awareness of serious conditions, so much so that people […]
The Patient With No Face
/*! elementor – v3.21.0 – 18-04-2024 */ .elementor-widget-image{text-align:center}.elementor-widget-image a{display:inline-block}.elementor-widget-image a img[src$=”.svg”]{width:48px}.elementor-widget-image img{vertical-align:middle;display:inline-block} Sometimes working in an ER is a lot like flying an airplane: hours of uneventful flying interspersed with moments of extreme challenge. Just when you are finding yourself relaxing into the routine flight, you are jarred into attention by a blaring alarm. This […]