Advanced Topics in Emergency Medicine: Curriculum Development and Initial Evaluation

<p>Background: Emergency medicine (EM) is a young specialty and only recently has a recommended medical student curriculum been developed. Currently, many schools do not require students to complete a mandatory clerkship in EM, and if one is required, it is typically an overview of the specialty.</p> <p>Objectives: We developed a 10-month longitudinal elective to teach subject matter and skills in EM to fourth-year medical students interested in the specialty. Our goal was producing EM residents with the knowledge and skills to excel at the onset of their residency. We hoped to prove that students participating in this rigorous 10-month longitudinal EM elective would feel well prepared for residency.</p> <p>Methods: We studied the program with an end-of-the-year, Internet-based, comprehensive course evaluation completed by each participant of the first 2 years of the course. Graduates rated each of the course components by using a 5-point Likert format from ‘‘strongly disagree’’ to ‘‘strongly agree,’’ either in terms of whether the component was beneficial to them or whether the course expectations were appropriate, or their perceptions related to the course.</p> <p>Results: Graduates of this elective have reported feeling well prepared to start residency. The resident-led teaching shifts, Advanced Pediatric Life Support certification, Grand Rounds presentations, Advanced Cardiovascular Life Support proficiency testing, and ultrasound component, were found to be beneficial by all students.</p> <p>Conclusions: Our faculty believes that participating students will be better prepared for an EM residency than those students just completing a 1-month clerkship. Our data, although limited, lead us to believe that a longitudinal, immersion-type experience assists fourth-year medical students in preparation for residency. [West J Emerg Med. 2011;12(4):543–550.]</p

The 2016 Model of The Clinical Practice of Emergency Medicine

Emergency medicine (EM) has a scientifically derived and commonly accepted description of the domain of its clinical practice. That document, “The Model of the Clinical Practice of Emergency Medicine” (EM Model), was developed through the collaboration of six organizations: the American Board of Emergency Medicine (ABEM), the administrative organization for the project, the American College of Emergency Physicians (ACEP), the Council of Emergency Medicine Residency Directors (CORD), the Emergency Medicine Residents\u27 Association (EMRA), the Residency Review Committee for Emergency Medicine (RRC-EM), and the Society for Academic Emergency Medicine (SAEM). Development of the EM Model was based on an extensive practice analysis of the specialty. The practice analysis relied on both empiric data gathered from actual emergency department visits and several expert panels (1). The resulting product was first published in 2001, and has successfully served as the common source document for all EM organizations (2,3). One of its strengths is incorporating the reality that EM is a specialty driven by symptoms not diagnoses, requiring simultaneous therapeutic and diagnostic interventions

Com o diabo no corpo: os terríveis papagaios do Brasil colônia

Desde a Antiguidade, papagaios, periquitos e afins (Psittacidae) fascinaram os europeus por seu vivo colorido e uma notável capacidade de interação com seres humanos. A descoberta do Novo Mundo nada faria além de acrescentar novos elementos ao tráfico de animais exóticos há muito estabelecido pelos europeus com a África e o Oriente. Sem possuir grandes mamíferos, a América tropical participaria desse comércio com o que tinha de mais atrativo, essencialmente felinos, primatas e aves - em particular os papagaios, os quais eram embarcados em bom número. Contudo, a julgar pelos documentos do Brasil colônia, esses voláteis podiam inspirar muito pouca simpatia, pois nenhum outro animal - exceto as formigas - foi tantas vezes mencionado como praga para a agricultura. Além disso, alguns psitácidas mostravam-se tão loquazes que inspiravam a séria desconfiança de serem animais demoníacos ou possessos, pois só três classes de entidades - anjos, homens e demônios - possuíam o dom da palavra. Nos dias de hoje, vários representantes dos Psittacidae ainda constituem uma ameaça para a agricultura, enquanto os indivíduos muito faladores continuam despertando a suspeita de estarem possuídos pelo demônio. Transcendendo a mera curiosidade, essa crença exemplifica o quão intrincadas podem ser as relações do homem com o chamado “mundo natural”, revelando um universo mais amplo e multifacetado do que se poderia supor a princípio. Nesse sentido, a existência de aves capazes de falar torna essa relação ainda mais complexa e evidencia que as dificuldades de estabelecer o limite entre o animal e o humano se estendem além dos primatas e envolvem as mais inusitadas espécies zoológicas.Since ancient times, parrots and their allies (Psittacidae) have fascinated Europeans by their striking colors and notable ability to interact with human beings. The discovery of the New World added new species to the international exotic animal trade, which for many centuries had brought beasts to Europe from Africa and the Orient. Lacking large mammals, tropical America participated in this trade with its most appealing species, essentially felines, primates and birds - especially parrots - which were shipped in large numbers. It should be noted, however, that at times these birds were not well liked. In fact, according to documents from colonial Brazil, only the ants rank higher than parrots as the animals most often mentioned as agricultural pests. On the other hand, some of these birds were so chatty that people suspected them to be demonic or possessed animals, since only three classes of beings - angels, men and demons - have the ability to speak. Nowadays, several Psittacidae still constitute a threat to agriculture, and the suspicion that extremely talkative birds were demon possessed has also survived. More than a joke or a mere curiosity, this belief exemplifies how intricate man’s relationships with the “natural world” may be. In this sense, the existence of birds that are able to speak adds a further twist to these relationships, demonstrating that the problem of establishing a boundary between the animal and the human does not only involve primates, but also includes some unusual zoological species

Leveraging Resources to Remove a Taser Barb Embedded in Bone: Case Report

Introduction: Conducted electrical weapons, commonly known by their proprietary eponym, TASER, are frequently used by law enforcement. A review of the literature yielded descriptions of taser barb removal from soft tissue and surgical intervention for barbs lodged in sensitive areas such as the eye and head, but not from other osseous sites.Case Report: We report the case of a 30-year-old male transferred from another hospital with a taser dart embedded in his clavicle. Prior attempts at bedside removal had been unsuccessful. We describe bedside removal of the taser barb from bone using local anesthesia and simple fulcrum technique.Conclusion: We describe a novel fulcrum technique for removal of a taser dart embedded in bone. This is a reasonable technique to attempt in patients with involvement of superficial osseous structures to avoid operative intervention

Teaching Emotional Intelligence: A Control Group Study of a Brief Educational Intervention for Emergency Medicine Residents

Introduction: Emotional Intelligence (EI) is defined as an ability to perceive another’s emotional state combined with an ability to modify one’s own. Physicians with this ability are at a distinct advantage, both in fostering teams and in making sound decisions. Studies have shown that higher physician EI’s are associated with lower incidence of burn-out, longer careers, more positive patient-physician interactions, increased empathy, and improved communication skills. We explored the potential for EI to be learned as a skill (as opposed to being an innate ability) through a brief educational intervention with emergency medicine (EM) residents. Methods: This study was conducted at a large urban EM residency program. Residents were randomized to either EI intervention or control groups. The intervention was a two-hour session focused on improving the skill of social perspective taking (SPT), a skill related to social awareness. Due to time limitations, we used a 10-item sample of the Hay 360 Emotional Competence Inventory to measure EI at three time points for the training group: before (pre) and after (post) training, and at six-months post training (follow up); and at two time points for the control group: pre- and follow up. The preliminary analysis was a four-way analysis of variance with one repeated measure: Group x Gender x Program Year over Time. We also completed post-hoc tests. Results: Thirty-three EM residents participated in the study (33 of 36, 92%), 19 in the EI intervention group and 14 in the control group. We found a significant interaction effect between Group and Time (p<0.05). Post-hoc tests revealed a significant increase in EI scores from Time 1 to 3 for the EI intervention group (62.6% to 74.2%), but no statistical change was observed for the controls (66.8% to 66.1%, p=0.77). We observed no main effects involving gender or level of training. Conclusion: Our brief EI training showed a delayed but statistically significant positive impact on EM residents six months after the intervention involving SPT. One possible explanation for this finding is that residents required time to process and apply the EI skills training in order for us to detect measurable change. More rigorous measurement will be needed in future studies to aid in the interpretation of our findings

Development of a Head and Neck Regional Anesthesia Task Trainer for Emergency Medicine Learners

Audience: This innovation is designed for medical students through senior residents. Introduction: Regional anesthesia increases the EM physician’s ability to provide effective pain relief and to complete procedures within the Emergency Department (ED). Studies consistently demonstrate that emergency physicians undertreat pain when performing basic procedures such as suturing lacerations.1,2 Regional anesthesia allows for effective pain relief, while avoiding the risks associated with systemic analgesia/anesthesia or the tissue distortion of local anesthesia.3 Knowledge of the anatomy involved in various nerve blocks is crucial to the development of proper technique and successful performance of this skill. Three dimensional (3-D) model simulation-based mastery of procedural skills has been demonstrated to decrease resident anxiety, improve success rates, and decrease complications during the resident’s transition into the clinical setting.5,6 Similarly, use of a 3-D head and neck model to practice application of facial regional anesthesia is hypothesized to improve provider confidence and competence which will in turn provide an improved patient experience. Objectives: In participating in the educational session associated with this task trainer, the learner will: 1) Identify landmarks for the following nerve blocks: Infraorbital, Supraorbital (V1), Mental, Periauricular 2) Demonstrate the appropriate technique for anesthetic injection for each of these nerve blocks 3) Map the distribution of regional anesthesia expected from each nerve block 4) Apply the indications and contraindications for each regional nerve block Method: This low-fidelity task trainer allows residents and medical students to practice various nerve blocks on the face in order to improve learner confidence and proficiency in performing facial regional anesthesia

Development of a Head and Neck Regional Anesthesia Task Trainer for Emergency Medicine Learners

Audience: This innovation is designed for medical students through senior residents. Introduction: Regional anesthesia increases the EM physician’s ability to provide effective pain relief and to complete procedures within the Emergency Department (ED). Studies consistently demonstrate that emergency physicians undertreat pain when performing basic procedures such as suturing lacerations.1,2 Regional anesthesia allows for effective pain relief, while avoiding the risks associated with systemic analgesia/anesthesia or the tissue distortion of local anesthesia.3 Knowledge of the anatomy involved in various nerve blocks is crucial to the development of proper technique and successful performance of this skill. Three dimensional (3-D) model simulation-based mastery of procedural skills has been demonstrated to decrease resident anxiety, improve success rates, and decrease complications during the resident’s transition into the clinical setting.5,6 Similarly, use of a 3-D head and neck model to practice application of facial regional anesthesia is hypothesized to improve provider confidence and competence which will in turn provide an improved patient experience. Objectives: In participating in the educational session associated with this task trainer, the learner will: 1) Identify landmarks for the following nerve blocks: Infraorbital, Supraorbital (V1), Mental, Periauricular 2) Demonstrate the appropriate technique for anesthetic injection for each of these nerve blocks 3) Map the distribution of regional anesthesia expected from each nerve block 4) Apply the indications and contraindications for each regional nerve block Method: This low-fidelity task trainer allows residents and medical students to practice various nerve blocks on the face in order to improve learner confidence and proficiency in performing facial regional anesthesia