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What Distinguishes The Emergency Medicine Physician From Other Specialists?

Woof, I used to do some emergency medicine, too!

‘Woof, I used to do some emergency medicine, too!’

Years and years in emergency medicine have given me a very enlightening look at the various specialties that make up the ‘house of medicine.’ I am constantly amazed by the other professionals I meet. It astounds me that pediatricians can manage the tiniest of humans, barely larger than my palm. I am fascinated by the way an orthopedic surgeon can look at a fracture and reconstruct it in her mind; a kind of spatial organization totally foreign to my cerebral hemispheres.

General surgeons can navigate the complex plumbing of the human body and leave it running smooth as silk after injury or cancer. And neurologists are at home with the awe-inspiring, labyrinthine pathways of the human brain. Read more »

*This blog post was originally published at edwinleap.com*

Bad Behavior In South Africa – A Gory Story

South African society is a completely lawless society. Pretty much everyone does just what they like and more often than not they get away with it. Red lights are just a suggestion, yet it is not uncommon to see a taxi stop in the middle of the road without warning. This attitude goes through almost all levels.

Yet there are some laws that people do obey. The law of gravity comes to mind. Mostly if you trip or fall off a wall or out a window you do approach the earth with increasing velocity and finally come to rest in some form of disrepair when you finally meet said earth, even if you are South African.  Another law that is obeyed was well illustrated by a patient we once saw in the old days. Read more »

*This blog post was originally published at other things amanzi*

Panic Attacks And The Nurse Who Witnessed Her Son’s Near Death Experience

My son accidentally ingested peanut butter yesterday.  He’s allergic.

He’s done this once before, which is when we found out about the allergy.  He had some really awful hives 3 hours after he ate that small bite of peanut butter sandwich but that was all.  His allergist told me that it would most likely never get worse than that.

He managed to eat some more yesterday.  I braced myself for the hives to come, and we dosed him with Benadryl.  An hour later he vomited.  The pediatrician’s advice nurse advised me to take him to the ER.  At the time I thought it was overkill.  He wasn’t having any breathing difficulties beyond the cough he already had (he has a cold).  He definitely wasn’t acting quite right, though, so off we went. Read more »

*This blog post was originally published at code blog - tales of a nurse*

An Amazing Career Evolution: A Nurse’s Tale

Well, this is creepy!

It’s a photo from the Library of Congress‘ digital nursing collection.

It looks like a still from a Hitchcock film.

She’s going to the light….

Actually, she is probably going down to central supply for gauze.

Wouldn’t be surprised if Rod Serling stepped into view…

“Nurse Nell is about to take a step…into the Twilight Zone…”

Oh geeze, now I’m freaking myself out.

********************

I came across a blog post today. I was floored.

I have reprinted it here with permission: Read more »

*This blog post was originally published at Emergiblog*

ER Quote Of The Day

“I started phlegming up a couple of days ago and my tonsils are huge and banging against the side walls.”

Ladies and gentlemen, doctors, patients, scientists, artists and assorted visitors, I don’t pretend to understand humanity, or the human condition.  I don’t know all there is to know about medicine.  But I do know a great piece of prose when I see it.  And this, dear friends, rises to poetry.

Phlegmingly yours,

Edwin

*This blog post was originally published at edwinleap.com*

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The Spirit Of The Place: Samuel Shem’s New Book May Depress You

When I was in medical school I read Samuel Shem s House Of God as a right of passage. At the time I found it to be a cynical yet eerily accurate portrayal of the underbelly of academic medicine. I gained comfort from its gallows humor and it made me…

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