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ICU beds are limited, and are much more expensive than “regular” floor beds (costing up to thousands of dollars each day). Therefore, patients in the ICU are frequently assessed & re-assessed for the level of care their illness necessitates – their “candidacy” for ICU-level care, if you will. Clinical evaluations aside, there are certain signs […]
October 20, 2012
This mediku comes from my buddy Vince (@ER_DrTobe2013) and was inspired by an all-too-common occurrence in his field of his choice, Emergency Medicine. Patients who are so-called “frequent-fliers” are often mysteriously allergic to first-tier painkillers, but not “that one that begins with.. a D, I think?” Enjoy: My back is hurting I’m allergic to morphine […]
October 14, 2012
This month, I’m spending my days working with a rheumatology practice. It’s interesting to see the kinds of things the group is consulted on in the hospital – but in the office it’s mostly NSAIDs and knee-injections, which inspired this mediku. “Doc, my joint’s in pain!” Hmm . . . stick a needle in it […]
March 11, 2012
So, as Obstetrics & Gynecology comes to a close, I’ve noticed something – just as in other surgical specialties, old school docs and nurses love to use the term “sontimeter” in place of centimeter. In fact, I’ve been hearing it twice as much because of the frequency ultrasounds are discussed in this specialty. Anyway, I […]
February 19, 2012
Family medicine docs don’t have it easy – they have to triage up to a dozen complaints per patient and decide what to address at the current visit and what can/should wait, ensure the patient is being treated in a manner consistent with plans laid out at previous visits (often by another doctor), and they’re […]
July 1, 2011
As my surgery clerkship winds down, I’d like to share with you a pearl of wisdom I gleaned from my first resident as he was teaching an intern which common orders to write for post-op patients. What do patients need? “A god damn stool softener!” Says my resident. See? Being a surgeon is easy. Stay […]
May 18, 2011
I don’t know what it is about MD/PhD students – I suppose it’s the personalities such programs tend to attract – but they have almost always rubbed me the wrong way. A moment alone with one on my surgery team today renewed my distaste. I’m a pretty simple guy: I don’t go out of my […]
January 31, 2011
I’d like to share with you a wonderful little poem I first heard recited in one of my favorite HBO series, Boardwalk Empire. Nucky Thompson recites it at the dinner table one night, much to the amusement of Margaret’s children. “In these days of indigestion, It is oftentimes a question As to what to […]
Abnormal Facies 
January 10, 2013
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