As of yesterday, I’m officially certified in Advanced Trauma Life Support (ATLS) for the next four years! This two day course was required and paid for by my critical care fellowship, so I wanted to summarize some of the pearls I learned.
The subcostal view on transthoracic echocardiography can be used to examine the inferior vena cava (IVC), a large valveless vein that returns blood from the lower body to the right atrium (RA).
In the era of electronic health records (EHRs), writing progress notes (PN) has become largely supplemented by auto-populated fields (labs, radiology, medical history, etc.) and information which has been copied from prior exams and/or other notes. PNs are a centralized form of communication to other healthcare providers regarding your treatment…
It’s possible to utilize transthoracic echocardiography (TTE), a noninvasive technique, to estimate a patient’s cardiac output. I’ll use some images from an echo I performed on a patient with a depressed left ventricular ejection fraction on low dose pressors. Yes, I know the echo images aren’t perfect. :-PWe know that cardiac…
An interview invitation means that a program has reviewed your application, and you’ve met some “minimum” they expect from potential matriculants. That being said, I’m a firm believer that the interview can hurt applicants more than it can help them. Here are some basic tips to consider during your interview…
With the conclusion of my final year of residency training comes a time for reflection. I’ve written similar posts at the end of my intern year, CA-1/PGY-2 year, and CA-2/PGY-3 year, but this post is far more sentimental as I’m now done with my time as a trainee in the…
It’s important for me to consider the surgical steps and potential areas of difficulty/complications which may arise intraoperatively. Although each procedure must be tailored to a patient’s unique set of comorbidities and surgical factors, I wanted to outline the basic steps involved in routine coronary artery bypass grafting (CABG). First,…
In our anesthesiology residency program, we rotate across six hospitals in the Texas Medical Center. Our county hospital, a level 1 trauma center, is also our primary teaching hospital and where senior residents do many… many… in-house call shifts. I often get asked on social media “what does a senior…
The oxyhemoglobin dissociation curve (ODC) is one of the most recognized teachings of basic physiology. It describes the relationship between the saturation of hemoglobin and the partial pressure of arterial oxygen. Intuitively, it makes sense that the more oxygen available (a higher PO2), the more saturated hemoglobin will be (% saturation). But…
RK.MD’s last major design change was roughly halfway through my residency training in February 2015. It’s time for a change! :-) In comparing the “before-and-after” images below, it’s clear that I carried over many elements from my previous layout. I wanted to take advantage of a wider, responsive pane to provide…