“I give up! I can’t help these people.” Emily was completing the final month of her emergency medicine residency and flopped into her chair with exasperation. “What’s up?” I asked. We were on the final two hours of our shift together. And I, as her attending, was already feeling apprehensive about the patient encounter that […]
Let’s begin with a quiz question: Patients may be allergic to: A. oxygen B. carbon C. iodine D. none of the above If you answered anything but “D,” better keep reading. Consider this scenario: If a patient is allergic to penicillin, you would document “penicillin” in the medical records. It would never occur to you […]
Today is a strange day. I treated myself to a slice of nondescript doughy hospital pizza for lunch today. If this was an actual pizza place, and I had a choice, I would never order this pizza. But today, the pizza tasted fantastic. In fact, it tasted like the best pizza I’ve ever had. Why […]
