Academic emergency medicine : official journal of the Society for Academic Emergency Medicine
-
This study sought to account for trends in medical student specialty choice by examining the importance of lifestyle factors. Emergency medicine (EM) is among several medical specialties classified as having a "controllable lifestyle." The primary objective of this study was to determine if medical students choosing careers in EM have a different profile of influences, values, and expectations from students choosing other specialties or specialty groups. Of secondary interest was how much lifestyle influenced students choosing EM compared to students choosing controllable lifestyle (CL) specialties. ⋯ Students choosing a career in EM have distinctly different priorities and influences than students entering PC and SS. The profile of students who choose EM is very similar to those choosing traditional CL specialties. A more thorough understanding of the values and priorities that shape medical student career selection may allow educators to provide better career counseling.
-
The authors hypothesized that patients with active chest pain at the time of a normal electrocardiogram (ECG) have a lower frequency of acute coronary syndrome (ACS) than patients being evaluated for chest pain but with no active chest pain at the time of a normal ECG. The study objective was to describe the association between chest pain in patients with a normal ECG and the diagnosis of ACS. ⋯ Contrary to our hypothesis concerning patients who presented to the ED with a chief complaint of chest pain, our study demonstrated no difference in the frequency of acute coronary syndrome between patients with chest pain at the time of acquisition of a normal electrocardiogram and those without chest pain during acquisition of a normal electrocardiogram.
-
Multicenter Study
The incremental benefit of a shortness-of-breath biomarker panel in emergency department patients with dyspnea.
The objective was to determine the incremental benefit of a shortness-of-breath (SOB) point-of-care biomarker panel on the diagnostic accuracy of emergency department (ED) patients presenting with dyspnea. ⋯ The addition of the SOB panel of markers did not improve the AUC for diagnosing the combined set of clinical conditions. Using the disease-specific SOB biomarkers increased the sensitivity on a disease-by-disease basis; however, specificity was reduced.
-
The authors hypothesized that unethical recruiting practices and illegal questioning occur during emergency medicine (EM) resident recruitment. The objectives were to estimate the prevalence of specific unethical recruiting practices and illegal questioning by EM programs based on the perceptions of residency applicants and to measure the effect of these perceptions on applicant appraisal of programs. ⋯ These results demonstrate that among survey respondents, some perceived unethical recruiting behaviors and illegal questioning in the 2005 and 2006 Match. Perceptions of such behaviors appeared to have a negative impact on applicant appraisal of EM residency programs.
-
The objective was to assess paramedic and emergency medical technicians (EMT) perspectives and decision-making after a policy change that allows forgoing or halting resuscitation in prehospital atraumatic cardiac arrest. ⋯ Participants view the ability to forgo or halt resuscitation in the field as empowering and do not believe it presents harm to patients or families under most circumstances. Factors other than patient clinical characteristics, such as knowledge and attitudes toward the policy, family emotional preparedness, and location of arrest, affect whether paramedics will implement it.