Emra*cast

Unions have a long and storied history in the United States – but not within the house of medicine. Yet as the practice of medicine has become enveloped by business interests, unionization is taking root. More than 22,000 resident physicians are already union members. Where do you start if you want to organize? EMRA*Cast host Dr. Matt Dillon presents part 2 of this series on unions for medical residents.

Statistics show 75% of emergency physicians are named in malpractice lawsuits during their career - and the only correlation with being sued is the number of years practiced and the number of patients seen over time. Being sued does not mean you are a bad doctor, but rather you are practicing in a high-risk specialty. Join EMRA*Cast host Ranjita Raghavan, MD, (@DrRanjitaMD) and Camie Sorensen, MD, of St. Agnes Hospital (@AgnesEmr) in a discussion of the medico-legal realities of practicing emergency medicine.

In the wake of this year’s Supreme Court positions, treating OB/GYN emergencies according to standards of care can now result in criminal or civil charges for you and your patients in some states. Major medical societies have come out against the Dobbs v. Jackson decision that overturned Roe and Casey. While EMTALA currently provides some support for emergency physicians, state laws and local prosecutors still might try to take you to court. Understanding your state’s law and interpretation by your institution is crucial. On this episode host Kate Joyce (@sceneisnotsafe) talks with attorney Carmel Shachar (@CarmelShachar), policy analyst Cat Duffy (@catduffy), EM resident Jessica Adkins Murphy (@DrAdkinsMurphy), and OB/GYN resident Andrea Contreras about keeping your job and patients safe in today’s legal and political landscape.

On June 24, 2022, the United States Supreme Court overturned the landmark decision Roe v. Wade, a legal precedent protecting a citizen’s constitutional right to abortion. The highly politicized decision comes with significant consequence for those of us in health care – especially in states with abortion trigger bans. EMRA*Cast Host Shreyans Sanghvi, DO, joins EM Resident Editor-in-Chief Jessica Adkins Murphy, MD, (@DrAdkinsMurphy) to explore this deeply personal, subjective, and contentious topic.

When you received your employment contract after matching into residency, did you read it? Was there any question you would sign it, no matter what it said? The structure of medical training and board certification creates an unequivocal power differential when it comes to residency employment contracts. EMRA*Cast host Matt Dillon, MD, (@mdmd_8889) talks with UCLA union members Anna Yap, MD, (@annayap) and Kenneth Kim, MD, about the power of a unified resident body.

Disaster medicine has long focused on how to prepare for mass casualty incidents - but there are special considerations for emergency physicians to take into account in the case of terror attacks. In this episode, host Kim Bambach, MD, and Sriram Venkatesan, FAWM, discuss the niche of counterterrorism medicine with Derrick Tin, MBBS, senior fellow in Disaster and Counterterrorism Medicine at BIDMC/Harvard Medical School.

The health care job market has been a roller coaster in recent years - especially in the nation's safety net of emergency medicine. What’s a soon-to-be-graduate to do? Host Ranjita Raghavan, MD, shares some job search pearls and perils from Saadia Akhtar, MD, FACEP, and Maria Moreira, MD, FACEP.

Some baked-in practices in medicine don't hold up to closer inspection. This episode of EMRA*Cast turns attention to the use of sodium bicarbonate in cardiac arrest. Host Matt Dillon, MD, (@mdmd_8889) recently spoke with clinical ED pharmacist Mike Perza, PharmD, BCPS, (@pillpushermike) and Dustin Slagle, MD, regarding sodium bicarbonate use during cardiac arrest and why you might want to think twice.

Congratulations on graduating residency! Do yourself a big favor and listen to this advice from Dr. Christina Shenvi and Dr. Nikki Binz, brought you by EMRA*Cast host Dr. Kim Bambach. Start off on the right foot with BHAG, ikigai, and proper spycraft at a new job. You got this!

Your patient has an arterial bleed and a tenuous airway. You've got 1 unit of blood, no vent, and no hospital within hours. Welcome to the world of austere medicine. Host Kate Joyce, MD, MPH (@sceneisnotsafe) and USAF Lt Col Regan Lyon, MD, FACEP, discuss the challenges of treating patients in the most extreme scenarios. 

Hemorrhagic shock can be tricky to manage – yet there’s no shortage of (sometimes conflicting) guidelines regarding massive transfusion. When do you make the call to activate massive transfusion protocol? How early is too early? What happens if you wait too long? Dr. Sara Crager simplifies this crucial decision-making process with EMRA*Cast host Ranjita Raghavan.

EMRA*Cast Host Shreyans Sanghvi, DO, ventures into the abyss of life after residency to find out how to keep up your learning after training with street illusionist and veteran public speaker Salil Bhandari, MD. Completing his residency in emergency medicine at NYU Langone, Salil has trained hundreds of residents in public speaking, presentation design, and procedural competency. He is a passionate resuscitationist and educational philosopher who currently serves as the Director of Media and Communications and Assistant Program Director for the Emergency Medicine Residency at McGovern Medical School @ UT Health in Houston, Texas, among busiest Level 1 trauma centers in North America.

Have you ever felt like you're spinning your wheels in your emergency department? EMRA*Cast host Kim Bambach, MD, (@KimBambach) explores how to work smarter, not harder. Guests Eric Blazar, MD (@eblazar) and Guy Carmelli, MD (@GuyCarmelli) focus on how to improve efficiency so you can spend more time on the things that made you want to go into medicine in the first place.

On this week's episode of EMRA*Cast, host Matt Dillon, MD, (@mdmd_8889) talks to Jim Dahle, MD, FACEP (@wcinvestor) about physician finances. Now known as the White Coat Investor, Dr. Dahle shares how the school of hard knocks made him financially savvy - and able to offer advice via his book, website, and “White Coat Investor” blog. This episode is directed at the resident and early attending.

EMRA*Cast is talking about a range of unusual cases and thought-provoking perspectives from the February-March edition of EM Resident magazine. Join host Ranjita Raghavan, MD, and editor-in-chief Jessica Adkins Murphy, MD, to find out how a Blakemore tube featured in an LGI bleed, whether atraumatic splenic rupture is easy to spot (spoiler alert: not always), and what medical students are advocating for this year.

The emergency department has been called an "operation existing on the edge of chaos." Join EMRA*Caster Kate Joyce (@sceneisnotsafe) and Henry Ford Hospital ED Medical Director and Vice Chair of Operations Dr. Seth Krupp as they walk that chaotic edge. We'll be talking about how EDs keep things moving and what residents interested in operations can do to get involved.

What's the key to outstanding medical education? Host Kim Bambach, MD, showcases some pearls from The Ohio State University Wexner Medical Center's Allison Beaulieu, MD; Andrew Kendle, MD; Lauren Willoughby, MD; Ryan O'Neill, MD; and Geremiha Emerson, MD. In our Med-Ed track, we discuss all topics related to learning and teaching EM. One way to take a deep dive into a topic is through small group learning. In this brief soundbite, we'll share a few pearls to make small group sessions more engaging and memorable.

EMRA*Cast Hosts Shreyans Sanghvi, DO, and Ranjita Raghavan, MD, explore the budding but ever-so-important field of medical journalism with emergency physician, author, and renowned public speaker Amy Faith Ho, MD, MPH. Early in her medical school days, Dr. Ho’s personal accounts of navigating the hard knocks of clerkship as a third-year medical student on an OB/GYN rotation would pave the way for a decorated career in journalism. From TED talks, to coveted pieces on NPR and Forbes, and even authoring her very own children’s book - appreciate Dr. Ho’s unique perspective on how to explore this niche cross-section between medicine and journalism.

It's the EM resident's responsibility to learn and perfect the basics of the airway - including those difficult cases. On this episode of EMRA*Cast, host Matt Dillon, MD, shares insight and 4 key lessons from Colin McCloskey, MD, board-certified in both anesthesiology critical care medicine and emergency medicine.

'Tis the season for winter trips - and for many people (especially in this pandemic era), that means heading to the mountains. EMRA*Cast host Dr. Ranjita Raghavan brings you top-notch advice from a top-notch wilderness medicine expert, Dr. Linda Keyes. Make sure you know how to recognize and manage altitude sickness this season. Altitude sickness and its more serious altitude-related illnesses, High Altitude Cerebral Edema (HACE) and High Altitude Pulmonary Edema (HAPE), are processes we may not see often, but when they appear we need to know what signs to look out for, how to manage treatment, and how to prevent the conditions from worsening. Especially as more Americans get outdoors throughout the pandemic, it's more relevant than ever before.