Academic emergency medicine : official journal of the Society for Academic Emergency Medicine
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Multicenter Study
A multicenter study of depression among emergency department patients.
The authors sought to determine the 12-month prevalence of depression among emergency department (ED) patients using a single-question screen. ⋯ A 30% 12-month prevalence of depression among ED patients was found. Depressed patients had a distinct sociodemographic and health profile. In the future, awareness of risk factors for depression in the ED setting and use of simple screening instruments could aid in the recognition of depression, with subsequent referral to mental health services.
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Because many emergency medicine (EM) attending physicians believe the time demands of clinical productivity limit their ability to effectively teach medical students in the emergency department (ED), the purpose of this study was to determine if there is an inverse relationship between clinical productivity and teaching evaluations. ⋯ The authors found no statistically significant relationship between clinical productivity and teaching evaluations. While many EM attending physicians perceive patient care responsibilities to be too time consuming to allow them to be good teachers, the authors found that a subset of our more productive attending physicians are also highly rated teachers. Determining what characteristics distinguish faculty who are both clinically productive and highly rated teachers should help drive objectives for faculty development programs.
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Comparative Study
Use of vasopressin in a canine model of severe verapamil poisoning: a preliminary descriptive study.
The purpose of this preliminary study was to evaluate the effect of arginine vasopressin (AVP) administration in a model of shock induced by calcium channel antagonist overdose and to determine endogenous serum AVP concentrations in calcium channel antagonist-induced shock. ⋯ In an animal model of verapamil-induced shock, endogenous AVP levels increased nearly 40-fold compared with baseline levels. Escalating doses of exogenous AVP worsened cardiac index and failed to return MAP to within 20% of baseline.
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Randomized Controlled Trial Comparative Study Clinical Trial
Comparison of valdecoxib and an oxycodone-acetaminophen combination for acute musculoskeletal pain in the emergency department: a randomized controlled trial.
Oral opioids are potent analgesics that are used to treat acute pain in the emergency department (ED). However, they are associated with adverse events such as sedation that may delay safe patient discharge. ⋯ Valdecoxib is as effective as an oxycodone-acetaminophen combination in treating ED patients with acute musculoskeletal pain at 30 minutes and less likely to cause sedation or the need for rescue analgesia over the next day.
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Mentorship has been shown to have a positive impact on academic faculty members in terms of career advancement. The guidance of a mentor has been shown to increase academic outcome measures such as peer-reviewed publications and grant support for junior academic faculty. ⋯ This group has also been reported to have a lower scholarly productivity rate than the typical research-based faculty. This article addresses the current state of mentorship as it applies specifically to clinician-educators, offers advice on how a potential protégé might seek out a potential mentor, and finally, suggests a possible mentoring system for academic emergency physicians who are focusing on careers in medical education.