Articles: emergency-medicine.
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The devaluation of interpersonal skills in medical education and practice has contributed to the current breakdown of the patient-physician relationship. The proliferation of medical technologies and the rise of the medical-industrial complex require even greater competency in these skills. ⋯ A literature review demonstrates the direct impact of interpersonal skills on patient care and suggests methods for measuring proficiency in these skills. Elements of a core curriculum are proposed.
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Code Red! software simulates typical cardiac emergencies with a full color interactive educational simulation. The trainee can master the basic skills of recognizing cardiac rhythms and appropriately treating abnormalities through interaction with a variety of scenarios (e.g. ventricular fibrillation, bradycardia, asystole). ⋯ Medical Directors, residents, medical students, critical care nurses, ER staff, paramedics and many other health care professionals can benefit from the software. The software, running within the Windows 3.0 graphical environment on a 386/486 PC, demonstrates the capability of today's computers to simulate a complex task and provide a powerful training tool.
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In cardiovascular emergency medicine echocardiography allows in many patients a quick and gentle bedside examination. In particular in patients with acute arterial hypotension, suspected or known acute coronary heart disease and its complications and in patients with acute heart failure due to valvular heart disease a valuable narrowing down of the differential diagnosis can be achieved by the use of echocardiography. However, the use of echocardiography in acutely ill patients demands highly skilled investigators to avoid potentially dangerous errors. The echocardiographic examination in intensive or emergency care patients represents an invaluable diagnostic tool today and becomes a toy only in inexperienced hands.