Professor Simon Carley (@EMManchester) has written a must-read series on his multi-author blog StEmlyns titled Emergency Medicine: A Risky Business.
If you are an emergency physician then diagnosis is the core of our practice. Do you understand it? Do you really know what you mean by declaring that a patient does or does not have disease. This is essential reading for anyone who wants to be a wise clinician in the difficult environment of the ED.
- EM: A risky business part 1. Are you a diagnostician.
- EM: A risky business part 2. What does a positive result mean?
- EM: A risky business part 3. How risky are you?
- EM: A risky business part 4. What does it mean to miss a diagnosis?
- EM: A risky business part 5. Does a correct diagnosis mean that therapy will work?
Understanding risk and the probabilistic underpinnings of diagnosis is crucial to the practice of emergency medicine and the critical care specialties, so I encourage you all to read this series. The series will no doubt grow so keep an eye on it.
I’ve previously discussed some risky issues in Wrestling with Risk, inspired by a talk by Dave Schriger on ‘Risk – How to assess and measure it! that also stimulated a reaction from Scott Weingart — they’re all worth checking out if this sort of stuff rocks your world. But even better, Simon Carley is going to give us his take on Wrestling with Risk as a keynote speaker at SMACC during the ‘Mind of the Resuscitationist’ plenary.
Can’t wait!
About Chris Nickson
