Emergency medicine is one of those specialities where physicians of all grades have to make their own notes, even the consultants. Medical and surgical bosses have juniors to scribe at the ward round, secretaries to type up dictated clinic letters, assistants to type op notes (most of the time). EM consultants, like their junior colleagues, still […]
Latest articles
#FOAMed, credentials and a view from the college (sort of).
I found an amazing tweet on my timeline today that taught me many things. Firstly, I was not aware that students were publishing their own theses online and as an open access resource (this is fantastic), and secondly the topic in question is of great interest to me and everyone here, that is the development […]
What do Emergency Medicine and Donald J. Trump have in common?
*Caution: Emotionally-charged post, pinch of salt required… personal feelings only and not the editorial view of the EMJ/BMJ. On the morning of the 9th November 2016, I woke up to the earth-shattering news that Donald Trump had been elected President Elect of the United States. It’s a moment I’ll never forget. Rain pounded menacingly against […]
Live and let die
Everyone dies. It’s a sad fact of life and a tough part of any healthcare professional’s day. Some deaths are unexpected, and hit us hard. Thankfully, there are those that we know are coming, and this gives us the opportunity to try to give that person a peaceful and comfortable end of their life, and for […]
Nuances of Neurogenic Shock
Even when the mechanism is highly suggestive for significant spinal injury, the shocked major trauma patient is haemorrhaging until proven otherwise; cue blood products and damage control resuscitation. When there is no evidence of external haemorrhage in the primary survey, the EFAST is negative, and the trauma series CT shows no evidence of bleeding, a […]
The weekend effect: Part 2 – a traumatic time!
If you haven’t already, listen to Ellen Weber and Chris Moulton talk about the background to the weekend effect. Click HERE. The UK Junior Doctors’ contract changes imposed by the government in order to shape their poorly defined ‘Seven Day NHS’ caused much debate and consternation surrounding the ‘weekend effect’, which seemed to be the […]
The weekend effect. Part 1.
Chris Moulton VP of the Royal College of Emergency Medicine and Ellen Weber discuss the weekend effect. This is well worth a listen to get behind the headlines and politics of a controversial meme in healthcare. What is it? Is there an effect and what can we do about it? Click on this link to […]
Primary Survey: November 2016.
Richard Body, Associate Editor The Manchester derby for paediatric early warning scores There is clearly a need for a validated physiological early warning score for specific use in the paediatric emergency department (PED). In this issue, Cotterill et al compare two paediatric early warning scores developed in Manchester: the Royal Manchester Children’s Hospital Early Warning […]
How Junior Doctors Think: A Guide for Reflective Practice
In the UK, junior doctors will rotate through emergency medicine in their second year post-graduation (Foundation Year 2). They’re granted autonomy to make independent decisions and ‘own’ patients for the first time. Elsewhere in the hospital, a junior’s role is largely secretarial, and generally within the confines of ‘normal working hours’. In the ED, the hours are brutal, the […]
Become an EMJ reviewer
The EMJ, like most journals relies on peer review to help the editorial team make decisions on submitted papers.You can have a look at the list of people who have reviewed for us here, and we are always looking for more. Now peer review has had some tough times of late. Ex editors of major […]