Emergency Medicine review

I have finished my three-week rotation of Emergency Medicine. This was one of the most interesting rotations that I've been so far. It is a rotation that I've been looking forward since pre-clinical years.

I have managed to refreshed my knowledge on various acute life-threatening medical problems and able to perform few simple procedures such as putting a cannula into a vein, making plaster or back slab, practising Advanced Cardiac Life Support and observing how to manage various fractures.

Three weeks seems a long period for many but it seems to me that I prefer longer time in ED. Perhaps another week in ED will be good for me .

Overall, in this rotation, it is up to you whether you would like to be busy or just enjoying lots of free time available. You have to be very proactive in approaching doctors and nurses to get an opportunity to do lots of stuff. Most of the staffs here in the hospital I attached to, have been very nice and helpful.

My advice to my colleagues who will be doing ED after this:

• The best time to see lots of patients will be after 5 or 6 pm. If you are in the morning shift, there will be few new admissions except if there is any major trauma happening in the local vicinity.
  
• Fast Track, a section of ED which handles Category 3 t0 5 will be a good place to get your procedural skills done.
• Make sure you get to see lots of common presentation to ED [Chest pain, SOB, headache and fractures]