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The Kids Are(n’t) Alright: Distinguishing Necessary from Unnecessary Discomfort in Medical Training

The Kids Are(n’t) Alright: Distinguishing Necessary from Unnecessary Discomfort in Medical Training

by Kaitlin Endres | Jun 18, 2026 | Commentary, Featured, Grand Round Summaries, Medical Education

“It feels like they’re just mostly just trying to make me comfortable with being uncomfortable”   My now-husband was always a year ahead of me in training. He was a first-year medical student before I was, a clerk before I was, and every year I would ask him the...
The Performance Art of Medicine

The Performance Art of Medicine

by Maria Berliant | Jun 11, 2026 | Commentary, Featured, Grand Round Summaries

“Medicine is not only a science, it is also an art. It does not consist of compounding pills and plasters, it deals with the very processes of life, which must be understood before they may be guided.”- Paracelsus We often hear about the art of medicine...
Going viral – Emergency Medicine in the age of algorithms

Going viral – Emergency Medicine in the age of algorithms

by Madison Van Dusen | Apr 9, 2026 | Commentary, Grand Round Summaries

“A patient sits in front of you, phone in hand. ‘I think I have hypertrophic cardiomyopathy… I saw it on TikTok.’” Social media is no longer peripheral to healthcare, it is embedded within it. From how patients interpret symptoms to how clinicians learn, connect, and...
2025 AHA Guidelines Update: Key Changes in CPR and ECC

2025 AHA Guidelines Update: Key Changes in CPR and ECC

by Mathieu McKinnon | Jan 8, 2026 | cardiac arrest, Cardiology, Commentary, Critical Care

The 2025 American Heart Association Guidelines for Cardiopulmonary Resuscitation (CPR) and Emergency Cardiovascular Care (ECC) introduce several important updates across the resuscitation spectrum. Below is a concise, clinically focused summary tailored for emergency...
Sleigh What You Think You Know (About White and Dark Clouds)

Sleigh What You Think You Know (About White and Dark Clouds)

by Shahbaz Syed | Dec 25, 2025 | Commentary, Featured

Every December, the Emergency Department changes character a little. Lights show up around the nursing station. Someone brings in shortbread that appears to pre-date the Roman Empire. There is Christmas music. Someone inevitably wrongly claims that “Die Hard” is not a...
Tamiflu and the Illusion of Benefit

Tamiflu and the Illusion of Benefit

by Shahbaz Syed | Dec 20, 2025 | Commentary, Featured, Infectious Disease

We’re seeing a major uptick in influenza this season, and Oseltamivir (Tamiflu) continues to be prescribed widely during flu season, particularly during surges when Emergency Departments feel pressure to “do something.” Despite this, a careful examination of the...
Are We Triage Monkeys or Gods? Big and Small Decisions in the ED

Are We Triage Monkeys or Gods? Big and Small Decisions in the ED

by Lucy Karp | Aug 7, 2025 | Commentary, Critical Care, Grand Round Summaries, Resuscitation

While the term ‘God Squad’ reflects a real committee from the 1960s, we use it here critically to examine the risks of unchecked decision-making power in emergency care.   Watch the entire Grand Rounds here This is a photo of the Admissions and Policy Committee...
Law and Order: Navigating Medicolegal risk in Emergency Medicine Part 2

Law and Order: Navigating Medicolegal risk in Emergency Medicine Part 2

by Max Zworth | Apr 24, 2025 | Commentary, Featured, Grand Round Summaries, Physician Wellness

In part 1 of this 2-part series on medicolegal risk in Emergency Medicine, we looked at two legal cases, with a primary focus on civil litigation and college complaints. In this section, we focus on risk assessment, documentation, and advice from lawyers and CMPA...
Blurred Lines: The Ethical Pitfalls of Urine Drug Screens

Blurred Lines: The Ethical Pitfalls of Urine Drug Screens

by Shahbaz Syed | Nov 14, 2024 | Commentary, Featured, Toxicology

Urine drug (or toxicologic) screens are a fairly standard tool used in addictions, psychiatry and the Emergency Department (ED), often employed to detect substance use in patients presenting with altered mental status, trauma, psychiatric or abnormal behaviour. Yet,...
Is there a Precedence for Precedex in the ED?

Is there a Precedence for Precedex in the ED?

by Shahbaz Syed | Oct 24, 2024 | Airway, Anesthesiology, Commentary, Critical Care, Featured, Resuscitation

Precedex (dexmedetomidine) is an alpha-2 adrenergic agonist increasingly used in critical care environments for sedation and anxiolysis. It offers a unique profile of sedation without respiratory depression, making it an attractive option in various clinical...
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