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New PA looking for resources before Job starts


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Hey everybody, I start my first job in EM in a few months. My first year will be in Fast Track with opportunities to move into some Main shifts after I have gained some experience.  I remember seeing something about some resources for ED providers that offer either videos or other content related to procedures and other emergency topics. I did 2 emergency med rotations but unfortunately wasn't exposed to a ton of procedures. I can suture and splint well but I never got to see any IO blocks, hematoma drainages, nasal packing, etc... basically there's a ton of bread and butter ED/Fast track stuff that I will be going in cold (which I'm sure is somewhat normal) but I would like to take some time to be as prepared as I can be... Thank you all in advance @EMEDPA

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Join SEMPA (sempa.org)

SEMPA members have free access to the EM Academy course. 71 30-minute video lectures on the core content of emergency medicine. 

SEMPA 360 has multiple hands on workshops, which are super helpful for new EMPAs

https://www.sempa.org/education/procedures/

https://www.sempa.org/education/us-landing-page/

https://www.sempa.org/education/FOAMedResources/

EM:RAP (emrap.org)

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Amen to SEMPA.  Incredibly valuable.  Get a free subscription to Medscape, get the free version of Epocrates on your phone.  Youtube actually has a number of very good videos on procedures too.  Larry Mellick has good videos on nerve blocks, procedures, and trigger point injections.  The Malamed videos are good for dental blocks.  Learn to do nerve blocks, especially those for migraines and back pain, dental blocks, hematoma blocks, and trigger point injections.  Few folks do them, even docs.  Getting good at them really helps patients, increases your throughput, and significantly raises your RVU's for the encounter.  It will really move you to the front of the pack.

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On 7/23/2019 at 2:29 AM, telemedic said:

SEMPA members have free access to the EM Academy course. 71 30-minute video lectures on the core content of emergency medicine. 

THIS. Have a good foundation for when you start. Know the red flags and what you can't miss. Know the basics and you'll impress upon your attendings that you can be trusted not to kill anyone. 

Also, subscribe to EM:RAP and/or UrgentCare:RAP. The EMRA antibiotic guide is a good, pocket resource as well.

It's not step 1 or even step 3, but attending an ultrasound course or learning ultrasound procedures as mentioned above is requisite moving forward for new grads and experienced providers alike.

For a dose of reality, be sure to read Bouncebacks.

https://www.amazon.com/Bouncebacks-Emergency-Department-Cases-Returns/dp/1890018813/ref=dp_ob_title_bk

And if you don't have a good handle on ECGs, read Dubin (https://www.amazon.com/Rapid-Interpretation-EKGs-Sixth-Dubin/dp/0912912065/) and then get advanced knowledge from Steve Smith's blog (http://hqmeded-ecg.blogspot.com/)

For FOAMED sites, be sure to check out ALIEM (www.aliem.org) and Rebel EM (www.rebelem.org).

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  • 4 weeks later...

The above are all good.

Starting out for podcasts I will echo RebelEM (good, concise literature review and recs kind of like a journal club) and EMRAP (EMRAP costs money but has the bonus of providing really good procedure videos on their site but pretty much any procedure video is available on youtube these days). I've heard people mention EM Basics is good but I've never listened to it. After you gain quite a bit of experience and start working in the main part of ED EMCrit is interesting.

For books Dubin is good for ECGs then advanced stuff like Steve Smith and Amal Mattu. Chief Complaint is one of the more affordable and readable books that will help you with your "can't miss" differential. EMRA antibiotic guide, as mentioned above, is the "book" I probably use most frequently (when you start seeing more critical patients EMRA also has a handy Pressordex). If you just really want to commit some money to your emergency medicine education buy the Rosen's set (probably $300 bucks but regarded as the EM bible and is still relevant even though it is the dreaded, slandered textbook). Tintanellis (full or pocket) is also good. A good procedure textbook is Robert and Hedges (another $100+ investment).

Good websites are uptodate (subscription required but worth it if your institution doesn't provide it - bonus that you get CME for each page you view). Lifeinthefastlane is good site, especially for ECGs. As mentioned above, Medscape. The EMCrit/PulmCrit site is good but again is more geared towards higher acuity patients.

And of course, if you can stomach the low pay, consider residency/fellowship.

This is just a small sampling of what's available. sometimes it feels like there are too many resources so finding a few that you really like will just take some time and can get expensive if you buy every shiny object that you see, but a lot of these things are covered by CME money. Conferences are good for some professional growth but are probably more attractive as a means to just get away (so stick with ones in cool locations and don't pick one in BFE).

My 2 cents

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