Squid and other cephalopods have the amazing ability to change the color of their skin. In an instant, they can blend into their environment, matching the landscape perfectly to avoid detection. In contrast, they can turn a bright iridescent hue to warn predators or, in some circumstances, to attract a mate.
They do this in a rather complex way. Squid, cuttlefish, and octopus have special cells called Read more…
Being like squid is easy. Don’t be one.
“So, if you look at this table, you can see that group X had a small but statistically significant increase in mortality over group Y. What does that tell us? It suggests that maybe there is some signal that intervention A is better than intervention B.”
The slide has some table from some journal, and the speaker will then often circle some p-value and talk about the strengths and weaknesses of …
Health care needs new presentation techniques
Between leaving an emergency department where I had been working for nine years and starting in a new one, I had the luxury of having two months off, from May to July. This meant that I would get to really enjoy an extended summer break and recharge my batteries. It is fair to say that some degree of burnout and moral injury contributed to this change, and this was a …
What this clinician learned from a whale watching tour
“Triage” is French for “to sort.” It developed as a concept on the battlefield as a way to address injured soldiers and ensure that care was provided to those most in need. In the emergency department, triage is usually the responsibility of a trained, experienced nurse. Patients present to the emergency department, the nurse obtains a history and may perform a cursory …
Change the approach to triage to alleviate ER overcrowding
A young male patient checks into the emergency department (ED) and is brought back to a room for an ankle injury he suffered the day before. He states that he twisted it while doing some indoor rock climbing and tells the triage nurse that it is swollen and tender, but that he can walk on it. His vital signs are registered, and he is brought back to a room where …
Patient satisfaction should not be driven by poorly-designed surveys
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