Common Sense

• The Waiting Game

  Image Credit: Pixabay Author: Victoria Weston, MDOriginally Published: Common Sense November/December 2015 I could feel her eyes on me, burning with anger. It was a hot July day and she had been waiting for hours in our crowded waiting room, and then waited even longer in our ENT room in an upright, unforgiving chair as […]
• All I Really Need to Know — Still — I Learned in Kindergarten

  Image Credit: Pixabay Author: Andrew W Phillips, MD MedOriginally Published: Common Sense July/August 2015 While still being far from hitting my full stride as a “real” emergency physician, I feel that I’ve come a long way now that I’m finally finishing residency. And while I’m cautious of being overly nostalgic or simplistic at this point, […]
• Reflections of a Third-Year Resident

  Author: Meaghan Mercer, DOOriginally Published: Common Sense March/April 2015 Writing this around New Year’s Day makes me nostalgic. There is a contagious sense of hope and excitement this time of year. Fourth-year medical students are thrilled that interviews have come to a close, rank lists are in, and Match Day looms around the corner. Interns […]
• Residency Work Hour Restrictions: Is the Pendulum Swinging Back?

  Author: Mike Wilk, MDPGY-1, Brown EM Originally Published: Common Sense January/February 2017 “I walked into the hospital on my first day of residency and didn’t walk out until 36 hours later. Those were the darkest days of my life, but I am the doctor that I am today because I went through that,” I still […]
• Group Therapy

  Author: Mary Haas, MDAAEM/RSA President ’16-’17Originally Published: Common Sense January/February 2017 It was Monday night, and Halloween. It was the perfect storm of an ever-expanding waiting room and a revolving-door resuscitation bay occupied by sick patient after sick patient. Following an emotionally exhausting shift, I sat with some fellow residents at The Pizza House, a […]
• AAEM/RSA Congressional Elective: Be the Exception and Make the Rules

  Author: Ashely Alker, MD, MS in Public Health University of California, San Diego Emergency Medicine PGY2 Originally Published: Common Sense January/February 2017 Returning to Washington, D.C. at the end of my intern year, I am fortunate to be in a city filled with the familiar faces of old classmates. Sitting around the rooftop dinner table […]
• There’s a First for Everything: Surviving and Thriving Through Internship and Pregnancy

  Author: Faith Quenzer, DO PGY-1 Originally Published: Common Sense November/December 2016 July was a whirlwind. Fresh out of medical school, I moved to the desert in California to a brand new emergency medicine residency. I was one of five interns and the only female in our inaugural class. Five weeks into the program, I felt […]
• Patient Satisfaction

  Image Credit: Flickr Author: Victoria Weston, MDAAEM/RSA President ’15-’16Originally Published: Common Sense March/April 2016 Patient satisfaction. It feels like sometimes the concept is overemphasized, yet another addition to the countless expectations and constraints placed on doctors. I have felt this way at times, but recently my thinking has shifted. Instead of trying to meet arbitrary […]
• Standardized Residency Video Interviews: Benefit or Burden?

  Author: Mike Wilk, MD PGY-1, Brown EM Forward: Please note that after submission of this article, the Standardized Video Interview Project was put on hold this year for further review by the AAMC. However, its implementation remains expected at a later date. We are trained as emergency physicians to start evaluating patients from the moment […]
• Reflections on Mentorship

  Author: Mary Haas, MD AAEM/RSA President ’16-’17Originally Published: Common Sense September/October 2016 Mentorship has played a crucial role in my brief EM career. Perhaps, more importantly, it has also contributed to my personal and professional wellness. Realizing this, I asked myself a few questions. Why does mentorship matter? What makes a good mentor? The term […]

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