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Showing posts from April, 2016

How bedside ultrasound was awesome last week

I sometimes do locum tenens assignments as a hospitalist in rural hospitals. It is a good way to find out how other systems work, or don't work, and meet new people and interact with new communities. It's great to be home and also good to go away and come back later.  Besides the usual trappings of doctoring, including stethoscope, otoscope and white coat, I wouldn't be caught dead without my pocket ultrasound. I just got back from a week of 12 hour shifts in a 48 bed hospital and once again was very happy to have the ultrasound. They do have ultrasonography in the radiology department at this hospital, but echocardiography (ultrasound of the heart) is only available on weekdays from about 8 to 5, and it needs to be scheduled in advance. Also the ultrasonographers don't necessarily look at the things I find interesting, and can't combine imaging with physical exam findings and what the patient tells me in real time. Patients also really enjoy seeing what's g