Another Night in the Emergency Department
Another night in the emergency department in Pittsburgh’s Northside: busy, loud and chaotic. Paramedics pulled patients on stretchers and nurses pushed patients in wheelchairs through the corridors.
Emergency Medicine
Resident Physician Contributing Writer
Allegheny General Hospital
Daryl McLaren is a emergency medicine resident at Allegheny General Hospital, a Level 1 Trauma Center located along the Northside of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. Born and raised in Salt Lake City, Utah, Daryl trained at the University of Utah School of Medicine after earning an undergraduate degree in English. He recently matched at the University of Utah's Global Health Fellowship and will be pursuing his interest in global medicine during the 2018-2019 academic year. Additional interests include a voracious appetite for Stephen King novels, mountain biking, trail running, poetry, coffee, film, making music and his 4 year old daughter, Phoebe Marie.
Technology
Once upon a time, in distant land, / we’d write down patient information with a pen in our hand.
Humor
Humor… / it’s what saves me / keeps me from dying inside
The Health Provider Paradox: Depression as a Resident Physician
“You need to just take care of yourself” — a phrase I’ve heard often over the past few years. What does this even mean? I thought it was silly and laughable.
The Old Man in Bed 3
Medical alert, paged — STAT to Bed 3 / The nurse comes a runnin’ — we need an MD!
MICU Poem
Easter Sunday, intern year / MICU long-call consult resident / 41-year-old female
Two Years Post the Match: A PGY-2 Story
I had such difficulty explaining to my family and friends not in medicine the concept of the match. I finally settled on a lottery-Bachelor fusion to explain it. Just replace the aspiring lovers with program directors and medical students, and roses with Match Day letters.
Lather, Rinse, Repeat
The novelty of becoming an intern has worn off, the fresh sheen of excitement on each shift, the crampy belly pain as I walk into a critical patient’s room, the rush of adrenaline as I try to intervene on a patient slowly or rapidly dying in front of me. Get up, go work, and sleep. And not much more.
How I Learned the Importance of Tailoring
The first time I performed CPR — that is, literally kept a human alive by the very force of my hands — I was a third-year medical student. In other words, I was a book-smart twenty-something with two years of multiple-choice medical knowledge and a single four-hour course on ACLS under my belt.
Reframing the Encounter: The Homeless Crisis
You’ve seen Mr. H before. He comes in occasionally, usually at the end of the month, when his Social Security money runs out. He’s homeless, has no family to speak of, and his success in the community is tenuous, effectively measured by how many dollars of disability money he has saved.
Gentle Into That Good Night: Death in the Emergency Department
The message, like all earth-shattering pronouncements, came with the softest of dings. As I was walking out from my house into the cold December air for a morning shift in the emergency department, my parents messaged me about the passing of my grandfather.
Emergency Medicine: 14 Haikus
A specialty known for its brevity, emergency medicine can be appropriately summed up in haiku form. This is a collection of haikus about life in the emergency department.
Resident Physician Contributing Writer
University of Chicago
Amy Faith Ho, MD is an emergency physician, published writer and national speaker on issues pertaining to healthcare, with work featured in Forbes, Chicago Tribune, NPR, KevinMD, and TEDx. Full works at amyfaithho.com.
