Case Presentation: 22-year-old female presented with worsening lower abdominal pain, diarrhea, and ascending muscle weakness. A lumbar puncture revealed a normal cell count and protein levels, with slightly elevated Campylobacter Jejuni antibody levels at 0.93. The patient was treated with a five-day course of IVIG for presumed Guillain-Barré Syndrome (GBS), resulting in slight improvement in [...]

Background: Syncope is characterized by a transient loss of consciousness, with vasovagal syncope being the most common cause. According to the American College of Cardiology (1), routine cardiac imaging, including transthoracic echocardiography (TTE), is not recommended in the evaluation of syncope unless there is a clinical suspicion of a cardiac cause, based on the patient’s [...]

Background: Hospitalized patients often report that they lack the opportunity to share their priorities, and currently there is no standard protocol for hospitalists to elicit their patients’ priorities. Additionally, changes in 2025 to CMS reimbursement rules will require hospitals to have protocols for eliciting what matters to admitted patients, further necessitating the development of an [...]

Background: Poor noon conference attendance is a universal problem across residency programs, particularly for inpatient rotations. Residents commonly face the decision to either attend a conference or continue their work on busy services. Food incentives, mandatory attendance standards, or implementation of consequences for absences are largely ineffective. Conversely, a study suggests that lecture topics and [...]

Background: Disseminating scholarly work is an important skill in academic medicine, but it’s not often taught in a systematic way. This may disadvantage students from underrepresented and underprivileged backgrounds who don’t have role models in the biomedical sciences. Writing a clinical vignette – defined as a patient-related case that has educational value to a wider [...]

Background: Transthoracic echocardiography (TTE) is a valuable diagnostic tool widely used for cardiac patients, but its accessibility and convenience have contributed to overuse. Although Appropriate Use Criteria (AUC) were developed to address this, inpatient TTE use continues to rise, with 5–8% annual increases. Studies reveal that while most TTEs meet AUC standards, fewer than one-third [...]

Background: Patients with substance use disorders (SUDs) are at high risk for blood borne viruses (BBV) and sexually transmitted infections (STIs).1 Syphilis infections, in particular, have dramatically increased over the past decade. More patients with syphilis infections are reporting injection drug use.2 Hospitalization is considered a “reachable moment” for this vulnerable patient population.3 Yet, screening [...]

Case Presentation: E-cigarette or vaping product use-associated lung injury (EVALI) emerged as a significant public health concern during a 2019 CDC outbreak that affected 2,800 individuals and caused 68 deaths nationwide. While EVALI primarily affects young males, it manifests with respiratory, gastrointestinal, and systemic symptoms that can mimic conditions like pneumonia or COVID-19, creating diagnostic [...]

Case Presentation: A 79-year-old male with a past medical history of coronary artery disease presented to the emergency department with a 1-week history of generalized weakness, fever, and chills. He reported associated generalized myalgia involving his chest, abdomen, and neck, as well as headache, productive cough, and diarrhea. There was no associated skin rash.On presentation, [...]

Case Presentation: A 73-year-old male with a history of Crohn’s disease presented to an outside hospital with exertional shortness of breath and palpitations. He was treated for symptomatic anemia secondary to vitamin B12 deficiency. He was then referred to our hospital due to the presence of rare blasts on blood smear. Upon arrival, he was [...]