Background: Moral distress, the inability to act in accordance with one’s ethical beliefs due to hierarchical or institutional constraints, has been associated with burnout and poorer well-being.  Significant moral distress amongst American physician trainees might occur when they feel obligated to provide treatments at the end of life that they believe to be futile or [...]

Background: The COVID-19 pandemic has disrupted healthcare and put enormous stress upon front-line healthcare workers. Physician trainees may be more vulnerable to poor mental health outcomes, including burnout and distress. The objective of this study was to compare mental health indices of attending physicians versus trainees during the COVID-19 pandemic. Methods: A voluntary survey was [...]

Background: In the US, Marijuana is the most used substance, with 18% of the population having tried it at least once. Its use is steadily increasing and stands at a staggering 43% amongst college-aged adults. Marijuana has been known as a self-coping means for anxiety. The recent increase in marijuana use and its effect on [...]

Background: Stroke is the leading cause of mortality worldwide. However, available treatment options are limited due to the narrow treatment time window and reperfusion injury after revascularization. New treatment modalities to overcome these challenges are in need. Chlorpromazine and promethazine (C+P) have been utilized for cerebral edema, central high fever with restlessness, and delirium [1, [...]

Background: Physician burnout has been suggested to be positively associated with the degree of spirituality and negatively associated with empathy; however, sparse data with mixed results are available. Therefore, our objective was to determine if physician burnout is related to spirituality and with empathy. Methods: We surveyed attending physicians, residents, and medical students using an [...]

Background: Approximately one-third of patients with acute ischemic stroke (AIS) develop hyperglycemia regardless of pre-existing history of diabetes [1]. Hyperglycemia is associated with increased risk of hemorrhagic transformation and can be considered as a predictor of poor functional outcome after intravenous thrombolysis (IVT) and mechanical thrombectomy (MT) [2]. Additionally, risk of death, hemorrhagic complications, and [...]

Background: It has been routine practice to keep patients undergoing cardiac stress testing nil per os (NPO) until the results of the test were reported. The rationale is to enable left heart catheterization the same day if the stress test is positive, thereby reducing time to coronary intervention and length of stay (LOS). Often, NPO [...]

Background: Patients admitted to our hospital with chest pain concerning for Acute Coronary Syndrome (ACS) have a length of stay exceeding the community average. We postulated that unnecessary stress test orders in some cases may be contributing to this increased length of stay. We hypothesized that implementation of a clinical decision support tool (CDST) would [...]

Background: Studies have linked the use of anti-secretory agents to nosocomial complications including Clostridium difficile–induced pseudomembranous colitis and hospital acquired pneumonia. In the outpatient setting, the Federal Drug Administration has issued warnings regarding increased risk of hypomagnesemia as well as fractures of the hip, wrist, and spine with the use of proton pump inhibitors. Although [...]

Background: Physician burnout poses a critical threat to the United States health care system.  Finding a solution to this problem is a leadership imperative, as studies report that nearly half of physicians in the U.S. experience burnout. Emotional exhaustion, depersonalization, and decreased personal accomplishment are characteristics of burnout and can lead to dire consequenses if [...]