The Curbsiders Internal Medicine Podcast

  Recognize the importance of cost-of-care conversations and identify resources to facilitate these discussions with help from Gwen Darien, executive vice president at the National Patient Advocate Foundation , and Dr.  Jessica Dine , Associate Professor and Chief of the division of Pulmonology and Critical Care at Perelman School of Medicine.  We review barriers to cost-of-care conversations and...

Diagnose and treat lupus in primary care with tips from rheumatologist, Beth Jonas MD, FACR ( UNC ). We discuss the history and exam findings in lupus, initial lab workup, the dreaded ANA, who needs expanded lab testing, lifestyle factors in lupus, vaccinations, the basics of treatment...and Jethro Tull ?!  Full show notes at https://thecurbsiders.com/podcast . Join our mailing list and receive a...

Solve hypernatremia with tips and tactics from Dr. Joel Topf, MD ( @kidney_boy ), our Kashlak Chief of Nephrology. We review the diagnostic workup for hypernatremia, polydipsia and polyuria, review the pathophysiology of diabetes insipidus, and how to differentiate between nephrogenic and central DI. Plus, we walk through how to treat hypernatremia in the acute setting and Dr. Topf shares clinical...

Search and secure your first job after residency. Dr. Alia Chisty ( Penn State ) returns to school us on surviving the PGY3 and beyond, part of ACP’s IMpower series . Topics: finding mentors, how to plan ahead as an intern and PGY2, master the interview day, avoid common pitfalls and confidently enter your early career. We’re joined by Curbsider and recent graduate Justin Berk MD, MPH, MBA who sha...

Step up your diabetes game! We answer your questions from #MedTwitter with help from returning guest, Jeff Colburn MD, FACP, FACE ( USU ) Topics include: the pitfalls of A1C testing, the A1C target controversy, lifestyle interventions, continuous glucose monitoring, pathophysiology of T2DM, use of SGLT2 inhibitors, GLP1 agonists, and how to initiate and titrate insulin therapy. ACP members can cla...

Take a deep dive into common CBC abnormalities. We recorded LIVE at joint grand rounds between Walter Reed NMMC and Uniformed Services University with hematologist, Dr. Mary Kwok MD . Topics include: which parts of the complete blood count (CBC) are most important, interpreting the differential, when to order flow cytometry, who needs a hematology consult and simplified approaches to patients with...

Join us for this roundtable discussion of advocacy in healthcare and a rundown of hot topics: coding and billing, the Affordable Care Act, universal healthcare, gender equity, women’s health, gun violence and more! Returning guest, Dr. Robert McLean ( @rmmclean84 ), current president of the American College of Physicians, helps us answer questions like, What is advocacy in healthcare? What are the...

Discover more common practices that persist in the hospital wards despite no proven benefit! We review how hospitals prescribe a “crapload” of docusate which only clogs up the medication list, how unnecessary echocardiograms are ordered enough times to make your head spin, and how basal insulin needs to slide back into your inpatient diabetes management instead of correctional insulin monotherapy....

Point-of-care Ultrasound AKA POCUS ain’t no hocus. Dr. Renee Dversdal ( @ReneeDversdal ) Director of the Oregon Health & Science University Point of Care Ultrasound and General Medicine Ultrasound Fellowship Director, joins The Curbsiders to discuss her craft. Topics include: Defining POCUS, the value POCUS adds to the physical exam, training pathways and the appropriateness of billing. This e...

Update your management of stroke and TIA in primary care. Stroke neurologist, Chris Favilla MD ( University of Pennsylvania ), walks us through the plumbing of the brain, so we can identify ischemic risks in stroke and TIA patients to prevent recurrences.  Learn factors that make a TIA high risk, which imaging studies to order, new research around aspirin dosing, dual antiplatelets, DOACs, cardiac...

Summary The sun is shining, the cakes are hot, and the takes are even hotter. Welcome to our July 2019 Hotcakes episode! Join us as our beloved hosts Chris, Matt, Stuart and Paul share some of the latest practice-changing knowledge, news and research in medical science. Today’s discussion covers studies on the use of IV iron supplementation for heart failure, aspirin as VTE prophylaxis after arthr...

Dr. Reshma Jagsi ( TIME’S UP Healthcare ;  UMichigan ) schools us on sexual harassment and describes the systemic and cultural changes that need to happen to effect real change. She unpacks the definition of sexual harassment, describes the state of the #MeToo and TIME’s UP movements across the science and medicine fields and highlights how we all can recognize/respond to harassment. This is the t...

Tackle rashes with wisdom from Kashlak’s resident Skinternist (or Internist-Externist) Dr. Helena Pasieka ( MedStar, Georgetown ), board certified in both Internal Medicine and Dermatology.  She offers “a rash approach to rashes” including: initial triage, ‘inside job’ vs ‘outside job’, differential diagnosis, a review of common culprits, basic management techniques, and how to determine if the re...

Confession: we have been holding out on you. Specifically, we’ve been sitting on a special episode of Hotcakes and Hot Takes that we recorded this March, with featured guest Armand Gottlieb, MD of the online publication The Scope . But here it is! We hope you’ll enjoy our discussion of topics like the ever-controversial e-cigarettes for smoking cessation question, outcomes related to antibiotic tr...

Take control of atrial fibrillation with expert insights and pearls from cardiologist, Dr. James Furgerson, in this jam-packed episode! You’ll learn why atrial fibrillation is such a big deal, how to diagnose it, how to treat it and when to call in for reinforcements. Dr. James Furgerson, MD  is a cardiologist from San Antonio, Texas with over 20 years in academics. Buckle up - This episode is goi...

Expand your knowledge about how--and how well--we manage the health of incarcerated patients in the United States, with the expert knowledge of correctional health experts Drs. Aaron Fox @adfoxmd , Jon Giftos @JonGiftosMD , and Emily Wang @ewang422 . Correctional medicine is a black box for many providers who do not work in prison and jail settings. But it’s ever more relevant to primary care phys...

Rethink how you’re diagnosing and managing chronic pain with high-yield tips from pain experts and primary care doctors Soraya Azari MD @azarimugs (UCSF), and Phoebe Cushman MD, MS (UMass Memorial). Because let’s face it, managing chronic pain can be very difficult. Expand your toolbox for management-- including the importance of activity, empowering your patient, risk stratification for patients...

Build your knowledge base to improve primary care for LGBT patients! This episode is chock full of clinical pearls and updates for LGBT health from SGIM presenters, Dr. Jenny Siegel (Boston University) and Dr. Megan McNamara (Louis Stokes Cleveland VAMC). They define common gender identity terms and provide tips on how to take a sexual history. You’ll develop an approach to the unique clinical con...

What do Judas Priest, surfing, and clots have in common? They are the passionate interests of expert Dr. Michael Streiff who guides us through the diagnosis and management of DVT and PE aka venous thromboembolism (VTE). By the end of the episode you will know how to catch a clot very Wells! We dive deep into the treatment options, literature, and some unique cases. ACP members can claim CME-MOC cr...

Expand your idea of ischemic heart disease to include non-obstructive patterns, which as our guest, Dr Noel Bairey Merz, a clinical investigative cardiologist whose multiple roles include Director of the Barbra Streisand Women’s Heart Center and the Preventive Cardiac Center at the Smidt Cedars-Sinai Heart Institute, shares with us, is incredibly common, especially in women.  Learn to recognize th...

Dare to lead. Master the transition to PGY2 with tips from expert educator Abby Spencer MD, MS, FACP, IM Residency Program Director and Vice Chair for Education for the Medicine Institute at Cleveland Clinic and Shreya Trivedi MD, GIM Fellow at NYU School of Medicine. Topics include: how to run work rounds, preparing your team for attendings rounds, how to teach on the fly, finding your leadership...

Recognize common presentations of anaphylaxis and stop under-treating this deadly allergic reaction with tips from Dr. Olajumoke Fadugba, Assistant Professor of Medicine, University of Pennsylvania! We review the basic pathophysiology and the standard criteria for diagnosing anaphylaxis, treatment basics, the primary importance of epinephrine, and the utility of adjunctive therapies. Also included...

HFpEF (heart failure with preserved ejection fraction) with master cardiologist, Dr Clyde Yancy MD, Chief of Cardiology and Professor of Medicine (Cardiology) and Medical Social Sciences, Northwestern, Feinberg School of Medicine. Topics include: pathophysiology, HFpEF phenotypes, how to interpret a borderline ejection fraction, evidence based therapies, diuretics, and future directions (pulmonary...

Recap of random pearls and highlights from SGIM19 Day 2 including: methadone and buprenorphine, perioperative buprenorphine, medical cannabis, HPV vaccination, young adult medicine, academic promotions, long term sequelae of childhood kidney disease, stage 1 hypertension, some great free resources in addiction medicine, and more! Special thanks to the Society for General Internal Medicine for thei...

Recap of random pearls and highlights from SGIM19 Day 1 including: Kidney stone treatment (roller coasters, sex and tamsulosin), aspirin, SGLT2 inhibitors to reduce kidney events, oral antibiotics for endocarditis, preferred physician attire, sexual harassment, writing letters of recommendation, triple therapy for COPD, DAPT for stroke, and more! Special thanks to the Society for General Internal...