The Skeptics Guide to Emergency Medicine

Reference: Huang Y-N, et al. Early Antiviral Therapy in Pediatric Outpatients and Risk of Influenza-Related Hospitalization. Pediatrics. 2026 Date: September 29, 2026 Guest Skeptic: Dr. Gabrielle Jasmine is a pediatric emergency medicine fellow at Children’s National Hospital in Washington DC. Her research interests include health equity, social determinants of health, and medical education. Case:...

Date: September 22, 2026 Guest Skeptic: Professor Gordon Guyatt is a physician and Professor of Health Research Methods, Evidence, and Impact at McMaster University, with a joint appointment in Medicine. He coined the term “evidence-based medicine” in 1990, helped introduce the concept more widely through the 1992 JAMA paper, was central to the Users’ Guides […] The post SGEM Xtra: Dr. Gordo...

Date: October 6, 2026 Guest Skeptic: Dr. Ryan Stanton, creator of the EM podcast Front Line and the new President of the American College of Emergency Physicians (ACEP). Reference: Zhou et al. HOPE investigators. Alteplase for Acute Ischemic Stroke at 4.5 to 24 Hours: The HOPE Randomized Clinical Trial. JAMA. 2025 Case: Mr. Wei Zhang […] The post SGEM#524: High, High HOPE for Recovery – Alte...

Reference: Kersten HB, et al; American Academy of Pediatrics and North American Society for Pediatric Gastroenterology, Hepatology and Nutrition. Clinical Practice Guideline for Diagnosis and Management of Faltering Weight. Pediatrics. 2026. Date: September 15, 2026 Guest Skeptic: Dr. Salina Khushal is a Pediatric Gastroenterologist at the Pediatric Specialists of Virginia. She completed her fello...

Date: September 30, 2026  Guest Skeptic: Dr. Aaron Skolnik is an Assistant Professor of Emergency Medicine at the Mayo Clinic Alix School of Medicine and Vice Chair of Critical Care Medicine at Mayo Clinic Arizona. Aaron is a full-time multidisciplinary intensivist and is the medical student clerkship director for critical care. Reference: ZhangJian et al. […] The post SGEM#522: Va-so-Presso...

Date: September 22, 2026 Guest Skeptic: Dr. Sergey Motov is an Emergency Physician in the Department of Emergency Medicine, Maimonides Medical Center in New York City. He is also one of the world’s leading researchers on pain management in the emergency department.  Reference: Sharabun et al. Oral Ibuprofen Versus Intramuscular Ketorolac for Acute Musculoskeletal Back Pain in […] The post SG...

Date: Sept 13, 2026 Guest Skeptic: Dr. Caitlin Jones is a Postdoctoral Research Associate at Sydney University’s Institute for Musculoskeletal Health. Her research evaluates the benefits and harms of treatments for musculoskeletal conditions with a particular interest in high-risk treatment options such as opioid medicines and spinal cord stimulators for pain. She aims to improve patient […]...

Date: September 4, 2026 This is an SGEM Xtra looking in the rearview mirror at 14 years of The SGEM and looking forward to Season#15. Season 15 is traditionally the crystal anniversary. Crystal is transparent; it can help us see things more clearly, and it can also shatter if you drop it. So, basically, a […] The post SGEM Xtra: If I Could Turn Back Time – 14 Seasons of Skepticism, Kindness...

Reference: Ellison AM, et al. PERC-Peds rule for bedside exclusion of pulmonary embolism without radiation in children in the USA (BEEPER): a multicentre, prospective, observational, diagnostic accuracy study. Lancet Respir Med. July 2026. Date: August 13, 2026 Guest Skeptic: Dr. Lauren Westafer is an Associate Professor in the Department of Emergency Medicine at the University […] The post...

Date: August 23, 2026 Guest Skeptic: Dr. Roya Caloia is a former EM program director, longtime faculty at Henry Ford Genesys and current interim Associate Medical Director. She is also the Chairperson of the National Clinical Governance Board for US Acute Care Solutions Case: A 62-year-old woman with diabetes and chronic lung disease presents to […] The post SGEM#518: What Have You Done for...

Date: March 4, 2026 Guest Skeptic: Prof Carl Heneghan is a General Practitioner, Professor of Evidence-Based Medicine at the University of Oxford and current Director of the Centre for Evidence-Based Medicine (CEBM). Today, we’re launching a brand-new SGEM series: Legends of Evidence-Based Medicine (EBM). In the past, I’ve interviewed legends of Emergency Medicine: Dr. Diane […] The post SGE...

Reference:  Perry DC, et al. Surgical fixation versus non-surgical care for children with a displaced medial epicondyle fracture of the elbow (the SCIENCE study): a multicentre, randomised controlled, superiority trial and economic evaluation. The Lancet 2026 Date: July 14, 2026 Guest Skeptics: Dr. Megan Terle is an orthopedic surgeon and Assistant Professor for Pediatrics and […] The post S...

Date: July 27, 2026 2026 Guest Skeptic: Dr. Howard (Howie) Mel is an emergency physician and FACEP.  Reference: Smith JE et al. SWiFT Trial Group. Prehospital Whole Blood in Traumatic Hemorrhage – a Randomized Controlled Trial. NEJM 2026 March Case: A 36-year-old man is brought to the emergency department (ED) by air ambulance after a […] The post SGEM#516: A Whole Lotta Blood – Whole...

Date: July 9, 2026 Guest Skeptic: Dr. Aaron Skolnik is an Assistant Professor of Emergency Medicine at the Mayo Clinic Alix School of Medicine and Vice Chair of Critical Care Medicine at Mayo Clinic Arizona. Aaron is a full-time multidisciplinary intensivist and is the medical student clerkship director for critical care.  Today’s episode is a […] The post SGEM Xtra: Ferraris, Friends, and F...

Reference:  Denninghoff KR et al. Azithromycin for Preschoolers with Wheezing in the Emergency Department. New England Journal of Medicine. May 2026 Date: July 14, 2026 Guest Skeptic: Dr. Zara Ibrahim is a pediatric emergency medicine fellow at Children’s National Hospital in Washington DC where she also completed medical school, pediatric residency. Her research interests include […] The po...

Date: July 9, 2026 Reference: The ARISE FLUIDS Investigators. Vasopressors or Fluids in Early Septic Shock. NEJM June 2026.  Guest Skeptic: Dr. Aaron Skolnik is an Assistant Professor of Emergency Medicine at the Mayo Clinic Alix School of Medicine and Vice Chair of Critical Care Medicine at Mayo Clinic Arizona.  He is board-certified in Emergency […] The post SGEM#514: Every Time You Go Awa...

Date: June 23, 2026 Reference: Tagg A, et al. Everything is awesome: Don’t forget the Lego. J Paediatr Child Health. 2019 We recorded this SGEM episode live at the Don’t Forget the Bubbles conference in Glasgow, Scotland. Dennis and I had just given an hour presentation on how to build better critical appraisal skills. It […] The post SGEM#513: Everything is Awesome – Unless You Swallo...

Date: June 12, 2026 Guest Skeptic: Mr. Ross Fisher. Ross is a paediatric surgeon, presentation guru (P-Cubed), and long-time friend of the SGEM.  Reference: Talan et al. Nonoperative Treatment of Appendicitis and Implications for Emergency Department Management: A Narrative Review. Ann Emerg Med. June 2026 Case: A 29-year-old healthy man presents to the emergency department […] The post SGEM...

Date: April 21, 2026 Guest Skeptic: Lauren Openshaw is a medical student at the George Washington University School of Medicine & Health Sciences, Class of 2027, where she is a part of the Disaster Medicine Scholarly Concentration. Her clinical interests include pediatrics, disaster medicine, critical care, and emergency preparedness, particularly as they relate to protecting vulnerable [&#823...

Date: May 20, 2026 Guest Skeptic: Dr. Matt McArthur is an ED Physician working primarily in Guelph and Kitchener with occasional rural locums in the small town of Walkerton, where he grew up. His clinical interests include POCUS, emergency cardiology, QI, knowledge translation, motivational interviewing, and vertigo. He is very active in medical education, including […] The post SGEM#511: I’...

Reference:  Perry DC, et al. Non-surgical casting versus surgical reduction for children with severely displaced distal radial fractures (the CRAFFT Study): a multicentre, randomised, controlled non-inferiority trial and economic evaluation. Lancet April 2026. Date: May 8, 2026 Guest Skeptic:  Dr. Andrew (Andy) Tagg is an Emergency Physician with a special interest in education and lifelong learni...

Date: April 23, 2026  Guest Skeptic: Dr. Manrique Umaña McDermott is an attending physician specializing in Emergency Medicine based in San José, Costa Rica. He has a passion for medical education, is a renowned international speaker and serves as a faculty member in undergraduate Internal Medicine at UCIMED and postgraduate training programs in Emergency Medicine […] The post SGEM#509: I lo...

Reference: Burstein B, et al. Prediction of Bacteremia and Bacterial Meningitis Among Febrile Infants Aged 28 Days or Younger. JAMA. Published online December 08, 2025. Date: April 3, 2026 Guest Skeptic: Dr. Margarita Ramos is a pediatric hospitalist at Children’s National Hospital in Washington, D.C., and Assistant Professor of Pediatrics at the George Washington University […] The post SGE...

Date: April 2, 2026   Reference: Lee et al. GRADE-Based Clinical Practice Guidelines for Emergency Department Delirium Risk Stratification, Screening, and Brain Imaging in Older Patients With Suspected Delirium. AEM Feb 2026 Guest Skeptic: Dr. Christina Shenvi is a board-certified emergency physician, educator, keynote speaker, coach, and academic leader. She is widely recognized for her work [&#8...

Date: March 23, 2026 Guest Skeptic: Dr. Christina Shenvi is a board-certified emergency physician, educator, keynote speaker, coach, and academic leader. She is widely recognized for her work in geriatric emergency medicine, faculty development, and professional identity formation in emergency medicine (EM). She brings deep clinical expertise along with thoughtful perspectives on systems-level cha...