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We recently placed a call for patient education handout submission, and the response was strong both in number and quality. Osteopathic physicians know what it means to write information at the literacy level of the patient, and we are all getting practice with this in our respective electronic health records. I wonder how osteopathic family physicians incorporate information into the busy day-to-day practice if the data is not in the electronic health record?
The colleague who sits next to me reaches into a file drawer a few times a day to offer printed patient information.
I tend to copy and paste website locations into the patient instruction section and send patients to reliable websites. As an osteopathic family physician, I rely on the patient information incorporated into my electronic health record the most. It is fast, easy and hopefully, it is peer-reviewed.
We continue to offer clinical images and are getting common or essential pictures which patients kindly let us share for education. This edition has a typical case, Paronychia, as well as a critical case, Traumatic Eye Injury in a 14-Year-Old Male. One we treat ourselves and the other we should not miss because it requires a prompt specialty referral. That’s how it goes in family medicine.
The article, Aortic Aneurysm: Clinical Guidelines for Primary Care Physicians, reviews how to prevent, screen, diagnosis and follow aortic aneurysms. In some regions patients are referred to vascular surgery and may be followed by the specialist. In rural and underserved areas family physicians can follow and educate the patient when a referral is required. This article nicely presents the information with helpful tables for easy reference.
In Giant Cell Arteritis, the authors review its pathophysiology, patient symptomatology, differential diagnosis, and treatment. Be sure to check out the video that shows a temporal artery biopsy; the video link is at the end of the article.
It’s starting to get cold outside, and winter is a great time to do continuing medical education. Check out all the CME opportunities in our OFP calendar of event listings, as there are several opportunities to earn CME under the sunny skies of Florida, Texas, and California or stay close to home if you live in the Midwest and avoid driving on icy roads and airport delays.