Canadian flag English
McMaster Textbook of Internal Medicine

An introduction to Rapid Refreshers and dressing for COVID-19

2020-03-30
Heather Bannerman, Siobhan Deshauer, Roman Jaeschke, Akbar Panju

Internal Medicine Rapid Refreshers is a series of concise information-packed videos refreshing your knowledge on key medical issues that general practitioners may encounter in their daily practice. The first episode introduces the series and points to helpful instructional videos on wearing and removing personal protective equipment (PPE).

Useful links

Transcript

Roman Jaeschke, MD: Good afternoon. Welcome to the first edition of Internal Medicine Rapid Refreshers. This is a combined effort of the faculty and medical residents from McMaster University.

We are trying a number of solutions at the moment and one of them is to have one of the participants of this discussion connect via cellphone. Doctor Akbar Panju, could you tell us why we are doing it?

Akbar Panju, MB ChB: Thank you and hello. We are presently in an unprecedented time, experiencing the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic. What we are trying to do is to help our subspecialty colleagues who may be asked to do things that they’ve not done for many years, like practicing general internal medicine. There are going to be times when our subspecialists will be doing general internal medicine, and these brief refreshers will help our colleagues manage internal medicine problems. They will be practical and very useful to individuals who have not practiced general internal medicine for many years.

Roman Jaeschke: As usual, we’ve called for help of younger colleagues. I will give them the voice now.

Siobhan Deshauer, MD: Hi, I’m Siobhan Deshauer. I’m a third year internal medicine resident. I’ll be working with specialists to help draw together the critical information that you need to know about common internal medicine presentations. In less than 5 minutes you’ll remember what you need to know about things like diabetic ketoacidosis (DKA), chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) exacerbation, or acute coronary syndrome (ACS).

Roman Jaeschke: Too bad we went to medical school. Heather?

Heather Bannerman, MD: Hi, my name is Heather Bannerman and I’m another senior medical resident. I wanted to let everyone know that our first priority with these videos is safety, and we have posted here some links to proper donning and doffing of personal protective equipment (PPE) during the COVID-19 outbreak. In the next few days we hope to have our first Rapid Refresher out for you to see [see Rapid Refresher: Diabetic ketoacidosis].

Roman Jaeschke: I spent the last week in the intensive care unit (ICU) and the issue of how to dress properly seemed to be one of the most important things, so that’s how we will start. Then we’ll work on DKA, asthma, ACS, and we’ll try to put them online as fast as possible. And Doctor Akbar Panju really joined us, we simply don’t see his picture.

Thank you all and see you soon.

See also
  • COVID-19 resource hub Resources helpful in addressing the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) epidemic.
  • COVID-19 McMaster Survival Guide The COVID-19 McMaster Survival Guide is a concise, comprehensive, and practical manual addressing a broad range of topics related to COVID-19. Updated on an ongoing basis.
  • Chest pain Chest pain: an expert summary of the critical points to keep in mind during evaluation and management.
  • Cellulitis Cellulitis: a clear overview of approach, investigations, and management, highlighting red flags and other points to remember.
  • Non–ST-segment elevation ACS Non–ST-segment elevation acute coronary syndrome (NSTE-ACS/NSTEMI): the important points to remember regarding diagnosis, investigations, management, and risk stratification.
  • Seizure Seizure: an accessible overview of the etiology, acute management, special situations, and steps to consider after resolution.
  • COPD exacerbation Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) exacerbation: the key diagnostic investigations and management principles that you need to keep in mind.
  • Diabetic ketoacidosis (DKA) Diabetic ketoacidosis: all that you need to remember about presentation, diagnosis, and management reviewed in less than 10 minutes.
  • COVID-19: Expert Q&A Dr Dominik Mertz, associate professor in the Division of Infectious Diseases at McMaster University and medical director of infection prevention and control at Hamilton Health Sciences, describes the current status of the COVID-19 pandemic and answers some of the commonly repeated questions about testing, immunity, and masks.

We would love to hear from you

Comments, mistakes, suggestions?

Send feedback