I was at a wedding talking with another ER doctor. Of course, our conversation turned to “shop talk,” him telling me of a case where he agonized about prescribing a patient a certain medication. I tried to not make light of his…
This week's guest columnist is Stephanie Barrow, MD, Family Practice Resident at Ochsner University Hospital & Clinics in Lafayette.
If the pandemic subsides this spring, we'll all relax: no more masks or distancing, no more…
This week's guest columnists are Carrie Guidry, MD and Stefanie Acosta, MD, Family Practice Residents at Ochsner University Hospital & Clinics.
When I first heard croup, angry seal sounds were coming from my brother in the…
This 16 year-old boy hurt his knee playing basketball, banging it into another player's knee. He was brought in limping by his mom. "Did you give him anything for pain?" I asked. "I gave him one of my prescription ibuprofens," mom…
I remember that first time- a parent insisting on antibiotics despite my advice. The girl clearly had a virus- cough and runny nose for two days. I explained to the father that antibiotics don't kill viruses, she'll get better…
This week's guest columnist is Dr. Asma Khan, a Family Practice resident at the University Hospital and Clinics here in Lafayette. 9 pm: a frantic call from my sister. She was in the kitchen warming a bottle for her infant, went…
My wife's nephew Jordan had colic bad. In his first months of life he cried non-stop, only quieting in his swing. His mom was so frazzled from fatigue and frustration that when my wife offered to babysit for a weekend, she ran…
Ben grew up with asthma, but at 15 he seemed to have outgrown it. Then this fall he began to cough and feel tight. His mom took him to a quick-care, where he was prescribed an inhaler. A few weeks later he caught another cold…
Last week we saw a 7 year-old girl with eight days of sore throat and fever. Her parents were frustrated: they had seen their doctor twice, another ED once, had three flu tests and two strep tests and blood tests that were all…
This week's column is from Dr. Susila Shanmuganathan, a family practice resident at the University Hospital and Clinics here in Lafayette. Another runny nose? Don't they know this is an Emergency Department, and cold viruses…
I walk into the room, introduce myself, and ask my usual lead-in question: "When did things first start going wrong?" The mom answers "She started with this rash last night, and this morning it has spread all over. Just look at…
This week's guest columnist is Dr. Yamuna Jaladanki, a Family Practice resident at the University Hospital and Clinics here in Lafayette. The other day in the ER I saw two kids from the same family, one 11 months old and the…