Medical Education
Clinical teaching and practical ideas for your next study session.
Retinal Detachment vs. Vascular Vision Loss: The History That Matters
New flashes and floaters before a persistent or enlarging shadow raise concern for a retinal tear or detachment—but a “curtain” can also describe transient retinal ischemia. Learn how onset, duration, and recovery shift the differential and guide urgent next steps.
Lewy Body Dementia in Family Medicine: When Two Core Features Matter
When a patient with progressive cognitive decline develops recurrent visual hallucinations and spontaneous fluctuations in attention or alertness, learn how to apply DLB criteria, assess for delirium, and avoid medication-related harm.
When an Enlarged Prostate Does Not Explain Male LUTS
A smooth, enlarged prostate can support benign enlargement, but it cannot prove that prostate obstruction is causing a patient’s urinary symptoms. Learn how to assess male LUTS beyond DRE.
After IPV Disclosure: Four Lethality Risk Markers and the Next Safe Step
Ask about weapons, escalating violence, threats to kill, and strangulation after an intimate partner violence disclosure. Learn how to use the answers to guide immediate, patient-led safety planning—not to make a checklist decide disposition.
Heavy Periods and Iron-Deficiency Anemia: When to Look Beyond the Uterus
Heavy periods can cause iron-deficiency anemia, but they do not automatically rule out a gastrointestinal source. Learn which history and risk features shift the decision toward endoscopy.
Acute COPD Exacerbation: When Does Primary Care Need an Antibiotic?
An acute COPD flare is not automatically a bacterial infection. Learn how new sputum purulence, prior cultures, illness severity, and reliable follow-up shape a primary-care antibiotic decision.
HFpEF in Primary Care: Why a Normal EF Does Not Settle Dyspnea
A preserved ejection fraction and a familiar risk profile can suggest HFpEF, but neither establishes it. Learn how to assess filling pressures, interpret resting tests, and decide what to do when results disagree.
Waddell Signs in Low Back Pain: A Finding, Not a Verdict
Waddell signs are examination findings, not a credibility test. Learn what a positive pattern can—and cannot—support, how to keep neurologic assessment separate, and when to assess psychosocial needs directly.
Necrotizing Otitis Externa: Pseudomonas Is Likely; Escalation Is the Skill
Pseudomonas aeruginosa is the most commonly isolated organism in necrotizing otitis externa, but naming it does not prevent delayed diagnosis. Learn primary-care red flags and when persistent ear-canal infection needs urgent escalation.
LNG-IUD Contraindications: Why a Negative Pregnancy Test May Not Clear Insertion
A negative urine pregnancy test does not always clear a patient for same-day LNG-IUD insertion. Learn how the pregnancy checklist distinguishes actual pregnancy, temporary uncertainty that calls for deferral, and true category 4 conditions.
Stable Chest Pain: Why CAD Risk-Factor Counts Aren’t a Diagnostic Score
A risk-factor list and a pain description answer different questions. Learn how to separate long-term cardiovascular prevention from estimating whether stable chest symptoms reflect obstructive coronary disease.
ACE Inhibitor Monitoring After Initiation: Expected Creatinine Rise or AKI?
A creatinine rise after starting an ACE inhibitor may reflect the intended reduction in intraglomerular pressure—or an emerging kidney injury. Learn how to monitor blood pressure, creatinine, eGFR, and potassium, then distinguish an expected hemodynamic change from volume depletion, drug interactions, hyperkalemia, or AKI that requires action.