Family Medicine blog
Clinical teaching and practical ideas for your next study session.
Low TSH, Fast Pulse: When Methimazole Helps—and When It Won’t
A suppressed TSH with tremor and sinus tachycardia does not by itself establish Graves disease. Use the hormone-production-versus-leakage distinction to choose the next tests and avoid prescribing methimazole for destructive thyroiditis.
Obesity Board Prep: Build the Weight Timeline Before Naming a Cause
“Yo-yo dieting” by itself is not an explanation. Learn to reconstruct weight change over time, connect prior attempts and life events to the timeline, and avoid mistaking coincidence for cause.
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.
Adolescent Depression: Why a PHQ-9A Is Not the Diagnosis
A 16-year-old’s insomnia, irritability, school decline, and self-harm raise concern—but do not establish MDD automatically. Learn how to use the PHQ-9A as a prompt, confirm the episode and functional change, and check for overlapping or alternative explanations.
Physical Restraint Safety on Boards: Avoid the Prone-Position Trap
When a restraint MCQ explanation recommends prone positioning, don’t memorize the key. Correct the safety error, preserve breathing, and distinguish prevention from monitoring.
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.
Pediatric ITP With Platelets of 8,000: Let Bleeding Severity Set the Plan
A platelet count of 8,000 is alarming, but it does not decide admission or transfusion by itself. Learn how mucosal bleeding, diagnostic red flags, and follow-up reliability shape the next step.
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.
Febrile Child With a Limp: Septic Hip and Safeguarding
A febrile, non-weight-bearing child with a hip effusion needs urgent assessment for joint infection. Learn how Family Medicine can pursue safeguarding concerns in parallel without delaying care or jumping to conclusions.
Visual Hallucinations on Boards: Use the Red Flag, Not a Shortcut
For board questions, visual hallucinations should move secondary medical, neurologic, and substance-related causes up the differential. Practice using onset, attention, baseline, and medication history—not modality alone—to decide what matters next.
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.
Frozen Shoulder and Diabetes: Plan Glucose Monitoring Before a Steroid Shot
An A1c of 7.8% does not automatically rule out a shoulder injection. Weigh its potential short-term benefit against a temporary glucose rise, then agree on a practical monitoring and follow-up plan.