Family Medicine blog
Clinical teaching and practical ideas for your next study session.
ABG Board Prep: Does HCO3 28 Mean a Mixed Disorder?
An HCO3 of 28 in respiratory acidosis is not automatically a second metabolic alkalosis. Use compensation math, state what one ABG cannot establish, and explain why oxygenation and ventilation may fail together.
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.
Crystals in a Hot Knee: Why Gout Does Not Clear a Septic Joint
Urate crystals support gout, but they do not prove a hot knee is sterile. Learn how to assess infection risk and act safely while cultures are pending.
GI-Bleed SAQs: When to Use the Hemorrhage-Class Estimate
Separate clinical signs of instability from the trauma-derived class table: know what Class III means in its standard 70-kg model, and when the vignette does not justify assigning it.
Acute Sciatica and New Urinary Symptoms: Catching Cauda Equina Early
Acute unilateral sciatica can evolve before frank urinary retention appears. Learn which new bladder, bowel, or saddle-sensation changes should prompt emergency assessment.
After Ectopic Pregnancy: Separate Recurrence Risk From Fertility Prognosis
A recurrence percentage is not a personal fertility forecast. Learn to separate recurrence from future pregnancy outcomes, identify the history that changes counseling, and build a safe early-pregnancy plan.
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.
Giant Cell Arteritis With Normal ESR and CRP: What Should Primary Care Do?
Normal ESR and CRP lower the likelihood of giant cell arteritis, but they do not close the case when the symptom pattern remains concerning. A primary-care approach to probability, urgency, and confirmatory testing.
Morphine Myoclonus in Renal Failure: What M3G Does—and Doesn’t—Prove
A board stem may point to M3G when a person taking morphine develops myoclonus amid renal impairment. Learn how to distinguish that neuroexcitatory association from M6G’s opioid effects—and why the clue is not a bedside confirmation.
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.
Pigmented Lesion Differentials: When One Benign Clue Is Not Enough
A stuck-on surface or pearly edge can support a differential, but neither proves melanoma is absent. Learn to write useful contrasts without turning a clue into a rule-out.
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.