Family Medicine blog
Clinical teaching and practical ideas for your next study session.
COPD, Pneumonia, and New Confusion: When an ABG Should Prompt a Monitored NIV Trial
In an older adult with COPD, pneumonia, and new confusion, the key decision is not whether to give oxygen. It is whether the ABG shows acute hypercapnic respiratory failure that supports a monitored bilevel NIV trial—and whether the mental-status change still permits a safe, closely monitored trial.
Menopause MCQ Strategy: Diagnose Clinically, Then Find the Treatment-Changing History
For a patient over 45 with typical symptoms and 12 months of amenorrhea, the board point is usually not an FSH value. Learn how to identify menopause clinically, separate vasomotor symptoms from genitourinary symptoms, and retrieve the history that changes hormone-therapy safety and drug selection.
Breastfed Newborn Jaundice: When to Fix Intake, Reassure, or Investigate
In a jaundiced breastfed newborn, the key decision is not whether breast milk is “causing” the bilirubin. It is whether intake is inadequate, the infant is thriving with isolated unconjugated jaundice, or a red flag requires prompt evaluation.
Asthma With Panic Symptoms: When Partial Improvement Is Not Enough
A young adult with wheeze, tremor, paresthesia, and fear may have asthma, hyperventilation, or both. This case teaches family physicians how objective reassessment—not oxygen saturation or reassurance alone—guides escalation, discharge, and controller therapy.
The Asthma Spirometry Trap: A Positive Bronchodilator Response Is Not the Diagnosis
Learn how to calculate the adult bronchodilator response, avoid the AND/OR and denominator traps, and decide what a negative test means when asthma symptoms remain convincing.
Chest Pain in a Diabetic Smoker: Recognizing High-Risk ACS and Its Dangerous Mimics
A board-ready family medicine case discussion on ST depression, troponin interpretation, HEART score limitations, urgent treatment, and safe transfer.
When Dyspnea Persists: A Board-Ready COPD–Heart Failure Fluid and Steroid Framework
A board-ready framework for persistent dyspnea after admission: distinguish congestion from hypoperfusion, choose fluids or diuresis deliberately, and manage short-course steroids safely.
COPD Exacerbation and Heart Failure: Fluid and Steroid Decisions on Hospital Day 2
Persistent dyspnea on hospital day 2 is a physiology problem, not a diagnosis. Learn how to balance perfusion, decongestion, and a time-limited COPD steroid course.
When the Medication Bag Is the Chart: Polypharmacy, CKD, and Health-Literacy Challenges in Family Medicine
An older adult’s high blood pressure may be a medication-safety problem, not a cue to intensify therapy. This case teaches reconciliation, individualized targets, CKD-aware prescribing, privacy, and teach-back.