Baby alligators - those betrayals of purpose , or, death by a thousand paper cuts !

Check out our latest episode, where Dr. Eileen Barrett walks us through how to tackle baby alligators with:

Regulated curiosity

Strategic empathy

Small, well-chosen moves...

...and change that is big enough to matter, and small enough to win!

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🔹 Transcript & Shownotes

00:00 | What are “baby alligators” in medicine?

02:24 | Rifaximin & Workflow Fixes

14:17 | Verbal Orders Policy

18:39 | Micro Skills for Change

25:12 | Key Takeaways

#PhysicianBurnout #DoctorLife #HealthcareEfficiency, CoreIM, Internal Medicine, Career Development, Quality Improvement, QI

Gray zones of VTE management! How to approach anticoagulation duration in unprovoked, provoked-irreversible, and provoked-reversible clots?

When dose-reduced DOACs make sense for long-term secondary prevention? What truly constitutes DOAC failure? We also devle into how APLAS a critical do-not-miss diagnosis that changes management entirely.

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🔹 Transcript & Shownotes

(2:56) - (13:15) | PEARL 1: Managing clots in the “unprovoked”/provoked-irreversible patient

(13:21) - (18:10) | PEARL 2: Managing provoked, “reversible” clots

(18:14) - (25:14) | PEARL 3: DOAC failure: time to step it up?

(25:20) - (37:25) | PEARL 4: APLAS: the exception to everything

Tags: CoreIM, Internal Medicine, ClinicalPearls, Medical Education, IMCore, hospitalist, physician assistant, nurse practitioner, medical student, internal medicine, hematology

We hope these stories resonate with anyone who has felt pulled between professional purpose and personal life, and remind you that you’re not alone in wanting both.

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🔹 Transcript and Shownotes

(1:09) | How the Horn Award Opened the Door to Growth in Dr. Tyra Fainstad’s Career and Life

(10:28) | How Dr. Carol Ward Created the Horn Award and Honored Mary Horn’s Legacy

(14:16) | Dr. Hilit Mechaber’s Story of Courage, Vision, and Impact Beyond the Award

(17:55) | Why does the Horn Award Matter?

Tags: CoreIM, Internal Medicine, Career Development Award, Mary O'Flaherty Horn Award, Clinical Care, Scholarship, Teaching, Leadership, Wellness and Care, Family Responsibilities

Antibiotic duration for bacteremia is something most of us learned by habit, not by trial data. In this episode, we walk through the BALANCE trial and use it as a lens to revisit how 1) host, 2) organism, and 3) source should guide treatment. When shorter really is enough, and when it isn’t?

🔹 Sponsor: Oakstone CME

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🔹 Transcript and Shownotes

Timestamp

(02:58) | Host, Organism, Source: The Core Framework Behind Duration

(09:02) | How Evidence Shifted Practice

(11:27) | The BALANCE Trial: Short-Course vs Standard-Course Therapy

(18:55) | Where does this leave us?

Tags: CoreIM, Internal Medicine, Infectious disease, Evidence-Based Medicine, Clinical Reasoning, Hospital Medicine, Medical Education

How quickly can triglycerides rise? At what threshold are patients at risk of pancreatitis or cardiovascular adverse outcomes? What do you have to rule out? How do you counsel on lifestyle changes? Which medications do you start with why and when?

🔹 Transcript and Shownotes

(03:19) | Lipoprotein Lipase and Why Triglycerides Fluctuate Fast

(05:27) | Triglycerides as a Cardiovascular Risk Marker

(09:28) | Acute Management For Pancreatitis induced by Triglycerides

(14:34) | Lifestyle Counseling

(17:31) | Medications That Lower Triglycerides

(25:29) | How to Choose the Right Triglyceride Therapy

(27:56) | Genetic Causes and When to Suspect Familial Disorders

Tags: CoreIM, Internal Medicine, Lipidology, lipid, Cardiology, Metabolic Health, Triglycerides, Evidence-Based Medicine, Clinical Reasoning, Hospital Medicine, Medical Education, primary care

Why is venous congestion not the same as volume overload? How can looking at IVC as well as doppler on the hepatic vein, portal vein, and/or intrarenal vein help? Can venous congestion explain someone's delirium? Or be at play in septic shock? What are the limitations of the VEXUS score?

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🔹Transcript and Shownotes

(00:00) | Volume overload vs. Venous Congestion

(05:49) | Venous Congestion and AKI, mortality, possible delirium

(10:10) | Measuring Venous Congestion and the Role of VEXUS

(15:05) | Common Mistakes and Best Practices of VEXUS score

(23:13) | Assessing Fluid Tolerance and Risks with Venous Doppler in Acute Care

(25:29) | Fluid vs. Vasopressor Strategy Guided by Venous Assessment

Tags: CoreIM, Internal Medicine, Critical Care, Nephrology, Cardiology, Fluid Management, POCUS, Ultrasound, Doppler, Hospital Medicine, Clinical Reasoning, Medical Education

SGLT-2i vs. GLP-1? vs Metformin? How do you balance the cost and coverage of first-line options like metformin, SGLT-2, and GLP-1s? How do you choose between SGLT-2 and GLP-1s for comorbidities like CAD or CKD? And how do you weigh their side effects and practical use?

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🔹 Transcript and Show Notes

Timestamps:

(01:43) | Case 1: Managing Uncontrolled Diabetes in a 47-Year-Old Male

(07:15) | Understanding Cost and Insurance Barriers in Diabetes Care

(09:26) | Case 2: Addressing Weight Gain and Financial Stress in a 52-Year-Old Male

(14:16) | Case 3: Managing Coronary Artery Disease and CKD in a 66-Year-Old Male

(19:41) | Case 4: Severe Obesity and Pain Management in a 59-Year-Old Female

(24:19) | Case 5: High A1C and Vascular Comorbidities in a 67-Year-Old Female

(35:34) | Weighing Side Effects and Practical Use of GLP-1 and SGLT2 Inhibitors

Tags: CoreIM, Primary Care, Endocrinology, Diabetes Mellitus, Type 2 Diabetes, Type 1 Diabetes, Metformin, GLP-1, SGLT2, Insulin, CGM, A1C, DKA, Medical Education, Clinical Reasoning, Hospital Medicine

What really works when treating HRS? Vasoconstrictors like terlipressin vs. norepinephrine vs. midodrine: how do we decide which to use? Do you give albumin? When do you give Lasix or another diuretic? When is the better choice transplant, dialysis, or even palliative care?

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🔹 Transcript & Show Notes

Timestamps:

(00:12) | Introduction and Overview of Hepatorenal Treatment

(03:38) | Vasoconstrictors Focus: Terlipressin, Norepinephrine, and Midodrine

(12:32) | Finding the Right Dose of Albumin and Knowing When to Stop

(15:06) | Volume Management: Balancing MAP, Diuretics, and Creatinine

(21:42) | Understanding the High Mortality of HRS-AKI

(32:30) | Transplant, Dialysis, or Palliation Care

Tags: CoreIM, Internal Medicine, Primary Care, Medical Education, IMCore, Physician Assistant, Nurse Practitioner, Medical Student, Hepatorenal Syndrome, HRS-AKI, Cirrhosis, Nephrology, Liver Disease