A Comparative Study of Scripted versus Unscripted Morning Reports: Results from a Prospective Multicenter Study.

Objectives: Morning report is one of the central activities of internal medicine residency education. The two most common morning report formats are scripted reports, which use preselected cases with prepared didactics, and unscripted reports in which a case is discussed without preparation. No previous study has compared these two formats.

A Multicenter VA Study of the Format and Content of Internal Medicine Morning Report.

Background: There are more than five hundred internal medicine residency programs in the USA, involving 27,000 residents. Morning report is a central educational activity in resident education, but no recent studies describe its format or content.

Objective: To describe the format and content of internal medicine morning reports.

Thiamine and Heart Failure: Challenging Cases of Modern-Day Cardiac Beriberi.

Cardiac beriberi, or heart failure due to thiamine deficiency, is considered rare in the developed world. The diagnosis is often only considered in limited populations such as those with chronic alcoholism. Alternatively, the disease can be mislabeled as "alcoholic cardiomyopathy" or "nonischemic cardiomyopathy.

Pharmacologic Management of Malignant Bowel Obstruction: When Surgery Is Not an Option.

Malignant bowel obstruction (MBO) complicates 3%-15% of cancers and often necessitates inpatient admission. Hospitalists are increasingly involved in treating patients with MBO and coordinating their care across multiple subspecialties. Direct resolution of the obstruction via surgical or interventional means is always preferable.

Between a Clot and a Scarred Place.

Immobilized orthopedic trauma patients face an elevated risk of venous thromboembolism (VTE). We present a case in which a patient undergoing staged repair of traumatic orthopedic injuries developed deep venous thrombosis (DVT) during hospitalization, prior to repair of a lower extremity injury for which delay in operation might result in poor functional outcome. We provide an overview of recommendations regarding pharmacologic prophylaxis of VTE in orthopedic patients.

Perioperative processes and outcomes after implementation of a hospitalist-run preoperative clinic.

Background: A structured, medical preoperative evaluation may positively impact the perioperative course of medically complex patients. Hospitalists are in a unique position to assist in preoperative evaluations, given their expertise with inpatient medicine and postoperative surgical consultation.

Objective: To evaluate specific outcomes after addition of a Hospitalist-run, medical Preoperative clinic to the standard Anesthesia preoperative evaluation.

Feasibility of discussing end-of-life care goals with inpatients using a structured, conversational approach: the go wish card game.

Establishing goals of care is important in advance care planning. However, such discussions require a significant time investment on the part of trained personnel and may be overwhelming for the patient. The Go Wish card game was designed to allow patients to consider the importance of common issues at the end of life in a nonconfrontational setting.