A Focused Observation Tool Using Dreyfus Stages of Skill Acquisition as an Evaluative Scale.

Focused Observartion (FO) is associated with assessing complex skills and differs from generalized observations and evaluations. We've developed a FO assessing clinical procedural skills using Hubert Dreyfus Stages of Skill Acquisition as descriptive anchors. This study sought to analyze the effectiveness of this measure of skill progression.

An Innovative Model for Preclinical Exposure: West Virginia University Externship in Anesthesia.

Background: Medical students often have limited opportunities for clinical exposure in the first and second years of training, especially in the operating room setting. We describe one approach designed to address this deficiency. The West Virginia University externship in anesthesia provides students with first-hand experience observing and performing common procedures.

Assessment of the quality of postherpetic neuralgia treatment information on the Internet.

Unlabelled: The objective of this study was to assess the quality of websites presenting treatment information for postherpetic neuralgia. The term "postherpetic neuralgia treatment" was searched using the Google and Yahoo search engines. Fifty websites from each were evaluated using the Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA) benchmarks, the Health on the Net (HON) seal, and the DISCERN instrument.

Ultrasonographic evaluation of neck hematoma and block salvage after failed neurostimulation-guided interscalene block.

Ultrasound-guided regional anesthetic techniques have shown some advantages over conventional paresthesia and neurostimulation techniques. We report the case of a neurostimulation-guided continuous interscalene block that would have ended in complication were it not for experience with ultrasound-guided regional anesthesia. Familiarity with ultrasound-guided block techniques permitted assessment of a neck hematoma during interscalene block and ultimately allowed successful peripheral nerve block.

Intrathecal bupivacaine for chronic pain: a review of current knowledge.

Objective. This article presents an overview of the use of intrathecal bupivacaine (with and without opioid), focusing on laboratory data and clinical use for chronic pain. Some background on epidural use is included to support the intrathecal literature.