This fifth and final installment in James Herriot's heartwarming collection brings back familiar friends (including old favorites such as Tricki Woo) and introduces new ones, including Herriot's children Rosie and Jimmy and the marvelously eccentric vet Calum Buchanan.

Author Gawande explores how doctors strive to close the gap between best intentions and best performance in the face of obstacles that sometimes seem insurmountable, with stories that take us to battlefield surgical tents in Iraq, to labor and delivery rooms in Boston, to a polio outbreak in India, and to malpractice courtrooms around the country. He discusses the ethical dilemma of lethal injections, examines the influence of money on modern medicine,...

Discover how emergency doctors use OLD CAAAR: a simple mnemonic to accurately— and quickly—pinpoint the location and characteristics of a patient’s pains. Also, learn what happens when a doctor has to think fast and doesn’t have the time to ask each of the OLD CAAAR questions..

It’s time for your last shift in the emergency department. In this closing lecture, Dr. Benaroch uses several case studies to help you review the big-picture lessons of good emergency care you’ve learned throughout the course—lessons that have opened your eyes to the excitement and challenges of emergency medicine and that can help you take better care of yourself and your loved ones..

Start the course learning about the first critical step of emergency care: triage. When faced with a waiting room full of patients, how does a capable emergency department doctor decide whom to treat first? What happens when a patient’s condition changes? Or when more patients show up?.

Not all emergency department patients need to be there. In this lecture, meet several pairs of patients—each with the same symptoms, but only one of whom would be best served in the emergency department. Then, get some general tips for you to consider the next time you’re contemplating going to the emergency department..

Emergency department doctors should always assume every patient has a life-threatening illness—even though only 10% to 20% actually do. How do doctors manage this healthy “paranoia”? And how do they prepare themselves and their patients for the worst outcome while planning for the best?.

Dr. Benaroch takes you along with an ambulance crew to give you a three-dimensional understanding of emergency care as experienced by first responders. Topics covered in this lecture include the ABCs of a rapid scan, appropriate bystander response, and the “rule of 9” for estimating burn size..

This lecture focuses on patients with chest pain, which might be either a sign of a mild illness or an actual heart attack. Why is it so difficult to identify every serious cause of chest pain? What questions should doctors—and patients¬—ask? What’s the difference between myocarditis, pneumothorax, and other medically serious cases?.

Take a closer look at three emergency department cases—a urinary tract infection, a broken leg, and a bellyache—with a twist. How were these diagnoses determined? Not through expensive tests or advanced imaging, but through paying attention to the story, even when it isn’t truthful..