Volume 29

October - 2021

Cover: Desert Boneyard

This piece is a combination of several advanced photography techniques including tracking the night sky with a star tracker, stacking sky exposures, focus stacking multiple exposures during blue hour, and putting all of that data together (30+ images) into a single creation in Adobe Lightroom and Photoshop. This forced me to be both highly technical and highly creative in my composition. The required patience for all those exposures in different times coupled with the travel and logistics to actually go on site leads to an incredible appreciation for this craft. These experiences puts me in a zone that brings peace and gratefulness for the world around me and balances the daily stress of emergency medicine and the business world. Thank you so much for taking interest in this photograph -- I hope it inspires the next person!

Letter from the Editors:

Welcome to Art of Emergency Medicine, an online blog featuring amazing works of art created by your Emergency Medicine colleagues, along with their own stories of wellness and inspiration. In addition to sharing their art, we also try to include how we are focusing on wellness each month.

This month we’re going to focus on self-care for our bodies. As emergency practitioners, we’re great at caring for our patients during long shifts or out in a rig, but all too often that comes at the cost of dehydration, unhealthy eating practices, and sugary or salty quick snacks to carry us over until our next meal. In fact, a study of ED physicians showed that by the end of a shift, physicians and nurses were more likely to lose about a pound of water and increased specific gravity of their urine, correlating with dehydration.

This is a concern, as individuals who become dehydrated often note that they are more tired, less alert,and have impaired concentration even at moderate dehydration. Beyond this, other studies have shown that relative hypoglycemia can lead to impaired performance of cognitive tasks and information processing. 

So how can we best intervene and prevent these lapses in concentration from happening? Stay happily fed and hydrated. Here’s some tips to help you start:

• Bring a refillable 1L bottle of water. Aim to finish it with slow sips before the end of a shift. 

• Prepare a healthy to-go snack pack. Consider filling it with snacks high in protein such as chicken and hummus or hard-boiled eggs for cravings during the shift. The proteins and fats should help to calm down those persistent cravings. 

• If you’re craving sweets, consider satisfying them with low glycemic index foods like nut mixes or yogurt. 

• Consider hydration and nutrition at the same time with melons, cucumbers, strawberries, or other similarly juicy and easy to pack fruits. 

• Prepare meals ahead of your shift to avoid fast-food orders or unhealthy options at hospital cafeterias. 

  • Meal planning takes some time, but can be worth the effort and provide healthy and ready meals for shifts one week at a time. There are thousands of recipes that can be easily followed online. 

Best of luck keeping on top of your hydration and happy snacking.

Surreal

I found painting to be a very therapeutic hobby. When I paint, I just think about the process of painting. I don’t think about bills , work, stress, patients, etc.... My brain is focused on the painting and gives my mind and body a break from the everyday stressors. Without painting, I think I would have burned out long ago, as the process of putting paint on a canvas, slows my brain down to process.

Jam Rock a fi mi love

This reggae song was inspired by a fight to save a mountain in Jamaica from being mined thereby destroying the habitat of several bird and palm tree species. Some of which are rare and found only in this locale. This is a danceable reggae track produced by me. I played the violin, keyboards and bass guitar.

NRG and the rule of 3’s

“3 minutes without air, 3 hours without shelter, 3 days without water, 3 weeks without food, 3 seconds without situational awareness.” The Survival Rule of 3’s was one of the first topics introduced to us in the “Wilderness Medicine in the New River Gorge” elective rotation. In two weeks we covered topics such as hypothermia and heat related emergencies, insect bites, suspension trauma, altitude sickness, edible and medicinal plants, snake identification and envenomation, burns and lightning injuries, search and rescue operations, and many more. We also had workshops on swift water rescue, high angle rope rescue, and wilderness survival where I got to build and sleep in my own makeshift shelter. Having the New River Gorge as our classroom was unreal. I could see why they call this state “Almost Heaven.”

Learning from the experts that rescue and treat patients in the Appalachian Mountain environment everyday was invaluable, and I plan to carry the skills I’ve learned into my practice as a physician. After this rotation, I had some time to reflect on this experience. The two weeks flew by, and I was sad I was no longer in the mountains learning medicine with my friends. Being back to reality hit hard and ERAS was opening soon. In high school I found art as a way to cope with stress, and it has since been an avenue to get out of my head and refocus my energy to create something. I pulled out my watercolors, and this was the result.

This piece is dedicated to the men and women that protect the waters and mountainous terrain at the New River Gorge.

Tropical HIdeaway

Do you want to see your art shared with the community? Don’t forget to submit today!

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This Months Featured Artists:

Darrell Looney, MD

Finished EM residency in 1995. Have been playing violin since middle school and jazz since high school. Stopped during medical school and residency but picked it back up around 1998. Have been writing music and collaborating since then. Find more of his work on his facebook.

Molly O’Neil

Before starting medical school I worked and volunteered as an EMT, and during my third year of rotations I’ve found my way back to my first love: Emergency Medicine. I hope to get involved with EMS and wilderness medicine after residency. I’ve always had a passion for art, and paint in my free time. When I had access to a wheel, I would throw pottery as well and hope to have a studio of my own someday. I also like to surf, skateboard, and I enjoy plants and propagation. See more of her work on Instagram.

Scott Goldstein, MD

I am a dual board certified emergency/EMS physician in the Philadelphia area. After a spending years looking for an outlet I went to one of those paintings with wine one night with my wife. After that, I tried on my own and unknown to anyone (even myself) I wasn't half bad. I became self taught in painting of acrylic on canvas and painting coffee on watercolor. See more of his work on Instagram.

Setul G. Patel, MD, MBA

I am a EM physician, healthcare executive, and entrepreneur in Houston, TX and have been using photography as a meditative and balancing passion for over 10 years. I shoot almost anything but prefer landscapes and astrophotography as the night sky truly reminds me of the vastness of our universe. It humbles and enlightens at the same time and for those gifts I am eternally grateful. Thank you for taking the time to view my work and I look forward to seeing others' work to continue inspiring me! See more of his work on Instagram!

Jonathan Warren, MD

A PGY-2 at Harbor-UCLA Medical Center and founder of Art of Emergency Medicine. His hobbies include photography, hiking, Netflix, and dogs. He’s always on the lookout for the next adventure. Find more of his photography on Instagram.

You can learn more about the artists featured in this and other volumes at our contributors page!