Type of site | wiki |
---|---|
Available in | English |
Owner | OpenEM Foundation |
URL | www.WikEM.org |
Registration | required (to edit) |
WikEM is wiki-based medical website and point-of-care phone application for emergency medicine clinicians. [1] WikEM is owned by OpenEM Foundation, a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization. [2] WikEM initially started as a database created from notes and checklists passed from resident class to subsequent resident class at the Harbor-UCLA emergency medicine residency program. [3] [4] In 2009, WikEM was launched as a free wiki-based website and phone application that was universally available to all residency programs and global practitioners. [3] As of October 2019, WikiEM has about 4,050 content pages. [5]
Emergency medicine practitioners have been quick to adopt smart phone applications, including WikEM, for use as point-of-care medical references. [6] WikEM has been listed as a key reference for emergency medicine physicians, [6] residents, [4] medical students, [4] nurses, [7] and paramedics. [8]
Although the use of wiki-type software has become common for a variety of purposes, several sources have questioned whether the wiki-based format of WikEM is reliable enough to use as a source for medical information, [3] with arguments similar to questions about the reliability of Wikipedia plus the additional concerns of patient safety.
Free open access meducation (FOAM) has been described as “medical education for anyone, anywhere, anytime” [9] and WikEM has been described as a key resource in the FOAM movement. [10] WikEM's free, openly accessible content has been specifically noted as an important growing resource for clinicians in the developing world, where access to up to date medical references is more difficult. [10] However, to date, WikEM is limited in this regard in that its content is only available in the English language. [10]
Although WikEM auto-formats for mobile devices, there are offline applications for Android and IPhone specifically designed for rural and international medicine in austere and Internet-poor environments.
Emergency medicine is the medical specialty concerned with the care of illnesses or injuries requiring immediate medical attention. Emergency medicine physicians specialize in providing care for unscheduled and undifferentiated patients of all ages. As first-line providers, in coordination with emergency medical services, they are primarily responsible for initiating resuscitation and stabilization and performing the initial investigations and interventions necessary to diagnose and treat illnesses or injuries in the acute phase. Emergency medical physicians generally practice in hospital emergency departments, pre-hospital settings via emergency medical services, and intensive care units. Still, they may also work in primary care settings such as urgent care clinics.
A registered nurse (RN) is a nurse who has graduated or successfully passed a nursing program from a recognized nursing school and met the requirements outlined by a country, state, province or similar government-authorized licensing body to obtain a nursing license. An RN's scope of practice is determined by legislation, and is regulated by a professional body or council.
The British National Formulary (BNF) is a United Kingdom (UK) pharmaceutical reference book that contains a wide spectrum of information and advice on prescribing and pharmacology, along with specific facts and details about many medicines available on the UK National Health Service (NHS). Information within the BNF includes indication(s), contraindications, side effects, doses, legal classification, names and prices of available proprietary and generic formulations, and any other notable points. Though it is a national formulary, it nevertheless also includes entries for some medicines which are not available under the NHS, and must be prescribed and/or purchased privately. A symbol clearly denotes such drugs in their entry.
An emergency department (ED), also known as an accident and emergency department (A&E), emergency room (ER), emergency ward (EW) or casualty department, is a medical treatment facility specializing in emergency medicine, the acute care of patients who present without prior appointment; either by their own means or by that of an ambulance. The emergency department is usually found in a hospital or other primary care center.
A general practitioner (GP) or family physician is a doctor who is a consultant in general practice.
Hospital medicine is a medical specialty that exists in some countries as a branch of family medicine or internal medicine, dealing with the care of acutely ill hospitalized patients. Physicians whose primary professional focus is caring for hospitalized patients only while they are in the hospital are called hospitalists. Originating in the United States, this type of medical practice has extended into Australia and Canada. The vast majority of physicians who refer to themselves as hospitalists focus their practice upon hospitalized patients. Hospitalists are not necessarily required to have separate board certification in hospital medicine.
Residency or postgraduate training is a stage of graduate medical education. It refers to a qualified physician, veterinarian, dentist, podiatrist (DPM), pharmacist (PharmD) or Medical Laboratory Scientist who practices medicine or surgery, veterinary medicine, dentistry, podiatry,clinical pharmacy, or Clinical Laboratory Science respectively, usually in a hospital or clinic, under the direct or indirect supervision of a senior medical clinician registered in that specialty such as an attending physician or consultant.
Telehealth is the distribution of health-related services and information via electronic information and telecommunication technologies. It allows long-distance patient and clinician contact, care, advice, reminders, education, intervention, monitoring, and remote admissions. Telemedicine is sometimes used as a synonym, or is used in a more limited sense to describe remote clinical services, such as diagnosis and monitoring. When rural settings, lack of transport, a lack of mobility, conditions due to outbreaks, epidemics or pandemics, decreased funding, or a lack of staff restrict access to care, telehealth may bridge the gap as well as provide distance-learning; meetings, supervision, and presentations between practitioners; online information and health data management and healthcare system integration. Telehealth could include two clinicians discussing a case over video conference; a robotic surgery occurring through remote access; physical therapy done via digital monitoring instruments, live feed and application combinations; tests being forwarded between facilities for interpretation by a higher specialist; home monitoring through continuous sending of patient health data; client to practitioner online conference; or even videophone interpretation during a consult.
Medscape is a website providing access to medical information for clinicians and medical scientists; the organization also provides continuing education for physicians and other health professionals. It references medical journal articles, Continuing Medical Education (CME), a version of the National Library of Medicine's MEDLINE database, medical news, and drug information. At one time Medscape published seven electronic peer reviewed journals.
A nurse practitioner (NP) is an advanced practice registered nurse and a type of mid-level practitioner. NPs are trained to assess patient needs, order and interpret diagnostic and laboratory tests, diagnose disease, prescribe medications and formulate treatment plans. NP training covers basic disease prevention, coordination of care, and health promotion.
A medical specialty is a branch of medical practice that is focused on a defined group of patients, diseases, skills, or philosophy. Examples include those branches of medicine that deal exclusively with children (pediatrics), cancer (oncology), laboratory medicine (pathology), or primary care. After completing medical school or other basic training, physicians or surgeons and other clinicians usually further their medical education in a specific specialty of medicine by completing a multiple-year residency to become a specialist.
Medical education in Australia includes the educational activities involved in the initial and ongoing training of Medical Practitioners. In Australia, medical education begins in medical school; upon graduation it is followed by a period of pre-vocational training including Internship and Residency; thereafter, enrolment into a specialist-vocational training program as a Registrar eventually leads to fellowship qualification and recognition as a fully qualified Specialist Medical Practitioner. Medical education in Australia is facilitated by medical schools and the medical specialty colleges, and is regulated by the Australian Medical Council and Australian Health Practitioner Regulation Agency (AHPRA) of which includes the Medical Board of Australia where medical practitioners are registered nationally.
A medicalintern is a physician in training who has completed medical school and has a medical degree, but does not yet have a license to practice medicine unsupervised. Medical education generally ends with a period of practical training similar to internship, but the way the overall program of academic and practical medical training is structured differs depending upon the country, as does the terminology used.
Jacobi Medical Center is a municipal hospital operated by NYC Health + Hospitals in affiliation with the Albert Einstein College of Medicine. The facility is located in the Morris Park neighborhood of the Bronx, New York City. It is named in honor of German physician Abraham Jacobi, who is regarded as the father of American pediatrics.
In the United States, a psychiatric-mental health nurse practitioner (PMHNP) is an advanced practice registered nurse trained to provide a wide range of mental health services to patients and families in a variety of settings. PMHNPs diagnose, conduct therapy, and prescribe medications for patients who have psychiatric disorders, medical organic brain disorders or substance abuse problems. They are licensed to provide emergency psychiatric services, psychosocial and physical assessments of their patients, treatment plans, and manage patient care. They may also serve as consultants or as educators for families and staff. The PMHNP has a focus on psychiatric diagnosis, including the differential diagnosis of medical disorders with psychiatric symptoms, and on medication treatment for psychiatric disorders.
The Emergency Medical Retrieval Service (EMRS) is part of ScotSTAR retrieval service. The EMRS provides aeromedical critical care retrieval and pre-hospital care to people in Scotland in the form of two retrieval teams. The service provides patients in remote and rural areas with rapid access to the skills of a consultant or senior doctor in emergency medicine, intensive care medicine or anaesthesia, and facilitates transfers to larger, better equipped urban hospitals. The EMRS functions supplementary to the regular Scottish Ambulance Service Air Ambulance service. Unlike air ambulance services in other parts of the UK, EMRS has no dedicated aircraft but both EMRS North and West are funded by the Scottish Government. The EMRS has featured on the Channel 5 documentary series Highland Emergency, which charts the work of rescue services in the Scottish Highlands.
James M. Heilman is a Canadian emergency physician, Wikipedian, and advocate for the improvement of Wikipedia's health-related content. He encourages other clinicians to contribute to the online encyclopedia.
A teaching hospital is a hospital or medical center that provides medical education and training to future and current health professionals. Teaching hospitals are almost always affiliated with one or more universities and are often co-located with medical schools.