Training matters: small town ER doc makes limb-saving diagnosis missed by urgent care NP

Physicians train for at least 15,000 hours before we are permitted to practice independently, and one of the reasons is that it takes a long time and a lot of patient volume to be exposed to the many different presentations of disease processes to learn how to recognize true emergencies that need immediate interventions. 

Today’s guest brings us a perfect example of the importance of this training. Karen Wilson Saintsing DVM is a veterinarian who nearly lost her arm after a nurse practitioner in an urgent care failed to recognize the onset of compartment syndrome. Fortunately, an astute emergency physician immediately recognized the condition and transferred her to a surgical center for treatment.  To help us understand compartment syndrome, we are also joined by trauma surgeon Stephanie Markle DO MPH.

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