1. When a man has urinary issues it is often constipation, not the prostate
2. If they’re young and newly psychotic with any concern for seizure, fever, altered mental status, or autonomic instability think about autoimmune encephalitis before admitting to psychiatry
3. Think about ALS when a patient goes for c spine surgery and doesn’t benefit or the exam is worse than the imaging. Get a jaw jerk.
4. Recall that contrast is bright on non contrasted head ct and sometimes is confused for blood. Before diagnosing your patient with a devastating hemorrhage learn the kv trick.
5. Diabetic neuropathy causes weakness overtime. So does idiopathic neuropathy. Distal lower extremity weakness which is symmetric and accompanied by painful neuropathy is probably one of these and not CIDP
6. If someone else thought it was essential tremor it could still be Parkinson’s. Start checking for increased tone and bradykinesia in your 5m neuro exam
7. In a female patient remember to consider menstrual bleeding in addition to GI bleed. Either way h and h changes very late for acute bleed and is too slow to help much. Know the baseline hgb and check orthostatics
Isaac Goldszer MD 