PART V UPDATE: THE E.D.
Dr. James Knutson discusses the efforts made when trying to revive patient with a stopped heart
After 40 minutes of trying to get a pulse, attempts to resuscitate a patient in the emergency department are ended. Dr. James Knutson, a resident at Signature Healthcare Brockton Hospital, details the procedure and the effort involved when trying to bring someone back to life.
"It's difficult. You walk into the room and try immediately to assess where you are in the spectrum between life and death. Somebody who's been down for an extended period of time with no pulse for that long, you know going into it chances are really low to get that person back," said Knutson.
"It's difficult. You walk into the room and try immediately to assess where you are in the spectrum between life and death. Somebody who's been down for an extended period of time with no pulse for that long, you know going into it chances are really low to get that person back," said Knutson.
Dr. James Knutson tries to clear out all his paperwork
Dr. James Knutson talks about the other side of being a doctor: going through piles of old patient files and signing off on them in order to complete the paperwork and make everything official.
ON THE FRONT LINE: Residents take a turn in the emergency department
VIDEO EXTRA: Dr. Leah Palifka talks about a recent incident at the emergency department while a patient was undergoing cardiac arrest.
By Jessica Scarpati, Enterprise staff writer
Like all the patients Dr. Leah Palifka saw in the emergency department, she knew little else about her patient except what he and his blood tests told her. But she had to figure out quickly what was wrong — asking anything and everything that might divine not just an answer, but a cure.
CLICK TO READ THE REST OF THIS STORY
CLICK TO READ THE REST OF THIS STORY
Dr. Justin Routhier tries to find better ways to diagnose breast cancer
VIDEO EXTRA: Dr. Justin Routhier shares his research with hospital doctors.
By Jessica Scarpati, Enterprise staff writer
A woman finds a lump in her breast. Her doctor schedules an MRI — an expensive, inconvenient body scan that can take hours — to look for anything unusual in the tissue and sample it with a needle to see if it’s cancer.
The magnetic resonance imaging machine is very sensitive — sometimes too sensitive, according to Dr. Justin Routhier, a medical intern at Signature Healthcare Brockton Hospital who has been researching the way breast cancer is screened.
CLICK TO READ THE REST OF THIS STORY
The magnetic resonance imaging machine is very sensitive — sometimes too sensitive, according to Dr. Justin Routhier, a medical intern at Signature Healthcare Brockton Hospital who has been researching the way breast cancer is screened.
CLICK TO READ THE REST OF THIS STORY
- HIGHLIGHT DOCTOR NAMES FOR UPDATES,
-
Dr. James Knutson
AGE: 31
HOMETOWN: Lakefield, Calif.
FAMILY STATUS: Married
EDUCATION: Biology and chemistry degrees, Emory University, Atlanta, Ga. Medical degree, Wake Forest University, Winston-Salem, N.C.
PREFERRED SPECIALTY: Radiology
WHY I DECIDED TO BECOME A DOCTOR: "I was one of those kids who was not strictly a scientist and not strictly a literary poet-type, either. I sort of dwelled somewhere in between, so medicine seemed to sort of combine the best between the arts and the sciences." -
Dr. Leah Palifka
AGE: 35
HOMETOWN: Brockton
FAMILY STATUS: Married, 1 newborn son
EDUCATION: 1992 Brockton High School graduate. Biomedical engineering degree, Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, N.Y. Master's degree in engineering, Thayer School of Engineering, Dartmouth College. Medical degree, Emory University, Atlanta, Ga.
PREFERRED SPECIALTY: Radiology
WHAT’S NEXT: University of Utah Medical Center, Salt Lake City, Utah
WHY I DECIDED TO BECOME ADOCTOR: "I just felt I wasn't interacting with people as much as an engineer sitting behind a computer, and thought it would be more satisfying to be a doctor and continue my education in that direction." -
Dr. Justin Routhier
AGE: 27
HOMETOWN: Cumberland, R.I.
FAMILY STATUS: Married
EDUCATION: Chemistry degree, Rhode Island College. Medical degree, Brown University.
PREFERRED SPECIALTY: Radiology
WHAT’S NEXT: Brigham and Women's Hospital, Boston
WHY I DECIDED TO BECOME A DOCTOR: "I didn't really give it much thought until my biology professor started to tell me about it. He saw something in me that I didn't really see, and after I started to think about it, I don't know, it seemed like an interesting challenge and something I would enjoy very much since I really liked the sciences and reasoning through things and dealing with people."
CLICK ON PROFILES FOR VIDEOS
PREVIOUS INSTALLMENTS