Episodes

Date: October 6, 2026 Guest Skeptic: Dr. Ryan Stanton, creator of the EM podcast Front Line and the new President of the American College of Emergency Physicians (ACEP). Reference: Zhou et al. HOPE investigators. Alteplase for Acute Ischemic Stroke at 4.5 to 24 Hours: The HOPE Randomized Clinical Trial. JAMA. 2025 Case: Mr. Wei Zhang is a 73-year-old retired teacher with hypertension and atrial fibrillation (not on anticoagulation), who is brought to the emergency department (ED) at 09:30 after ...

Reference: Kersten HB, et al; American Academy of Pediatrics and North American Society for Pediatric Gastroenterology, Hepatology and Nutrition. Clinical Practice Guideline for Diagnosis and Management of Faltering Weight. Pediatrics. 2026. Date: September 15, 2026 Dr. Salina Khushal Guest Skeptic: Dr. Salina Khushal is a Pediatric Gastroenterologist at the Pediatric Specialists of Virginia. She completed her fellowship at Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine and her pediatrics residency...

Date: September 30, 2026 Dr. Aaron Skolnik Guest Skeptic: Dr. Aaron Skolnik is an Assistant Professor of Emergency Medicine at the Mayo Clinic Alix School of Medicine and Vice Chair of Critical Care Medicine at Mayo Clinic Arizona. Aaron is a full-time multidisciplinary intensivist and is the medical student clerkship director for critical care. Reference: ZhangJian et al. Incidence of Adverse Events in Peripheral Intravenous Vasopressor Use: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis. JAMA Netw Open...

Date: September 22, 2026 Dr. Sergey Motov Guest Skeptic: Dr. Sergey Motov is an Emergency Physician in the Department of Emergency Medicine, Maimonides Medical Center in New York City. He is also one of the world’s leading researchers on pain management in the emergency department. Reference: Sharabun et al. Oral Ibuprofen Versus Intramuscular Ketorolac for Acute Musculoskeletal Back Pain in the Emergency Department: A Prospective Analysis. Journal of Pharmacy Practice. 2026 Case: A 42-year-old ...

Date: Sept 13, 2026 Caitlin Jones PhD Guest Skeptic: Dr. Caitlin Jones is a Postdoctoral Research Associate at Sydney University’s Institute for Musculoskeletal Health. Her research evaluates the benefits and harms of treatments for musculoskeletal conditions with a particular interest in high-risk treatment options such as opioid medicines and spinal cord stimulators for pain. She aims to improve patient outcomes and reduce harm from inappropriate treatments. Reference: Cattin et al. Morphine P...

Date: September 4, 2026 This is an SGEM Xtra looking in the rearview mirror at 14 years of The SGEM and looking forward to Season#15. Season 15 is traditionally the crystal anniversary. Crystal is transparent; it can help us see things more clearly, and it can also shatter if you drop it. So, basically, a great metaphor for medical evidence. Cue some 80s music. Because if I could turn back time. Unfortunately, I don’t have a DeLorean, a flux capacitor, or 1.21 gigawatts. What I do have is a micr...

Reference: Ellison AM, et al. PERC-Peds rule for bedside exclusion of pulmonary embolism without radiation in children in the USA (BEEPER): a multicentre, prospective, observational, diagnostic accuracy study. Lancet Respir Med. July 2026. Date: August 13, 2026 Dr. Lauren Westafer Guest Skeptic: Dr. Lauren Westafer is an Associate Professor in the Department of Emergency Medicine at the University of Massachusetts Medical School, Baystate. She is the co-founder of FOAMcast and a researcher in pu...

Date: August 23, 2026 Guest Skeptic: Dr. Roya Caloia is a former EM program director, longtime faculty at Henry Ford Genesys and current interim Associate Medical Director. She is also the Chairperson of the National Clinical Governance Board for US Acute Care Solutions Case: A 62-year-old woman with diabetes and chronic lung disease presents to the emergency department (ED) with five days of fever, cough, myalgias and progressively worsening dyspnea. Her respiratory rate is 34 breaths per minut...

Date: March 4, 2026 Guest Skeptic: Prof Carl Heneghan is a General Practitioner, Professor of Evidence-Based Medicine at the University of Oxford and current Director of the Centre for Evidence-Based Medicine (CEBM). Today, we’re launching a brand-new SGEM series: Legends of Evidence-Based Medicine (EBM). In the past, I’ve interviewed legends of Emergency Medicine: Dr. Diane Birnbaumer, Dr. Ian Stiell, Dr. Jerome Hoffman, Dr. Joe Lex, Dr. Richard Bukata, Dr. Andrew Worster and Dr. Judith Tintina...

Reference: Perry DC, et al. Surgical fixation versus non-surgical care for children with a displaced medial epicondyle fracture of the elbow (the SCIENCE study): a multicentre, randomised controlled, superiority trial and economic evaluation. The Lancet 2026 Date: July 14, 2026 Guest Skeptics: Dr. Megan Terle is an orthopedic surgeon and Assistant Professor for Pediatrics and Trauma services at UC Davis Health. She completed her orthopedics residency at the University of Washington and completed...

Date: July 27, 2026 2026 Guest Skeptic: Dr. Howard (Howie) Mel is an emergency physician and FACEP. Reference: Smith JE et al. SWiFT Trial Group. Prehospital Whole Blood in Traumatic Hemorrhage - a Randomized Controlled Trial. NEJM 2026 March Case: A 36-year-old man is brought to the emergency department (ED) by air ambulance after a high-speed motorcycle crash. Paramedics report blunt polytrauma, transient hypotension, tachycardia, pelvic instability, and concern for intra-abdominal bleeding. I...

Date: July 9, 2026 Guest Skeptic: Dr. Aaron Skolnik is an Assistant Professor of Emergency Medicine at the Mayo Clinic Alix School of Medicine and Vice Chair of Critical Care Medicine at Mayo Clinic Arizona. Aaron is a full-time multidisciplinary intensivist and is the medical student clerkship director for critical care. Today’s episode is a little different. We’re diving into a classic 80s TV show. Aaron and I were in Hawaii earlier this year at the Center for Continuing Medical Education Emer...

Reference: Denninghoff KR et al. Azithromycin for Preschoolers with Wheezing in the Emergency Department. New England Journal of Medicine. May 2026 Date: July 14, 2026 Dr. Zara Ibrahim Guest Skeptic: Dr. Zara Ibrahim is a pediatric emergency medicine fellow at Children’s National Hospital in Washington DC where she also completed medical school, pediatric residency. Her research interests include AI applications in medicine and health equity. In her time off, Zara likes to read books, travel, go...

Date: July 9, 2026 Reference: The ARISE FLUIDS Investigators. Vasopressors or Fluids in Early Septic Shock. NEJM June 2026. Guest Skeptic: Dr. Aaron Skolnik is an Assistant Professor of Emergency Medicine at the Mayo Clinic Alix School of Medicine and Vice Chair of Critical Care Medicine at Mayo Clinic Arizona. He is board-certified in Emergency Medicine, Medical Toxicology, Addiction Medicine, Internal Medicine-Critical Care, and Neurocritical Care. Aaron is a full-time multidisciplinary intens...

Date: June 23, 2026 Reference: Tagg A, et al. Everything is awesome: Don’t forget the Lego. J Paediatr Child Health. 2019 We recorded this SGEM episode live at the Don't Forget the Bubbles conference in Glasgow, Scotland. Dennis and I had just given an hour presentation on how to build better critical appraisal skills. It was a wonderful experience, and we would like to thank Dr. Tessa Davis, Dr. Andy Tagg, and the entire DFTB team for putting on an amazing event. Case: A 2-year-old boy is broug...

Date: June 12, 2026 Guest Skeptic: Mr. Ross Fisher. Ross is a paediatric surgeon, presentation guru (P-Cubed), and long-time friend of the SGEM. Reference: Talan et al. Nonoperative Treatment of Appendicitis and Implications for Emergency Department Management: A Narrative Review. Ann Emerg Med. June 2026 Case: A 29-year-old healthy man presents to the emergency department (ED) with 18 hours of abdominal pain that began around the umbilicus and migrated to the right lower quadrant. He has anorex...

Date: April 21, 2026 Lauren Openshaw Guest Skeptic: Lauren Openshaw is a medical student at the George Washington University School of Medicine & Health Sciences, Class of 2027, where she is a part of the Disaster Medicine Scholarly Concentration. Her clinical interests include pediatrics, disaster medicine, critical care, and emergency preparedness, particularly as they relate to protecting vulnerable children during natural disasters and public health crises. Background: Floods, fires, hurrica...

Date: May 20, 2026 Guest Skeptic: Dr. Matt McArthur is an ED Physician working primarily in Guelph and Kitchener with occasional rural locums in the small town of Walkerton, where he grew up. His clinical interests include POCUS, emergency cardiology, QI, knowledge translation, motivational interviewing, and vertigo. He is very active in medical education, including as a clinical skills and POCUS instructor, a Contributing Editor with the EMCases Podcast, and Regional Education Lead for Undergra...

Reference: Perry DC, et al. Non-surgical casting versus surgical reduction for children with severely displaced distal radial fractures (the CRAFFT Study): a multicentre, randomised, controlled non-inferiority trial and economic evaluation. Lancet April 2026. Date: May 8, 2026 Dr. Andrew Tagg Guest Skeptic: Dr. Andrew (Andy) Tagg is an Emergency Physician with a special interest in education and lifelong learning. He is the co-founder and website lead of Don’t Forget the Bubbles. Case: A healthy...

Date: April 23, 2026 Guest Skeptic: Dr. Manrique Umaña McDermott is an attending physician specializing in Emergency Medicine based in San José, Costa Rica. He has a passion for medical education, is a renowned international speaker and serves as a faculty member in undergraduate Internal Medicine at UCIMED and postgraduate training programs in Emergency Medicine and Family and Community Medicine at the University of Costa Rica (UCR). You can follow him on X and Instagram at @umanamd. Reference:...

Reference: Burstein B, et al. Prediction of Bacteremia and Bacterial Meningitis Among Febrile Infants Aged 28 Days or Younger. JAMA. Published online December 08, 2025. Date: April 3, 2026 Dr. Margarita Ramos Guest Skeptic: Dr. Margarita Ramos is a pediatric hospitalist at Children’s National Hospital in Washington, D.C., and Assistant Professor of Pediatrics at the George Washington University School of Medicine and Health Sciences where completed the Master Teacher Leadership Development Progr...

Date: April 2, 2026 Reference: Lee et al. GRADE-Based Clinical Practice Guidelines for Emergency Department Delirium Risk Stratification, Screening, and Brain Imaging in Older Patients With Suspected Delirium. AEM Feb 2026 Guest Skeptic: Dr. Christina Shenvi is a board-certified emergency physician, educator, keynote speaker, coach, and academic leader. She is widely recognized for her work in geriatric emergency medicine, faculty development, and professional identity formation in EM. She bring...

Date: March 23, 2026 Dr. Christina Shenvi Guest Skeptic: Dr. Christina Shenvi is a board-certified emergency physician, educator, keynote speaker, coach, and academic leader. She is widely recognized for her work in geriatric emergency medicine, faculty development, and professional identity formation in emergency medicine (EM). She brings deep clinical expertise along with thoughtful perspectives on systems-level change and guideline development. This is another SGEM Xtra episode. Today’s show ...

Date: March 26, 2026 Dr. Rob Leeper Guest Skeptic: Dr. Robert Leeper is a trauma surgeon at the London Health Sciences Centre and an ATLS instructor who has helped train generations of physicians in trauma care. He has previously joined SGEM for: SGEM #200 – Bloodletting and Alexander Hamilton SGEM #256 – RLQ Pain and Appendectomy SGEM #345 – Non-operative Management of Appendicitis It’s SGEM Xtra time, where we go beyond a single paper and dive into broader topics that impact our daily practice...