Educational Intervention in the Emergency Department to Address Disparities in Stroke Knowledge.

OBJECTIVES: In the United States, Black individuals have higher stroke incidence and mortality when compared to white individuals and are also at risk of having lower stroke knowledge and awareness. With the need to implement focused interventions to decrease stroke disparities, the objective of this study is to evaluate the feasibility and efficacy of an emergency department-based educational intervention aimed at increasing stroke awareness and preparedness among a disproportionately high-risk group. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Over a three-month timeframe, an emergency department-based, prospective educational intervention was implemented for Black patients in an urban, academic emergency department. All participants received stroke education in the forms of a video, written brochure and verbal counseling.  Stroke knowledge was assessed pre-intervention, immediately post-intervention, and at one-month post-intervention. RESULTS: One hundred eighty-five patients were approached for enrollment, of whom 100 participants completed the educational intervention as well as the pre- and immediate post- intervention knowledge assessments. Participants demonstrated increased stroke knowledge from baseline knowledge assessment (5.35 ± 1.97) at both immediate post-intervention (7.66 ± 2.42, p < .0001) and one-month post-intervention assessment (7.21 ± 2.21, p < .0001). CONCLUSIONS: Emergency department-based stroke education can result in improved knowledge among this focused demographic. The emergency department represents a potential site for educational interventions to address disparities in stroke knowledge.

Evaluation of Emergency Medicine Residency Programs' use of social media in the setting of the COVID-19 pandemic.

OBJECTIVES: The coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic significantly affected the ability of residency programs and applicants to interact using traditional methods of in-person interviews and visiting rotations. We examined the social media presence of emergency medicine (EM) residency training programs and how programs responded to the COVID-19 pandemic. METHODS: The Electronic Residency Application Service (ERAS) identified EM residency programs that participated in the 2021 match. Programs were reviewed for the presence of a website and social media accounts on Twitter, Instagram, and Facebook, as well as foundation date. Data were collected after the ERAS application deadline. RESULTS: All programs, except one, had some sort of online presence. A total of 258 websites and 476 social media accounts were identified. The majority of programs maintained an account on Twitter (75%), Instagram (61%), or Facebook (38%). Most Twitter and Facebook accounts were established before the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic. However, 46% of Instagram accounts were created after March 1, 2020. During 2020, there was a 34% increase in total social media account development, higher than in previous years. CONCLUSION: EM residency training programs have a robust online presence. Account development continued to grow in 2020, after the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, and growth on Instagram was noted to be substantial. Interactions through online platforms may supplement the residency application process, but their efficacy is unclear.

Magnesium-Promoted Additions of Difluoroenolates to Unactivated Imines.

Although there are many synthetic methods to produce fluorinated and trifluoromethylated organic structures, the construction of difluoromethylated compounds remains a synthetic challenge. We have discovered that unactivated imines will react with difluoroenolates under exceedingly mild conditions when using magnesium salts and organic bases. We have applied this approach to the iminoaldol reaction to produce difluoromethylene groups as α,α-difluoro-ß-amino-carbonyl groups. This method provides synthetically useful quantities of difficult to access α,α-difluoro-ß-aminoketones without the need of protecting groups or the use of activated imines. Moreover, we have applied this strategy to create analogues of the dual orexin receptor antagonist, almorexant, in only two synthetic steps.