Medical Training Blog | Provider Practice Essentials

Suturing 101: A Stitch In Time…

March 9, 2026February 28, 2019 by Richard Greene, PA-C EMPA

Time to Suture Great! You’ve attended our course and got your first taste of suturing. You went home and practiced your suturing techniques and are feeling pretty good about your newly developed skills. Now, you’ve arrived back at the office and as you begin your shift the attending says, “Glad to see you! We are …

Influenza: To Swab or Not to Swab

September 21, 2025February 4, 2019 by Richard Greene, PA-C EMPA

During a recent weekend shift in the Emergency Department, four patients presented with the same chief complaint: “I just want to know if I have the flu.”

What’s your mission?

September 21, 2025January 14, 2019 by PPE Medical

Bunnany Pekar, CRNA, ARNP In honor of the Reverend Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr An Immigrants Story Please allow me to share my perspective on why I chose to travel across the world to provide medical care to people I do not know. But first, I am going to provide you with a little background …

What does it mean to have privileges to practice?

January 4, 2019January 4, 2019 by PPE Medical

Your Credentials

The process of credentialing can be quite a daunting one, especially if you are new to the healthcare or hospital medical staff approval process. In essence, your credentials are a verification of who you are – both academically and clinically. In addition, your credentials include your medical malpractice history, board certifications, training certificates, disciplinary actions, and other state-specific requirements that the state licensing board determines make you safe to practice. Think of your credentials as a portfolio allowing anyone who wants to know about you read a file and see what you bring to the table, and how well trained you are.

What’s Your Endgame? The Future of Healthcare

December 26, 2018December 18, 2018 by PPE Medical

Residency

Several years ago, physician graduate medical education, also known as residency, went through a revolutionary change and restrictions were placed on the number of work hours residents could work in a week. In a profession traditionally programmed to work in excess of 110-130 hours per week to gain the exposure necessary to adequately practice medicine, capping hours at 80 hours per week was a controversial change, and brought into question the validity of shortened education. While the verdict is still out regarding the current generation of residency graduates – related to knowledge base, work ethic, professional expectations, and patient relevance – there is no change in sight for resident work hours.

Needle Decompression: Size Matters

January 11, 2019December 6, 2018 by PPE Medical

What Size Needle Should You Use?

At a recent course this past weekend, we were asked which size needle should you use while performing a needle decompression procedure. The automatic response was large bore needle…typically 14-gauge angiocatheter. But that is only half the answer! What about catheter length? The standard 14-g angiocath is 5cm long and its catheter is only 4.5cm long. This was causing concern about a high failure rate. With the primary source of procedure failure being a failure of the needle to reach the pleural space, the standard angiocath would only reach the pleural space in 53% of the population.