Posted by deltadoc on March 18, 2003 at 20:12:17:In Reply to: Re: cardiology and GERD posted by Davdi Bresch on March 18, 2003 at 04:41:33:
Sounds about right except most draw the line at 7 or less beats of vtac not needing intervention unless it is frequently recurring. As I remember on the test there were only 2-3 questions re arrythmia. One asked to identify it and another had one on an epoc to be scored and you got an extra point if you noticed it and called it. You don't have to be a cardiologist or give an indepth report on treatment. Just catch it and go on.
GERD is usually dxed by history. If it is a suspicion as to the cause of the arousals and EDS just mention it as something for the referring doc to follow up on. Do arousals lead to EDS or do you have to have actual awakening and fragmentation to lead to EDS? I don't know but it depends on how many and other factors. Also OSA pts. often have GERD also. Cause or effect or just a function of obesity/age? I think it is enough to dx excessive arousals and/or fragmentation to explain EDS and list a differential. Others might disagree with me. We are sleep docs and not PCP unless it is your own patient.
If you took the part II Stanford course you will be very well prepared for the test. No tricks. Just be sure you are alert and have practiced good sleep hygene before. There will be minutiae that you will miss but so will everyone else. The ones you get will just give you bragging rights over just passing score which most will do. Relax and look at it as another day at the office with 12 of your worst patients coming in for study! Everybody else is in the same boat. Go for it.