HEADDRESS – Adolescent Interviewing

HealthCare, MNEMONICS

Interview teens alone with parents invited to join at the end. Assure confidentiality at beginning of interview, and prior to discussing drug use and sexuality. Do a usual history and for the social history part, do a HEADDRESS assessment. NB: HEADDRESS is for...

HIST and BLAST in the Mississippi River

MNEMONICS

Think of Histoplasmosis and Blastomycosis when a patient has lived in any of the states that border the Mississippi river.  

CENTOR criteria

MNEMONICS

The Centor criteria are a widely used and accepted clinical decision tool for identifying patients with GAS. Cough is absent. Exudates are present on the tonsils. Nodes are tender in the anterior cervical region. Temperature of 100.4 F by history (i.e. fever by...

HAS-BLED score

CARDIOLOGY, MNEMONICS

The HAS-BLED score estimates the 1-year risk of major bleeding for patients on anticoagulation for atrial fibrillation.  Prior to the publication of the HAS-BLED manuscript in 2010, an older, more complicated algorithm called HEMORR2HAGES was used. HAS-BLED has a...

CHA2DS2-VASc Score

MNEMONICS

The CHA2DS2-VASc score calculates the stroke risk for patients with atrial fibrillation, possibly better than the CHADS2 score. Click here to use it on MDCalc.com. It’s basically CHADS-VAS with the two subscripts put on the two letters in the first part that...

ABCDE of Cirrhosis – Modified Child – Pugh Score

HOSPITAL MEDICINE, MNEMONICS

ABCDE of Cirrhosis. The Child-Pugh score estimates cirrhosis severity. It is a prognosis tool. Albumin Bilirubin Coags – PT or INR Deluge  (Ascites) – Drain the Ascites Encephalopathy MDcalc.com calculator Modified Child-Turcotte-Pugh Scoring System Points...