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Medic Mindset Podcast: Thinking about headache

When does a chief complaint of a headache mean something more sinister is occurring in your prehospital medicine patient?

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Photo/DoD

The Thinking Series, part of the Medic Mindset Podcast, exists because host Ginger Locke believes the most important resource in an ambulance is the brain of the paramedic.

In this episode, Ginger speaks with Dr. Karen Bowers, an emergency medicine physician, about the chief complaint of headache. They discuss components of a neurological exam and the differential diagnosis process.

When does a complaint of a headache point to a benign condition and when might it mean a dangerous condition exists? Dr. Bowers helps us sort through the evaluation and offers a peek at the heart of the guiding principles in clinical reasoning and decision making.

The Medic Mindset podcast is created and hosted by Ginger Locke, BA, NRP. As an associate professor of EMS Professions at Austin (TX) Community College, she has immersed herself in the art and science of how medics think and perform. In interviews with medics and subject-matter experts, she thoughtfully explores the inner-workings of the minds of medics. Prior to becoming a paramedic, she studied social psychology at the University of Georgia and the University of Leicester, UK. Her professional endeavors revolve around the conviction that the most important and complicated tool in EMS in the brain of the medic.

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