Episode Details

Episode 88: EVALI. 

Nugdeep and Jeffrey present E-cigarette and Vaping Associated Lung Injury (EVALI), including symptoms, diagnosis, and treatment. Introduction includes a word of advice for matching and not matching students in 2022. 

Introduction: The Match 2022 is over.  
By Hector Arreaza, MD. Read by Valeri Civelli, MD. 

Another Match season is behind us. It’s time to celebrate and prepare for a new stage of your career. As an interesting fact, the American Association of Family Physicians announced that in 2022 the highest number of family medicine residents matched.

Positions for family medicine residencies have been steadily growing for the last 13 years in a row. There are 756 family medicine categorical and combined residency programs, that’s 15 more programs than in 2021. 

Also, in 2022, osteopathic medical schools had the historic highest number of students matching into family medicine, to be exact 1,496 DO seniors matched to family medicine this year, that’s 58 more students than 2021.

During this season, the number of U.S. medical grads matching into family medicine “did not increase despite a larger number of positions available.”[1]

If you did not match this year, the Match can also be a time of reflection and goal setting as you prepare with optimism for the next season. To increase your chances to match next year, Dr. Margarita Loeza advised in an AMA article[2] to stay in touch with your medical school, find a job in a clinical setting, take Step 3, and try a new approach during next season. For example, you may consider applying to a higher number of programs or even more than one specialty. 

Residency training is the primary way to get licensed to see patients, but there are hundreds of alternative ways to pursue your passion for medicine. Do not give up on your goals. “Never give up on something that you can’t go a day without thinking about.” ―Winston Churchill.

This is Rio Bravo qWeek, your weekly dose of knowledge brought to you by the Rio Bravo Family Medicine Residency Program from Bakersfield, California. Our program is affiliated with UCLA, and it’s sponsored by Clinica Sierra Vista, Let Us Be Your Healthcare Home. 

Page Break

EVALI.

By Nugdeep Singh, MS4; and Jeffrey Nguyen, MS4. Ross University School of Medicine. Participated in the discussion: Hector Arreaza, MD.

N: Good afternoon listeners. My name is Nugdeep Singh, and I am a fourth-year medical student. 

J: Hello, and I’m Jeffrey Nguyen, also a fourth-year medical student. Thank you for having us today Dr. Arreaza. 

N: Today we will be talking about E-cigarette and vape-associated lung injury (EVALI), also known as vaping-associated pulmonary injury (VAPI). But, before we get into the medical pathology of E-cigarettes and vapes, why don’t we give a little background on them.

Arreaza: EVALI and VAPI sound like another Indian holiday or an Italian dessert, but EVALI and VAPI are certainly no joke. 

J: Sure, let’s get started. So, E-cigarettes are battery-operated devices that heat liquids containing nicotine to produce an aerosol that the user inhales. Long-term health effects and whether they help an individual quit smoking has been controversial, as there has not been much research on it. 

These E-cigarettes have raised public health concerns on smoking prevalence and their potential use by children. In 2019, over 5 million children and adolescents were using 3-cigarettes. This represented an increase in e-cigarette use by high school students from 12% in 2017 to 28% in 2019. In fact, Massachusetts legislation bans the sale of all flavored tobacco products starting in June 2020. Nicotine is the main ingredient in the liquid, however, there are other constituents that are carcinogenic potential. Nugdeep, can you go over some of these ingredients? 

N: Yea, let’s start with ni