Frequently Asked Questions

Excellent question! Pretty much everything you will need to know when it comes to managing lacerations. We talk about anatomy, pharmacology (antibiotics, anesthetic agents), when to repair a wound and when to leave it alone. We look at different closure techniques-sutures, staples, glue and steri-strips. Human and animal bites, tetanus, rabies and when to offer antibiotics. How to approach lacerations in kids, when to refer patients to the emergency department or get orthopedics involved. Nerve blocks and complex repairs, puncture wounds, proper imaging, medico-legal issues and even billing and coding are discussed.

This course consists of 13 modules, ranging between about 15-80 minutes each. It was developed from 15 years of experience with managing lacerations. From a 3-year emergency medicine residency and trauma rotations, and 15 years of community emergency medicine and urgent care experience, I am still learning and have a long way to go. I take a deep dive into basic and advanced topics. There is no way to cover the information YOU need to know to take the best care of YOUR patients in a one-hour lecture. I want you to have access to the best information I could provide so that you feel CONFIDENT with most any laceration that walks through your doors.

The best way is hands-on practice with real patients. If you are a student, spend time in the ED and volunteer to suture. Watch as many repairs as you can and ask questions. If able to do them yourself-go for it. Depending on where you work, having someone to do sutures is a huge help, it allows the other physicians to see other patients. If you are a non-emergency medicine resident, you will be spending time in the ED on rotations. Jump on every laceration you can. Your EM resident colleagues will be doing plenty as well, but let them know you want to repair lacerations. EM residents-just wait-you will be doing more than your fair share of laceration repairs. This course will help you from a knowledge standpoint more than anything.

Working in an urgent care is a great place to get experience. If you are not able to work full time, see if you can get some part time work at an urgent care, the experience will come. For everyone-I highly recommend that you get an at-home suturing practice kit. There are many of these available. I have partnered with YOURSCI, manufacturer of these kits-you get one for free when you purchase the course. This is a durable product that has many pre-made “lacerations” that you can practice on. Biggest thing is getting comfortable holding the instruments, suture needle, and tying basic instrument tie knots. Focus on mastering the instrument tie and basic interrupted suture. Progress from there.

Watch YouTube videos, go to an in-person workshop in your area. I hope to be offering these in the near future-if you can get a group together, let me know and I would be happy to help organize a workshop for you.

Yes! We offer in-person lectures and workshops, both onsite and at regional events. Please contact us for more information.

Of course you can! You are a physician and suturing is a basic skill that you not only can learn again, but you can master it! It takes time, understanding basic principles, having the right equipment, and talking to your office staff about your desire to offer this service to your patients. I have found that many front office staff tell patients just to go to urgent care or the ED if a patient calls asking if their PCP can repair a laceration. Stop this from happening! I have put together a brief presentation that introduces the basics of what you need to manage lacerations in the office. My comprehensive class will give you all the knowledge you need. Watching the recommended videos and using an at-home suturing kit will allow you to get back up to speed with the actual act of suturing. You can do this!

I wish I had a course like this before my acting internships and clinical rotations! EM residency is super competitive, anything you can do to distinguish yourself from other candidates is helpful. When I started residency we had a 5 day laceration management lecture series. Right off the bat, we were seeing patients and were expected to take care of lacerations in the ED. This course goes way beyond what you will be expected to know as a medical or PA student in the ED, but will give you an immense advantage should you choose to take it. I can definitely say that you will shine like a star upon completing this course!

Of course! Please contact us for more information.