Lesson plans

Choose a lesson, prepare beforehand, then work through the cases together. Lessons with paired practice cards are marked below.

How to run a session · Teaching programmes

Filter by audience, topic or time
Clear all filters

45 lessons found

Medical Students

Acute coronary syndrome: initial assessment

Connect the clinical story, ECG and assay-specific troponin pathway while recognising when treatment cannot wait.

45 min standard · 30 min option · 13 min preparation
Cardiology / Diagnostics

New to Emergency Medicine / Induction / Early-career Emergency Medicine

Analgesia in the Emergency Department

Discuss prompt pain relief, prescribing risks and how to check whether treatment has helped.

45 min standard · 30 min option · 15 min preparation
Pain / Professional practice

Early-career Emergency Medicine

Anaphylaxis: act early, reassess, plan discharge

Discuss the first few minutes of anaphylaxis treatment, then work through observation and discharge decisions.

45 min standard · 30 min option · 17 min preparation
Resuscitation

Medical Students

Assessing a new or changed headache

Use a thunderclap case and suspected giant cell arteritis to practise focused history, escalation and honest test interpretation.

45 min standard · 30 min option · 12 min preparation
Neurology / Diagnostics

Medical Students

Assessing acute back pain

Distinguish an urgent neurological or vascular concern from uncomplicated back pain and give a useful recovery plan.

45 min standard · 30 min option · 12 min preparation
Musculoskeletal / Neurology

Paired practice available

Early-career Emergency Medicine

Assessing acute coronary syndrome

Discuss urgent ECG findings, initial ACS care and the limits of high-sensitivity troponin pathways.

45 min standard · 30 min option · 18 min preparation
Cardiology / Diagnostics

Medical Students

Assessing and treating acute pain

Choose a proportionate analgesic plan, check contraindications and make reassessment part of the prescription.

45 min standard · 30 min option · 13 min preparation
Pain / Trauma

Medical Students

Assessing chest pain

Use an aortic presentation and a postoperative PE concern to practise a broad differential and selective investigation.

45 min standard · 30 min option · 12 min preparation
Cardiology / Respiratory / Diagnostics

Medical Students

Assessing suspected sepsis

Recognise concerning infection-related deterioration without relying on fever, then use current risk-based management and repeated review.

45 min standard · 30 min option · 12 min preparation
Infection / Resuscitation

New to Emergency Medicine / Induction / Early-career Emergency Medicine

Chest pain: choosing the right diagnostic pathway

Discuss the initial chest-pain assessment and how to choose between ACS, PE and aortic investigation pathways.

45 min standard · 30 min option · 18 min preparation
Cardiology / Diagnostics

Early-career Emergency Medicine

Chronic pain: a useful emergency consultation

Assess new symptoms in someone with chronic pain and practise agreeing a useful plan when no new emergency is found.

45 min standard · 30 min option · 18 min preparation
Pain / Communication

Early-career Emergency Medicine

Diagnostic testing: decide before you request

Use a D-dimer case and a worked table to understand test accuracy, pre-test probability and the decision after a result.

45 min standard · 30 min option · 17 min preparation (listening) / 13 min (reading)
Evidence and research / Diagnostics

Medical Students

Diagnostic testing: probability and clinical decisions

Use a simple test table and a PE case to connect pre-test probability, test results and the next clinical decision.

45 min standard · 30 min option · 15 min preparation (listening) / 11 min (reading)
Diagnostics

Early-career Emergency Medicine

DKA: treat the patient and follow the trend

Work through the adult DKA pathway and discuss what to check when treatment is not producing the expected improvement.

45 min standard · 30 min option · 18 min preparation
Metabolic emergencies / Resuscitation

New to Emergency Medicine / Induction / Early-career Emergency Medicine

First assessment of suspected poisoning

Assess an uncertain exposure, find current poisons advice and plan observation alongside psychosocial care.

45 min standard · 30 min option · 18 min preparation
Toxicology / Resuscitation

Early-career Emergency Medicine

Head injury: imaging, deterioration and concussion

Work through a deteriorating head injury and a concussion consultation, including imaging, observation and advice for home.

45 min standard · 30 min option · 18 min preparation
Trauma / Neurology

New to Emergency Medicine / Induction / Early-career Emergency Medicine

Headache: the history that changes the plan

Use onset and associated symptoms to discuss investigation of sudden headache and urgent care for possible giant cell arteritis.

45 min standard · 30 min option · 15 min preparation
Neurology / Diagnostics

Medical Students

Initial assessment of suspected poisoning

Approach an uncertain ingestion with supportive care, targeted information and physical and psychosocial safety in parallel.

45 min standard · 30 min option · 12 min preparation
Toxicology / Mental health

Medical Students

Initial assessment of upper gastrointestinal bleeding

Contrast a shocked patient with a stable low-risk presentation to practise resuscitation, escalation and reliable follow-up.

45 min standard · 30 min option · 12 min preparation
Gastroenterology / Resuscitation

Early-career Emergency Medicine

Interpreting chest X-rays

Review five chest X-rays and discuss how the findings change the next clinical decision.

45 min standard · 30 min option · 18 min preparation
Diagnostics / Respiratory

Higher Specialty Training

Journal club: HALT-IT and treatment transfer

Appraise HALT-IT’s methods, benefits and harms, then discuss what its results mean for GI bleeding care.

60 min standard · 30 min option · 30 min preparation
Evidence and research / Gastroenterology

Higher Specialty Training

Journal club: LoDED and safe early discharge

Appraise the LoDED diagnostic-strategy trial and discuss what would be needed to apply its findings locally.

60 min standard · 30 min option · 28 min preparation
Evidence and research / Cardiology

New to Emergency Medicine / Induction / Early-career Emergency Medicine

Making a useful referral

Practise referrals that make the concern, urgency and requested next step clear.

45 min standard · 30 min option · 26 min preparation (listening) / 18 min (reading)
Referrals and teamwork / Communication

Paired practice available

New to Emergency Medicine / Induction / Early-career Emergency Medicine

Pain and bleeding in early pregnancy

Discuss possible ectopic pregnancy, uncertain early scan findings and sensitive explanations with reliable follow-up.

45 min standard · 30 min option · 15 min preparation
Early pregnancy / Communication

Medical Students

Pain and bleeding in early pregnancy

Separate urgent ectopic-pregnancy concern from stable bleeding, while explaining uncertainty and organising dependable follow-up.

45 min standard · 30 min option · 15 min preparation
Early pregnancy / Communication

Early-career Emergency Medicine

Recognising acute aortic dissection

Discuss when to suspect aortic dissection and how to arrange imaging and specialist care without delay.

45 min standard · 30 min option · 13 min preparation
Cardiology / Resuscitation

Medical Students

Recognising acute aortic dissection

Use two presentations to practise recognising acute aortic syndrome and communicating the need for urgent senior assessment.

45 min standard · 30 min option · 12 min preparation
Cardiology / Resuscitation

Medical Students

Recognising and managing diabetic ketoacidosis

Recognise DKA, interpret early treatment trends and escalate electrolyte or neurological deterioration.

45 min standard · 30 min option · 13 min preparation
Metabolic emergencies / Resuscitation

New to Emergency Medicine / Induction / Early-career Emergency Medicine

Recognising and responding to suspected sepsis

Compare high- and lower-risk presentations of possible sepsis, including treatment timing, fluids and reassessment.

45 min standard · 30 min option · 18 min preparation
Resuscitation / Infection

Medical Students

Recognising and treating anaphylaxis

Practise recognising anaphylaxis, giving the first treatment promptly and explaining why recovery needs a discharge plan.

45 min standard · 30 min option · 13 min preparation
Resuscitation / Respiratory

Medical Students

Recognising carbon monoxide poisoning

Recognise a shared exposure, interpret a delayed COHb result and plan treatment and a safe destination.

45 min standard · 30 min option · 12 min preparation
Toxicology / Diagnostics

Medical Students

Starting your emergency medicine placement

Learn how to contribute safely, seek help early and turn ordinary ED work into supervised learning.

45 min standard · 30 min option · 13 min preparation (listening) / 13 min (reading)
Professional practice / Referrals and teamwork

Early-career Emergency Medicine

The red leg: cellulitis, mimics and dangerous infection

Compare cellulitis, a non-infective red leg and possible necrotising infection, with attention to treatment and reassessment.

45 min standard · 30 min option · 18 min preparation
Infection

Early-career Emergency Medicine / Higher Specialty Training

Tick bites and Lyme disease: a UK approach

Compare a recent tick bite, erythema migrans and symptoms that need specialist assessment.

45 min standard · 30 min option · 18 min preparation
Infection

Early-career Emergency Medicine / Higher Specialty Training

Upper gastrointestinal bleeding: decisions under pressure

Discuss resuscitation, anticoagulant reversal and definitive haemostasis when GI-bleeding treatment decisions are complicated.

60 min standard · 30 min option · 18 min preparation
Gastroenterology / Resuscitation

New to Emergency Medicine / Induction / Early-career Emergency Medicine

Upper gastrointestinal bleeding: first assessment

Work through initial care for upper GI bleeding and the assessment needed before considering discharge.

45 min standard · 30 min option · 16 min preparation
Gastroenterology / Resuscitation

New to Emergency Medicine / Induction / Early-career Emergency Medicine

Your first day in Emergency Medicine

Find out how to get help, hand over unfinished work and make discharge decisions on your first ED shifts.

45 min standard · 30 min option · 8 min preparation (listening) / 8 min (reading)
Professional practice / Referrals and teamwork

Clinical review: named clinician sign-off remains pending

0 of 45 lessons have a recorded named clinical review of their current content. 45 await sign-off. Reference checks and editorial updates do not constitute clinical approval. Check the individual lesson and current local guidance before teaching.

Cite this article as: Iain Beardsell, "The St Emlyn’s Lesson Plans," in St.Emlyn's, June 6, 2020, https://www.stemlynsblog.org/the-st-emlyns-lesson-plans/.

Scroll to Top