ICU Clinical Pearls: The Art and Science of Critical Care Medicine

ICU CLINICAL PEARLS summarizes the experience of 40 years of life in the intensive care units where the sickest patients come or are sent in the hope to return to a life of reasonable quality. Arguably the safest place in the hospital. A place where any of your actions or decisions would make a tremendous difference in the life of these patients, but also a place where any mistake could cost a life. Therefore, we must apply a philosophy of perfection, of extremely safe care, and use our best science and deepest spirituality. Although we favor practice of evidence-based medicine, the fact that every patient has his/her own characteristics makes it impractical to do it solely with a scientific basis, and it yields to the clinical intuition that you can only obtain with experience and it makes the practice of critical care medicine not only a science, but also an art. Dr. Huaringa was born in Peru. Educated at the Faculty of Medicine, Universidad Nacional Mayor de San Marcos. As student, he joined the Department of Anatomy Faculty and later the Department of Medicine Faculty as Instructor of Medicine and Intersnhip Coordinator. He then became Medicine Resident, Henry Ford Hospital in Detroit and Fellow Critical Care and Pulmonary Medicine at Wayne State University School of Medicine, and Master of Science Health Care Administration. His academic career continued working in the ICUs as Assistant Professor Tulane University-affiliated Alexandria VAMC, ETSU-affiliated Mountain Home VAMC, Associate Professor The University of Texas M.D. Anderson Cancer Center, and Professor of Medicine Loma Linda University School of Medicine/White Memorial. He is Fellow of the ACP, ACCP, ACCM and ATS. Professor Huaringa obtained Teaching Awards in all the institutions he worked for. He was awarded the Doctor Honoris Causa title, from the Universidad Nacional Mayor de San Marcos.