In August, conversations about the start of the school year are everywhere. Remembering your time in classes may bring up difficult memories of school examinations, but do not let those stop you from taking a certification examination. Here are a few ways that certification examinations are different from school examinations:

The patient has symptoms and physical examination findings consistent with an abdominal aortic aneurysm dissection. The priority intervention is initiation of pharmacologic therapy to decrease the blood pressure and heart rate, reducing the force and frequency of cardiac ejection to minimize further dissection of the aorta while preparing for possible surgical repair. Although pain management (A) is also important, the priority is to control the hemodynamics that put the patient at risk for worsening dissection or aortic rupture. Interventions to reduce abdominal contents (C) would be used if abdominal compartment syndrome was a concern, but the priority in this situation...

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