ABEM UHM study guide
ABEM UHM · Work through your exam, one topic at a time.
Undersea and Hyperbaric Medicine (UHM) is an ABEM subspecialty certification for physicians who already hold primary certification in emergency medicine and who want to demonstrate added expertise in diving medicine and hyperbaric therapy. Candidates typically include emergency physicians who staff hyperbaric chambers, cover dive accidents, serve as dive medical officers, or work in wound care and problem-wound programs. The ABEM UHM study guide has 4 sections and about 1,169 words.
01Undersea Medicine: Barotrauma, Gas Toxicity, and DCI Recognition
Undersea medicine is the clinical physiology of the diver in a water column. The candidate must be fluent in Boyle's law (pressure–volume relationships), Henry's law (gas solubility and inert-gas loading), Dalton's law (partial pressures of breathing gases), and Archimedes' principle (buoyancy and the hazards of rapid ascent).
333 words, about 2 min02Hyperbaric Medicine: Physics, Chambers, and Indications
Hyperbaric oxygen (HBO) therapy delivers 100% oxygen at 2.0–3.0 ATA in a monoplace or multiplace chamber. Understand the pressure–volume and gas density consequences of compression, the oxygen window concept (reduced inert-gas tension during oxygen breathing), and the mechanisms of HBO: hyperoxygenation, vasoconstriction with preserved oxygen delivery, enhanced neutrophil killing, fibroblast and collagen activity, and bubble-size reduction via nitrogen washout.
282 words, about 1 min03Diving Physics and Physiology: Gas Laws, Bubbles, and Thermal Stress
This domain is the physics and physiology substrate for the clinical domains. Master the gas laws: Boyle (P×V constant - barotrauma), Dalton (total pressure = sum of partial pressures - gas toxicity and hypoxia), Henry (dissolved gas proportional to partial pressure - inert-gas loading and DCS), Charles/Gay-Lussac (temperature–pressure–volume), and Fick (diffusion).
284 words, about 1 min04Clinical Management of Diving and Hyperbaric Emergencies
Management is ABCDE first, then dive-specific . For suspected AGE or DCS : supine position (avoid Trendelenburg), 100% oxygen by tight-fitting mask, IV access, treat seizures, and urgent transport to a hyperbaric facility.
270 words, about 1 min