What Lies Beneath: Horror Movie Title or Scary Patient Presentation?
When patients present with abscesses, you don’t want to just take a stab at treating them; nor should you turn them away for fear of what might be lurking just beneath the surface of the skin. You owe it to these suffering patients to be proficient, practiced, and confident in your skills as they undergo quick-but-painful procedures at your hands. It’s not often you get to provide such immediate relief, and it’s very gratifying! A purulent pocket of pus is nothing to be scared of, as long as you’re ready, willing, and able.
The Abscess Course prepares you to diagnose and treat all kinds of abscesses, from chalazions to paronychia, anywhere on the body, from head to toe. Six modules and multitudes of close-up, step-by-step videos cover the basics of anesthesia and pain management, incision and drainage, procedures by body system, controversies (to pack or not to pack?), novel techniques, risk management tips, and more. It also includes 5 AMA PRA Category 1 Credits™.
Instructor Patrick O’Malley, MD, who’s practiced in emergency medicine and urgent care, reviews the latest literature to identify evidence-based best practices for abscess management. He presents tried-and-true techniques, as well as a few novel devices, shown to have good outcomes. In his easy-to-follow, peer-to-peer instructional style, Dr. O’Malley also shares practical tips born of nearly 20 years’ experience handling thousands of abscesses with care.
Meet the Instructor
EB Medicine and Patrick O’Malley, MD, developed The Abscess Course to further elevate the level of education available to clinicians working within the urgent care community. Dr. O’Malley is a board-certified emergency physician with nearly 20 years in practice. He has worked in a number of community emergency departments and urgent care clinics of varying sizes and acuity levels. He serves on the board of the College of Urgent Care Medicine and is a founding board member of the Southeast Regional Urgent Care Association. He also is creator of EB Medicine’s The Laceration Course and frequently leads suturing and wound care workshops for the Urgent Care Association and other clinician groups.
This course covers:
- Abscess basics
- Characteristics of abscesses by anatomical region (live-action videos!)
- Urgent versus emergent abscess presentations
- When antibiotics alone are indicated (Hint: Not very often)
- When to cut (Hint: Frequently)
- Why loop drainage may be superior to standard I&D
- Extra patient history questions in cases of abscess
- Debates and dilemmas re: irrigation, packing, choice of antibiotics, cultures
- Documentation Dos and Don’ts
- Real-life case studies to lock down your lessons
What’s included:
- Engaging, easy-access video modules full of practical tips
- A custom-designed Incision & Drainage Practice Kit, complete with realistic simulated abscesses and high-quality instruments
- Links to 60+ supplemental resources for elective study and recommended reading
- Step-by-step demos (patient encounters + cadaver lab)
- Bonus procedural videos, courtesy of Dr. Larry Mellick, MD
- Audio-only track for easy listening
- Printable slide deck for close study and notetaking
- A searchable transcript of the instructional voiceover
- 5 AMA PRA Category 1 Credits™


Features and Benefits:
Supplements basic academic training
- This course is organized as a crash-course curriculum, filling in gaps in academic programs with practical education to succeed in UC.
- Video modules allow learners to pace themselves and replay as needed to retain knowledge through repetition.
Sharpens abscess management knowledge, proficiency, practice, and skills
- The content emphasizes evidence-based education with practical application.
- The course is designed to be an engaging, enjoyable training experience full of “sticky” content.
- Learners receive resources they can keep and use as needed and methodology/techniques they can hone with practice over time.
- Case presentations expose learners to right/wrong decisions with explanation and rationale designed to enhance understanding and sharpen judgment.
- A multitude of step-by-step demonstrations give learners a clinician’s-eye-view of the clinical procedures used to treat abscesses.
Boosts clinical confidence
- Real-world scenarios challenge and stimulate “What would I do?” clinical impulses and appropriate responses, helping to test clinical decision making and develop clinical judgment.
- Education with such practical application has potential to have a positive impact on the learner’s individual performance in practice, as well as the overall success of the clinic/system.
- This course employs the “practice makes perfect” principle with expert-guided deconstruction of straightforward and complex patient encounters, clinical challenges, decision points, and documentation options representing real-life practice.
Product Details:
Publication Date: April 1, 2024
CME Expiration Date: April 1, 2027
CME Faculty Disclosure: It is the policy of EB Medicine to ensure objectivity, balance, independence, transparency, and scientific rigor in all CME activities. All individuals in a position to control content have disclosed all financial relationships with ACCME-defined ineligible companies. EB Medicine has assessed all relationships with ineligible companies disclosed, identified those financial relationships deemed relevant, and appropriately mitigated all relevant financial relationships based on each individual’s role(s). Please find disclosure information for this activity below:
Planners
- Patrick O’Malley, MD (Course Director):
- Medline Industries (consultant/advisor, consulting fees, royalty or patent beneficiary)
- Joseph D. Toscano, MD (Peer Reviewer): Nothing to Disclose
Faculty
- Patrick O’Malley, MD (Facilitator):
- Medline Industries (consultant/advisor, consulting fees, royalty or patent beneficiary)
- Claude Shackelford, MD (Peer Reviewer): Nothing to Disclose
- Cesar Mora Jaramillo, MD (Peer Reviewer): Nothing to Disclose
- Suzanne Verity (Content Editor): Nothing to Disclose
Modules














Meet the Instructor
EB Medicine and Patrick O’Malley, MD, developed The Abscess Course to further elevate the level of education available to clinicians working within the urgent care community. Dr. O’Malley is a board-certified emergency physician with nearly 20 years in practice. He has worked in a number of community emergency departments and urgent care clinics of varying sizes and acuity levels. He serves on the board of the College of Urgent Care Medicine and is a founding board member of the Southeast Regional Urgent Care Association. He also is creator of EB Medicine’s The Laceration Course and frequently leads suturing and wound care workshops for the Urgent Care Association and other clinician groups.