Chest Pain

• Conduct a rapid assessment to identify patients requiring emergency care
• Describe the family physician’s role in the stabilization and initial management of patients identified to require emergent care.
• Conduct a focused history (including cardiac risk factors) and a relevant physical exam
• Develop a concise differential diagnosis for patients with chest pain including cardiac and non- cardiac causes.
• Describe the key clinical characteristics of the following common chest pain conditions: angina, pulmonary embolism, gastroesophageal reflux, anxiety, and pneumonia.

Core Resources

Chest Pain ER Care Clinical Card 2014

Elzinga KE, Walker I, Krejcik VH, Keegan DA. Chest Pain – ER Care. Canadian Family Medicine Clinical Card. 2011. Available at: https://sites.google.com/site/sharcfm/

Chest pain top 10 diagnoses in family medicine

Ponka D, Kirlew M. Top 10 differential diagnoses in family medicine: Chest pain. Can Fam Physician. 2007;53(12):2146. doi: 53/12/2146 [pii].

Outpatient Diagnosis of Acute Chest Pain in Adults

McConaghy JR, Oza RS. Outpatient diagnosis of acute chest pain in adults. Am Fam Physician. 2013;87(3):177-182. doi: d10795 [pii].

Supplemental Resources

Canadian Cardiovascular Society Guidelines for the
Diagnosis and Management of Stable Ischemic
Heart Disease

Mancini G, et al.Canadian Cardiovascular Society Guidelines for the Diagnosis and Management of Stable Ischemic Heart Disease. Canadian Journal of Cardiology 2014;30:837-849. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cjca.2014.05.013