Wardround 28xi8

This week's talks were about common tests such as cholesterol, creatinine and glucose. It is useful to revise things which we come to regard as so common that our knowledge of them sinks into our subconscious. Knowledge in the subconscious can become corrupted or merely fade away. As an SHO I was given some advice by a consultant Dr Avinash Mithal. He suggested that when reading a journal article, editorial or review paper I should first write down what I know about the subject. IHD is common...how common, exactly? In doing this I am surprised how quickly "things_I_know" have become "things_I_think_I_know_but_don't". Next time you read a paper, try Mithal's method.

For Friday the two minute talks are about Antibiotics. This is a free for all. Decide which talk you want to do and stake your claim by posting in the comments section. The choices are:

Who needs IV antibiotics?

What are the precipitants of C. difficile?

What are the precipitants of MRSA?

What is new in the antibiotic field?

What is antibiotic allergy, and what can be done about it?

Two minutes only. Be clear and concise. And here I am going to change the rules on the written handouts. You are allowed up to six bullet points only in text. Drawings or illustrations can be unlimited but must fit on one side of A4 and be large enough to be read without squinting or using a magnifying glass.

Our inability to read the paper on the last two Tuesdays I take as a message from the fates. Said paper will be cast to the furies. Though casting to the furries conjures more surreal images.

The reading for Tuesday will be Just how tainted has medicine become?  The Lancet 2002: 359 (9313), Page 1167, (6 April)

Interesting topics:

Tilt testing in syncope

Gout

MJM