Medicine, Botany, Faith (and not to mention Magic Potion!)
I occasionally give some tutorials to anaesthetic trainees sitting the ANZCA Primary Exam. I thought it would be worth collecting some of the resources I use into one location so that I can provide a link for pre-reading, revision etc, but also in case anyone else outside my hospital network might find them useful. I may well add additional content and links to post over time, so it may be worth checking in again at some point.
Click here to go straight to the tutorial resources.
Before Christmas I returned, after 45 years, to the country that as a boy I knew as Nyasaland. Today it’s Malawi, and The Times Christmas Appeal includes a small British charity working there. Pump…
Source: www.thetimes.co.uk/article/as-an-atheist-i-truly-believe-africa-needs-god-3xj9bm80h8m
Chances are, if you are reading this blog post, then you have heard about the governments plan to change MyHealthRecord from “opt-in” to “opt-out”. But it’s increasingly apparent that there are many who haven’t, including some who haven’t heard about MyHealthRecord full stop. This is a problem.
Continue reading “Petition to extend the opt-out period for MyHealthRecord”
A little while back I wrote a post on my early experiences with MyHealthRecord (MHR), discussed its strengths and weaknesses, and made some suggestions for improvement. At that point, it was still opt-in, but on July 16th a three month phase in period started whereby people can opt-out, before an MHR is created automatically for them. In the lead up to that date, and in the time since, MHR has been the subject of some robust discussion on both mainstream and social media. While the concept itself has been generally well received, there is significant controversy and debate over numerous aspects of the system, the legislation underlying it, as well as the government’s handling of the roll-out. Continue reading ““MHR-as-Imagined” vs “MHR-as-Done””
The Big Conversation is a video series from the Unbelievable? radio show featuring theological debates with world-class thinkers across the Christian and atheist community – Discussing faith, science and what it means to be human. Source: www.thebigconversation.show
In recent years, I’ve been listening to the Unbelievable? podcast hosted by Justin Brierley a lot. While it’s hosted by a Christian radio station, it’s quite unique in that it usually involves a dialogue or debate between a Christian and a non-Christian. This diversity in guests, has come to be reflected in the diversity of it’s listeners. Despite’s Justin not hiding his own Christian beliefs, he moderates the discussions very well, and is very good at summarising the opposing views of the guests, and playing devils advocate when needed.
It’s been going for over 10 years now, and has gone from strength to strength, not only in popularity, but also in the quality of production, and the calibre of the guests. But in recent months, Justin has really taken it up a notch with “The Big Conversation” series. Now, as well as audio, there is a video recording of the discussions available on a revamped Youtube channel. The first few have been great, and I look forward to the rest of the series after the UK summer!
As discussed here, I was diagnosed with advanced melanoma in late 2013. It has been a wild ride since, and I thought it would be good to document the many steps in my journey. I’m hoping this will be a useful record not just for myself, but my family and friends, as well as those that might be facing a similar journey themselves. This document will evolve over time, both as I go back through the last few years and find things to add, but also as my story continues to unfold.
To see my medical history organised by system, see this post here.
Take a look at the image below and see if you can spot the differences between these two IV giving sets:
Maybe the packaging will help?
How did you go? There are actually a few differences between them, but there is one in particular that I am interested in, and you should be too. Can you guess which one it is? Yes, that little white bit circled in red is what’s called a “one-way”, “back check” or 
just “check” valve. As the name suggests it ensures fluid in the line can only move one-way i.e. from the IV fluid bag and into the patient. This valve is there so that if you are running a secondary infusion it will flow into the patient, rather than back up the primary line and into the fluid bag. A visual representation of what this valve does can be seen in this video:
During the parliamentary debate on assisted suicide in Victoria last year, I felt compelled to write a letter to the politicians involved outlining some concerns I have about the concept. The letter drew on my experience both as a doctor and as a patient with incurable cancer. While my concerns had been present for quite a while, they had crystallised somewhat since my melanoma diagnosis. A heavily edited version of this letter was subsequently published online by The Gospel Coalition, and it can be found here. However, I thought some might be interested in reading the unabridged version, so I’ve included the text of the letter below. You can also download it as a PDF here.
The Fastest Surgeon on Earth from Dr Getafix on Vimeo.
A little while back I posted about the challenges a family member faced after forgetting to bring their medications when they came to visit us. In that post, I referred to the Electronic Transfer of Prescriptions (eTP) and I’ve now taken a closer look at this system and discovered some useful features, but also significant room for improvement and expansion.
Continue reading “EHRs: Safety vs Privacy & the ETTO Principle”
