Deadly Health Jobs – inspiring the next generation of Indigenous health professionals
Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Health Workers and Health Professionals make valuable contributions to healthcare across Australia through their clinical and cultural knowledge skills. Creating sustainable career pathways for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander workers in the health sector is vital to help close the gap in Indigenous...
Researching Remotely
You just can’t miss it. A grass green building with multi-coloured panels representing our frangipanis, sea and sand. The Australian Institute of Tropical Health and Medicines (AITHM) Tropical Research Centre (or as locals like to call it – the colour-colour building) was officially opened last fortnight on Thursday Island....
Rheumatic ❤️ Disease
‡ Yesterday I saw a four-year-old boy with school sores. The day before my colleague saw a 16-year-old girl with a fever and knee pain. Last week our visiting paediatric cardiologist saw an eight-year-old girl with a new cardiac murmur. Last month our clinic health worker saw a 25-year-old male receiving...
Ring, ring, why don’t you give me a call?
The phone rings. I wake from a deep sleep slightly panic stricken. It takes me a minute to comprehend that I’m in bed and on the phone to a nurse from an outer island. They run through their patient’s story, requesting advice. It takes me another minute to realise...
Deadly App
Here is a list of apps that we use in our day to day rural and remote medical practice. This is a follow on from our list of online resources we can’t live without! You can check them out here. What apps would you add to the list? ...
Helpful Resources
Here we’ve complied a list of our favourite online resources. Do you have any you’d add to the list? Primary Health Northern Territory Remote Primary Health Care Manuals Queensland Primary Clinical Care Manual 9th Edition Queensland Chronic Conditions Manual 1st Edition RACGP Redbook Guidelines for preventive activities Chronic Disease Management...
A 25-year-old female with an Unusual Ulcer
This case has been inspired by events in the Torres Straits and details have been changed to ensure patient anonymity. History A 25-year-old female presented to the an outer island primary healthcare centre with a non-painful leg ulcer. She didn’t remember having a bite, sting, scratch or injury to...
Preventative Medicine: Healthy Kai Kai & Deadly Exercise
As primary healthcare doctors we have the privilege of educating and promoting good health amongst our patients. We know that preventive medicine is essential in reducing the morbidity and mortality of chronic disease including the most commonly seen here in Torres Strait Islanders: cardiovascular disease, diabetes and chronic kidney disease....
The Pressure Is On: Will Australia Adopt New Hypertension Guidelines?
The Evidence: A randomised trial of intensive versus standard blood-pressure control The Summary: The SPRINT trial was a randomised, controlled trial comparing the safety and efficacy of intensive lowering of systolic blood pressure (SBP) to less than 120mmHg, compared with standard management to less than 140mmHg. The study included...
A 7-year-old boy with Omnipresent Oedema
This case has been inspired by events in the Torres Straits and details have been changed to ensure patient anonymity. History A 7-year-old boy presented to the Primary Healthcare Centre one afternoon after school with his grandmother. She was concerned that his eyes had become quite puffy over the...