Category: Teaching

Of Art and Uncertainty

“In order to make progress, one must leave the door to the unknown ajar.” Richard Feynman...

Syncope? Think outside the box.

Syncope is a transient and abrupt loss of consciousness with complete return to preexisting neurologic function. It can be classified as neurally mediated (mostly young adults), cardiac, orthostatic, or neurologic. This case of syncope comes from Faseeh Zaidi, a 5th year medical student studying at the University of Auckland 72-year-old female...

Breaking Bad (News)

Delivering bad news in a compassionate way can make this difficult situation easier to cope with for patients, their families and clinicians themselves. Thanks to Hailey and Kendall who helped us workshop these skills at Taupo Hospital. SPIKES The SPIKES model was first published in The Oncologist in 2000 as a...

CRUSH episode 2, FAST

As part of our contribution to free and open medical education, the team at Taupo Hospital will feature a series of short and accessible ultrasound posts aimed at Rural Generalist trainees. For further certification in POCUS check out Otago Universities Post Graduate Certificate. Here is episode 2. Enjoy....

BATman; Barkers Anaesthetic Tips

In this series Dr Glenn Barker will bring you tips on all things anaesthesia, airway and retrieval. Here is his first episode on Art line set up. Glenn is a Rural Hospitalist with JCCA and Post Grad Cert in Aeromedical Retrieval....

Introducing CRandalls Ultrasound Hit: CRUSH

As part of our contribution to free and open medical education, the team at Taupo Hospital will feature a series of short and accessible ultrasound posts aimed at Rural Generalist trainees. For further certification in POCUS check out Otago Universities Post Graduate Certificate Here is episode 1. Enjoy....

Non-sterile gloves for abscess I&D?

The clinic nurse was setting up for an incision and drainage (I&D) of an abscess.  After opening the dressing pack and laying out the necessary equipment, she inquired about my glove size.  I replied “small”.  She said, “oh no, Doc, what size STERILE gloves?” This made me question a...

Magnesium for leg cramps…just as good as placebo?

Clinical question: does magnesium work for leg cramps? Findings 1: Cochrane review, 2012 Both magnesium & placebo reduce the frequency of leg cramps with a non-significant difference between the two groups.  The Cochrane review analysed four RCTs (n=322), two of which were deemed to have a high risk of...

Week 6.1 – Sepsis

What is it? Sepsis is defined as life-threatening organ dysfunction secondary to an infection. Early recognition and early management of sepsis is critical. Sepsis kills more than breast or prostate cancer here in Australia. Have a look at this great summary video from JAMA on defining sepsis and septic...

Week 5.1 – Non Invasive Ventilation

CPAP and BIPAP can be daunting to commence if you’re not familiar with your emergency department equipment. This week we get started with our NIV machine – the Oxylog 3000. Having a dedicated BIPAP machine is somewhat of a pipe dream for our ED, but on the bright side...