If Caitlin Delaney hadn’t pushed for genomic testing and off-label therapies, she might not have been around to share her insights on The Medical Podcast this week. As a health professional she also had the benefit of health literacy and a personal assertiveness that may have well also helped her be at her daughter’s 10th birthday. “There were lots…

The number of spinal fusions performed in Australia has skyrocketed over the past few decades, with the number of privately funded procedures far outstripping those done in the public system. Spinal fusions, which help stabilise the spine by surgically joining two or more vertebrae together, can be used following traumatic injury, or to help correc…

Future overlords or really helpful assistants? Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Does an app a day keep the doctor away or make them worried? Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Voluntourism is an enticing form of travel: exotic locales, cultural immersion, serving needy populations with your skills – all wrapped up in your four weeks’ annual leave. Not so fast. Before packing your passport and mosquito net tune in to The Medical Republic podcast to hear from two guests who might make you reconsider. Dr Andrew Browning has…

The latest episode of The Medical Republic podcast is a special insight into female parts across the age spectrum. We speak first with Associate Professor Melissa Kang who was, for 23 years, the iconic Dolly Doctor in Dolly magazine – the Australian teen-girl’s bible for many decades. Professor Kang said that teenagers want to know how to navigate …

Do you struggle to keep your practice running like a well-oiled machine?   Our line-up of experts today share insights on how to earn more profit, retain staff, cover your risk and level up your practice management. Guests include an accountant, lawyer and cybersecurity guru. We also hear from a health economist and a GP who has scaled their clinic…

When the choice is between writing a script for pain killers and a 45 consultation about weight management, which one do you choose? According to Associate Professor Kade Paterson, University of Melbourne, scripts for pain killers and referrals to orthopaedic surgeons are unnecessarily common for patients with osteoarthritis (OA). Professor Paterso…

There’s been a swell of advocacy lately around breast density, which increases cancer risk while reducing the sensitivity of mammograms. The FDA in the US has recently mandated that women be notified by mammogram providers if they have dense breasts, giving them the opportunity to arrange supplemental testing. But BreastScreen Australia’s 2020 posi…

South Australia’s long covid clinic loves GPs and keeps them close. Dr Angela Molga is a clinical pharmacologist and geriatrician at the long covid clinic at Royal Adelaide Hospital. “We engage the GPs very early on, from the moment we receive the referrals. The patients are kept updated on the length of the waitlist and we also send them out resou…

What do you get when you cross advice from a health economist with that from a leading physiotherapist? Increased revenue and a better patient experience, say our guests on today’s episode of The Tea Room. Scott Willis is president of the Australian Physiotherapists Association and a proud Palawa man. He says better results come from general practi…

Professor Rob Moodie describes himself as “an eternal optimist”. He needs to be. A long and distinguished career in public health has seen Professor Moodie tackle the “big four” industries – alcohol, tobacco, junk food, and fossil fuel – and these days he’s added a fifth to the list, gambling. Those industries and corporate multinationals make up a…

With so much to learn in so little time, managing LGBTQI+ patients isn’t yet high on the priority list at medical schools. Dr Asiel Adan Sanchez is a GP and clinical tutor at the university of Melbourne. He knows first-hand that clinical environments can be off putting for people who are queer, trans and gender diverse. He’s also created a solution…

Struggling to hang on to doctor staff? This episode offers more than a few gems of wisdom from the most unlikely location. Today, The Tea Room travels to Crystal Brook, a rural town 200 kilometres north of Adelaide. There we meet Dr Richard McKinnon co- owner of Crystal Brook Medical Practice – a small-town clinic that is anything but small. After …

The recent shake-up in asthma management and what that might mean for GPs. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.Door The Medical Republic

An award-winning Australian trial has changed how we treat pneumothorax. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.Door The Medical Republic

It sounds like common-sense that immunity declines with age. But new research suggests that some GP’s aren’t convinced. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.Door The Medical Republic

We may never really know how many excess deaths the pandemic has caused, but it is well worth trying to find out. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.Door The Medical Republic

Transvaginal ultrasounds are among the most invasive procedures women will undergo in their lives - but, surprisingly, the healthcare practitioners performing these procedures are almost entirely self-regulated. Now, the peak bodies representing sonographers are calling on AHPRA to regulate the profession. Our reporter, Sonia Kohlbacher, has the fu…

As Australia’s first ever wellness officer, rheumatologist Dr Bethan Richards has focused on meeting the basic needs of hospital staff – offering protected lunch breaks, access to water, functioning rest areas and moments of human connection. It all sounds tragically obvious but has required deep changes in governance and culture. Hosted on Acast. …

The story of thalidomide is etched into the minds of every doctor and drug manufacturer. It serves as a warning of what can go wrong. The thalidomide mistake is why drugs are now so rigorously tested for safety. Decades after thalidomide was banned from being given to pregnant women, survivors are a living cohort still fighting to be seen and ackno…

In this episode, Dr Megan Prictor from Melbourne Law School discusses the legal considerations of recording medical consults, how the files should be stored, and strategies to decline being recorded by a patient. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.Door The Medical Republic

Subtle seizures can involve people zoning out from the conversation, experiencing unusual sensations, odd emotions, an intense feeling of déjà vu, or just not remember what they were doing and then coming back into the room like nothing has happened. The seizures may seem innocuous, but they can be quite dangerous if the patient happens to be drivi…

Breaking down the stoicism that often prevents GPs from looking after their mental health is more important than ever during COVID-19. Doctors are notoriously bad at being patients. This podcast contains a few tips… “We should share the secret code with everyone,” says Dr Kathryn Hutt, a GP and the Medical Director at the Doctors Health Advisory Se…

People with intellectual disabilities often feel like the passive subject of scientific studies. And it turns out we can render much more valuable results about individuals experiences when they are part of the research team, rather than just a participant. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.…

Very few AMA presidents spend their two-year tenure first dealing with extreme summer bushfires, and then a majorly disruptive pandemic. This was the reality for immediate past president of the AMA, Dr Tony Bartone. He joins the show to talk about his time as leader of the AMA and the events which have defined the AMA’s work over the last eight mon…

It’s no wonder that some look at COVID-19 and ask: could you ask for a better result if you wanted to sow massive disruption and chaos? Fortunately, the evidence suggests that this latest coronavirus occurred naturally. But it is worth asking, how at risk are we of a bioterrorist attack? Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.…

There might be five RACGP candidates, but only one can be your next president. This episode features Associate Professor Ayman Shenouda, a GP from Wagga Wagga NSW and the RACGP vice president. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.Door The Medical Republic

We are inviting all candidates onto the podcast to answer questions about telehealth, GP advocacy and what needs to change for the college to keep its members now, and into the future. This episode features Dr John Buckley, a Queensland-based GP and director of GP training at GPTQ. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.…

We are inviting all candidates onto the podcast to answer questions about telehealth, GP advocacy and what needs to change for the college to keep its members now, and into the future. This episode features Dr Chris Irwin, a Victorian GP, and practice owner of two clinics, in Diamond Creek and Ivanhoe. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for mor…

We are inviting all candidates onto the podcast to answer questions about telehealth, GP advocacy and what needs to change for the college to keep its members now, and into the future. This episode features Dr Karen Price, a Melbourne GP and co-founder of GPDU. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.…

Who wants to be the next college president? We’ve invited all the doctors vying for the position onto our podcast to find out. This episode features Melbourne-based GP Dr Magdalena Simonis. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.Door The Medical Republic

Need to catch up on the current COVID situation? Bianca Nogrady shares the latest on Melbourne’s new mountain of cases, new restrictions and what we know so far from the ASCOT trial about the use of corticosteroids as a potential treatment. Follow Bianca’s COVID Catchup blog here: medicalrepublic.com.au/tag/live-blog Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/…

There might be five RACGP candidates, but only one can be your next president. This episode features Associate Professor Charlotte Hespe, a Sydney-based GP, practice owner, and chair of the NSW and ACT RACGP faculties. You can read more about her campaign here: https://www.drcharlottehespe.com/ Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more inform…

There’s a tendency to talk about COVID as a binary outcome – either you die or you’re fine, says epidemiologist Gid Meyerowitz-Katz. But the first studies of people who have “recovered” from COVID show that about a third of patients with less severe disease (and around 80% of patients who were hospitalised) still have nasty symptoms three or four m…

The theory that scientists actually designed the pandemic-causing virus isn't just bouncing around in the fringes of the web, it's been endorsed by political leaders in multiple countries and even a former intelligence chief. So how can virologists be so sure that it's false? TMR reporter Ruby Prosser Scully gives us some detailed and fascinating a…

Need a COVID Catchup? Bianca Nogrady shares the latest on the Crossroads Hotel cluster in Sydney’s southwest and Melbourne’s new mountain of cases, while not forgetting the more amusing tales coming out of this pandemic. Follow Bianca’s COVID Catchup blog here: medicalrepublic.com.au/tag/live-blog Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more inf…

It's been another interesting week full of COVID-19 stories, we catch up with Bianca Nogrady, our live blogger, to find out what's been happening. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.Door The Medical Republic

A lot has been happening in the COVID-19 space as community transmission in Victoria continues to rise. Our COVID-19 blogger takes us through the highlights from the week - including the long-awaited results from the dexamethasone study. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.Door The Medical Republic

It's been another interesting week full of COVID-19 stories, we catch up with Bianca Nogrady, our live blogger, to find out what's been happening. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.Door The Medical Republic

We’ve had a few interesting COVID-19 stories crop up this week - and we’ve got Bianca Nogrady, our live blogger, here to tell us all about it. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.Door The Medical Republic

COVID-19 has put a spanner in the works for medical conference organisers, but the RACGP is not letting the virus put a stop to its major education and networking event. GP20 will be going ahead this year using a new ‘hybrid’ model, incorporating both digital and face to face elements. Social distancing guidelines permitting, the plan is for GPs to…

Say the word 'coronavirus', and we first think of a respiratory disease. So why are scientists tracking what happens to patients' moods and minds in the years after they have recovered? It turns out that coronavirus illnesses like SARS, MERS - and possibly even COVID - appear to have a range of neurological and mental health effects too. Everything…

COVID-19 research is flooding the news every day – and we are all finding it hard to keep up. We’ve invited Bianca Nogrady back on the show to give us a rundown of what’s new and important. Bianca is our resident expert on all things pandemic-related; she updates The Medical Republic’s COVID-19 live blog daily. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privac…

Last week, we were lucky enough to be joined by two leading business advisors in general practice on our live JobKeeper Q&A. We had so much engagement from our live audience that we’ve decided to invite our two panellists back. They’re coming on the show today to answer some of your questions that they didn’t manage to get to during the live event …

In COVID-19 news this week... The Lancet has published an editorial asking voters not to elect Trump in November. Two studies try to answer the question of the true seroprevalence of COVID-19 in different populations. Australian researchers have estimated that the overall rate of asymptomatic COVID-19 presentations is around 16%. And Sweden’s appro…

Men can sometimes seem like an afterthought when trying to find out why couples are having trouble conceiving. But now the technology industry has caught on and is starting to pay attention to this lucrative, untapped market. Already, one in six couples are unable to conceive on their own, and in around half of those cases, there is a problem with …

Feeling out of the loop on COVID-19? Here's a news round up from the past week, brought to you by science freelancer Bianca Nogrady, podcast hosts Felicity Nelson and Francine Crimmins and TMR reporter Penny Durham, who's got an interesting and disturbing tale about children getting strange complications from COVID-19... Hosted on Acast. See acast.…

As you probably all know by now, we’ve been running a live blog on our website to bring you breaking news about the pandemic. Every news outlet is doing this now, but no one else is running a blog specifically for GPs! For this episode of The Medical Republic podcast, we're joined by Bianca Nogrady, a science and medical freelancer who has been wor…

It’s a little shocking to suddenly get a letter from your commercial tenant asking for a 50% rent reduction – but COVID-19 is increasingly making this a reality for GPs. Many GPs are unsure about how to respond to these requests. So, we thought it would be helpful to share some of the conversations we’ve been having with business experts and lawyer…