Volume 203 Issue 3

More is not always better when it comes to using oxygen for patients in acute care

E Walters FRCP, FRACP, DM · Greg King PhD, FRACP

n/a

Cate Swannell

Has alcohol consumption in Australia increased in recent years?

Farhat Yusuf BSc(Hons), MA, PhD · Stephen R Leeder MD, PhD, FRACP

Implementation of precision medicine requires a multidisciplinary and systematic approach

Ingrid Winship MD, FRACP, FACD

Effective partnership requires professionals and consumers to redefine their roles and responsibilities

Stephen D Gill PhD, BPhysio · Melinda Gill DRANZCOG, FRACGP, MPH

Infections acquired through cheaper overseas medical procedures often lead to costly care at home

Ruchir Chavada FRACP, FRCPA, MRCP · Siong H Hui FRACP · Vana Nagendra FRACP, FRCPA

HIV infection is not only seen in men who have sex with men

Ian J Woolley MB BS, FRACP, MD · Tony M Korman MB BS(Hons), FRACP, FRCPA

The reduction in infection rate observed by Entesari-Tatafi et al may have been due to a variation of the Hawthorne effect

Philip G Reasbeck MD, FRACS FRACMA · Sue Flockhart RN, GradDipInfCont, MNursing

Most contemporary prevention trials have used an unblinded non-randomised design and were similarly susceptible to this effect

Damoon Entesari-Tatafi MB BS · Neil Orford MB BS, FCICM, PGDipEcho · Eugene Athan MB BS, FRACP, MPH

We are experiencing an exciting era in the treatment of multiple sclerosis

Simon A Broadley MB ChB, PhD, FRACP · Michael H Barnett MB BS, PhD, FRACP · Mike Boggild MD, MRCP, FRACP · Bruce J Brew MD, FRACP, FAAN · Helmut Butzkueven MB BS, PhD, FRACP · Robert Heard MD, FRCP, FRACP · Suzanne Hodgkinson MB BS, PhD, FRACP · Allan G Kermode MD, FRACP, FRCP · Jeannette Lechner-Scott MD, PhD, FRACP · Richard AL Macdonell MD, FRACP, FAFRM(RACP) · Mark Marriott MB BS(Hons), PhD, FRACP · Deborah F Mason MB ChB, FRACP · John Parratt MB ChB, MD, FRACP · Stephen W Reddel MB BS, PhD, FRACP · Cameron P Shaw MB BS(Hons), FRACP · Mark Slee MB BS, PhD, FRACP · Judith M Spies MB BS, PhD, FRACP · Bruce V Taylor MB BS, MD, FRACP · William M Carroll MB BS, MD, FRACP · Trevor J Kilpatrick MB BS, PhD, FRACP · John King MB BS MD FRACP · Pamela A McCombe MB BS, PhD, FRACP · John D Pollard MB BS, PhD, FRACP · Ernest Willoughby MB ChB, FRACP

Effective revalidation processes based on performance measurement would be cost-effective and could lead to cost savings

Stephen N Bolsin FANZCA, MHSM, DLit(Hon) · Elizabeth Cawson MB BS(Hons) · Mark E Colson MB BS, FANZCA

Parents have little difficulty getting same-day GP appointments for their mildly ill children

Gary L Freed BA, MD, MPH · Amie Bingham MPH, BSc, BA · Amy R Allen BSc(Hons), GradDipAlcohol OtherDrugStudies · Michele Freed · Lena A Sanci MB BS, FRACGP, PhD · Neil Spike MB BS, FRACGP

Australian women at midlife are using complementary and alternative medicines that are known to be ineffective for managing menopausal vasomotor symptoms

Pragya Gartoulla MSc · Susan R Davis MB BS, FRACP, PhD · Roisin Worsley MB BS(Hons), FRACP · Robin J Bell MB BS(Hons), PhD, FAFPHM · Pragya Gartoulla MSc · Susan R Davis MB BS, FRACP, PhD · Roisin Worsley MB BS(Hons), FRACP · Robin J Bell MB BS(Hons), PhD, FAFPHM

Patient care is compromised by GPs not understanding abbreviations used in hospital discharge letters

Mark Chemali MB BS, BPharm(Hons) · Emily J Hibbert MB BS(Hons), MClinEd, FRACP · Adrian Sheen MB BS, DipObstRACOG, FRACGP · Mark Chemali MB BS, BPharm(Hons) · Emily J Hibbert MB BS(Hons), MClinEd, FRACP · Adrian Sheen MB BS, DipObstRACOG, FRACGP

Splenic abscesses are a rare but potentially life-threatening complication of non-typhoidal bacteraemia

Jonathan R Sillar BEng(Hons)/BCom, MB BS(Hons) · Aiveen M Bannan MB BS, FRACP, MPH · Leigh Dahlenburg BMedSc, MB BS(Hons), FRACP

This case highlights the difficulty of managing patients with a previous valve replacement who sustain acute major bleeding

Varun Sharma MB BS, BMedSci, PGradSurgAnat · Talbir Singh MB BS · Suranga Weerasooriya MB BS, MSc, FRACP · Dharmesh Anand MB BS, MD, DNB(Cardiology), FRACP

Vaccination coverage in eastern Sydney is not as low as it seems

Mark J Ferson MD, FAFPHM, FRACP · Karen Orr BN, GradDipEmergNurs

Caring is a basic tenet of our society

John B Best AO, MD BS, PhD, DSc(Hon)

Migrating is a daunting but fascinating experience

Lionel I Reyftmann FRANZCOG

Honouring the life and sacrifice of a young RAAF doctor

Andrew Burke MB BS, FRACP, DTMH

The news is particularly bad

Ann E Kolakowski

Allied health professionals work hand in glove with medical staff to provide the best care possible for patients. Sue Silveira is an orthoptist who partners with ophthalmologists to provide eye care for children with vision impairment and low vision

Cate Swannell

Bond University has appointed Professor Helen O’Neill to the newly created position of Chair of Immunology and Stem Cell Biology. Professor O’Neill will bring three researchers with her to Bond, taking the total team working on regenerative medicine and stem cell-based immunotherapies at the university to eight. Professor O’Neill is a leading immunology and stem cell expert. After graduating from the University of Adelaide with an honours degree in genetics, she has worked in medical research at Stanford University in California and the Australian National University in Canberra. She has been awarded several prestigious fellowships including the National Health and Medical Research Council CJ Martin Fellowship and a Cancer Research Fellowship working at Stanford University under Irv Weissman. http://bond.edu.au/news/46864/stem-cell-expert-heads-new-research-team Monash University researchers have secured $6.5 million in funding to continue research on combating antibiotic resistance. Of the funding awarded by the United States National Institutes of Health (NIH), $2 million will be directed to Monash-led research. Polymyxin B is able to kill “superbugs”, but it can also cause kidney toxicity. The new NIH-funded multi-national, multicentre clinical study will investigate the pharmacology of polymyxin B in critically ill patients infected with a superbug. Professor Jian Li from the Monash Institute of Pharmaceutical Sciences (MIPS) is a co-principal investigator of this 5-year project and will lead the Monash team conducting all laboratory investigations. The Monash team also comprises Professor Roger Nation from MIPS and Professor Anthony Purcell from the Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, Faculty of Biomedical and Psychological Sciences. http://www.med.monash.edu.au/news/2015/funding-to-fight-superbugs.html The University of Sydney has released a second discussion paper in its strategic planning process for 2016 to 2020. Investing in research excellence follows on from an education strategy discussion paper released in June and a survey of staff and students earlier in the year. The paper explores how the University could support strategic investment in key areas of existing and emerging research excellence over the next 5 years. It outlines the case for the University to make strategic investment in areas of disciplinary and multidisciplinary research, and the criteria and processes by which such areas might be identified. Find out more and have your say about the research discussion paper at http://sydney.edu.au/strategy/ http://sydney.edu.au/news/84.html?newsstoryid=15209 University of Tasmania Faculty of Health researcher Dr Romy Singh Sohal recently travelled to the US to receive a Scholarship Award from the National Emphysema Foundation, Honouring Claude Lenfant, MD, by the American Thoracic Society (ATS). In April, he was also presented with the Thoracic Society of Australia and New Zealand and Japanese Respiratory Society Early Career Development Award at its annual meeting. He has been invited by the Japanese Respiratory Society to speak and chair sessions at their annual scientific meeting in April next year. Dr Sohal’s award recognises his work over the past 9 years on a process called epithelial–mesenchymal transition in the airways. http://www.utas.edu.au/health/latest-news/fhs-news-items/health-researcher-receives-international-recognition Professor Greg Woods, the immunologist who leads the scientific hunt for a vaccine against the Tasmanian Devil Facial Tumour Disease (DFTD), has been formally recognised for his 30-year contribution to medical research, teaching and the community. The awarding of the Australian Society for Medical Research (ASMR) Certificate in Recognition of Distinguished Service to Medicine, Science and Community in Tasmania was announced at the ASMR Medical Research Week annual dinner in Hobart. Professor Woods, who works for University of Tasmania’s Menzies Institute for Medical Research and the School of Medicine, joined the University’s School of Medicine Pathology Department in 1988. http://www.utas.edu.au/health/latest-news/fhs-news-items/peers-celebrate-leader-in-devil-tumor-research An exceptional contribution to stem cell research by Professor Ryan Lister, of the University of Western Australia’s Harry Perkins Institute of Medical Research, has been recognised with a major award. He won a $50,000 Metcalf Prize from the National Stem Cell Foundation of Australia. Professor Lister generated the first comprehensive maps of the human epigenome, and discovered that when specialised human cells were converted into adult stem cells, the reprogrammed adult stem cells retained a memory of the cell they once were. Professor Lister’s work on human epigenome mapping was rated by TIME magazine as the second most important scientific discovery of 2009. http://www.meddent.uwa.edu.au/__data/assets/pdf_file/0005/2757416/MeDeFacts-June-2015.pdf University of Wollongong’s medical historian Associate Professor Louella McCarthy has won a coveted Harvard Fellowship to research the history of female doctors. Professor McCarthy, from the School of Medicine, will travel to the Countway Library Harvard in October as part of the 2015–2016 Foundation for the History of Women in Medicine Fellowship. While there, she will scour Harvard’s Centre for the History of Medicine archives to investigate the history of the internationalist ambitions of American medical women, particularly during the period up to the 1970s. This project extends Professor McCarthy’s current work with a team from the Australian Federation of Medical Women. http://media.uow.edu.au/news/UOW197677.html

Cate Swannell

This calendar will be updated each month. If you have an event you would like to add, please include relevant details in an email to cswannell@mja.com.au ALM = active learning module ASM = annual scientific meeting CPD = continuing professional development CT = computed tomography ECHO/echo = echocardiography EMAC = effective management of anaesthetic crises MRI = magnetic resonance imaging OSCE = objective structured clinical examination SAT SET = supervisors and trainers for surgical education and training X = conferences in Australia August 17-20 Molecular and Cellular Basis of Breast Cancer Risk and Prevention 2015, Cairns, QLDX 21-24 Medical Innovations for the Future and Beyond, London, UK 23-26 Congress of the Asian Society for Transplantation, Singapore 23-29 12th WHO/IDF/EASD Cambridge Seminar on the epidemiological and public health aspects of diabetes mellitus, Cambridge, UK 24-25 6th Annual Correctional Services Healthcare Summit, Melbourne, VICX 24-27 Global Forum on Research and Innovation for Health 2015, Manila, Philippines 26-29 International Society of Hypnosis Congress: Roots and Future of Consciousness, Paris, France 27-28 Hospital Costing and Health Coding Forum, Melbourne, VICX 29 Aug-2 Sep Congress of the World Federation of Societies of Intensive and Critical Care Medicine, Seoul, Republic of Korea 30 Aug-2 Sep 12th International Conference on Chitin and Chitosan 2015, Münster, Germany 31 Aug-1 Sep International Symposium on Critical Bleeding 2015, Copenhagen, Denmark 31 Aug-3 Sep OESO 13th World Conference “The Esophagiome”, Emerging Issues in Health and Disease, Monaco September 1-3 International Conference of Medical and Health Sciences 2015, Yogyakarta, Indonesia 2-4 International Meeting on Respiratory Pathogens 2015, Singapore 3-4 7th International Conference on Ocular Infections, Barcelona, Spain 3-5 7th World Congress on Ovulation Induction, Bologna, Italy 3-5 4th FFN Global Congress 2015, Rotterdam, Netherlands 3-6 World Society for Functional and Stereotactic Neurosurgery Interim meeting, Mumbai, India 3-6 2nd World Congress on NeuroTherapeutics Dilemmas, Debates, Discussion, Prague, Czech Republic 6-9 Population Health Congress: One vision, many voices, Hobart, TASX 6-9 17th Asia Pacific League of Associations for Rheumatology Congress, Chennai, India 6-10 16th World Congress on Lung Cancer, Denver, USA 6-10 9th European Congress on Tropical Medicine and International Health, Basel, Switzerland 9-10 NFMRI Medical Research Innovation Conference, Sydney, NSWX 9-11 2015 RACMA Conference — Inequality and Healthcare: recognising the healthcare costs of inequality, Auckland, NZX 9-11 International congress on addiction science, Tehran, Iran 10-11 11th Annual Australian Diseases Management Conference — Count me in: partnerships in chronic care, Brisbane QLDX 10-11 3rd International Oncology Conference, Abu Dhabi, UAE 10-11 4th Annual International Medical Conference — More awareness of chronic pelvic pain in women, Cairo, Egypt 10-12 International Society for Vascular Surgery 2015 Congress, Athens, Greece 10-12 The Viral Hepatitis Congress 2015, Frankfurt, Germany 10-12 2nd International Symposium on Clinical and Basic Investigation in Glioblastoma, Toledo, Spain 11-12 Innovation in Medicine and Healthcare 2015, Kyoto, Japan 13-16 International Society for Hemodialysis Congress 2015, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia 15-16 18th International Conference of Functional Food Center, 6th International Symposium of Functional and Medical Foods for Chronic Diseases, Boston, MA, USA 17-20 22nd World Congress on Controversies in Obstetrics, Gynaecology and Infertility, Budapest, Hungary 17-21 30th International Papillomavirus Conference, Lisbon, Portugal 16-19 Australian Indigenous Doctors Association annual conference — Collaborate, communicate and celebrate, Adelaide, SAX 21-23 RACGP Conference GP15, Melbourne, VICX 24-26 3rd International Students’ Association of Robotic Urologic Surgery Conference, Cluj-Napoca, Romania 27-30 17th Annual International Meeting of the Institute of Human Virology, Baltimore, MD, USA 28-30 World Congress on Interventional Therapies for Type 2 Diabetes and DSS II, London, UK 29 Sep-2 Oct 11th Australasian Conference on Vibrational Spectroscopy and 5th Asian Spectroscopy Conference, Sydney, NSW 30 Sep-3 Oct International Congress of Innate Immunity, Marbella, Spain October 1-3 Regional Congress of the World Federation for Mental Health, Singapore 1-5 Asia Pacific Rim International Counselling and Psychotherapy Conference, Perth, WA s 2-3 Singapore Health and Biomedical Congress 2015, Singapore 2-4 Inaugural Scientific Conference of the Asia Association of Medical Laboratory Scientists 2015, Yogyakarta, Indonesia 4-8 43rd Annual Meeting of the International Society for Pediatric Neurosurgery, Izmir, Turkey 4-9 21st FIGO World Congress of Gynaecology Obstetrics, Vancouver, Canada 5-6 16th International Conference on Alzheimer’s Drug Discovery, Jersey City, USA 5-7 Interprofessional Health, Education and Practice Conference, Melbourne, VICX 5-8 15th International Nutrition and Diagnostics Conference, Prague, Czech Republic 5-9 18th International Conference on Medical Imaging Computing and Computer Assisted Intervention, Munich, Germany 6-8 15th International Conference on Progress in Vaccination Against Cancer, Tübingen, Germany 6-9 45th Annual Meeting of the International Continence Society, Montreal, Canada 8-10 6th International Symposium on Microsurgical Anatomy, Istanbul, Turkey 8-10 20th World Congress on Advances in Oncology and 18th International Symposium on Molecular Medicine, Athens, Greece 8-11 47th Congress of the International Society of Paediatric Oncology, Cape Town, South Africa 9-11 Australasian Military Medicine Association Conference 2015, Hobart, TASX 11-13 11th International Congress on Coronary Artery Disease, Florence, Italy 13-14 5th Annual Next Generation Sequencing Asia Congress, Singapore 13-16 2015 International Psychogeriatrics Association International Congress, Berlin, Germany 14-16 International Congress of the International Neuropsychiatric Association, Jerusalem, Israel 14-17 International Conference on e-Health Networking, Application and Services, Boston, USA 15-17 International Symposium on Obstetric Anaesthesia: Effect on Mother and Newborn, Budapest, Hungary 16-19 RANZCOG ASM, Perth, WA 18-23 15th International Thyroid Congress, Orlando, USA

Cate Swannell