Tuesday – The Edge of Disaster
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Trauma and International Relief medicine
Life In The Real World
We all have friends and mentors in the years above us, but it is a well-known fact that nothing can fully prepare you for the situations you will find yourself in as a Junior Doctor. Today we shed some light on whether the grass really is greener, as you hear from our panel of recent graduates (ranging from PGY 1 to PGY 6) on what life is really like as a working professional after the years of Medical School. Ask about applying for programmes, making a good impression, balancing life, relationships and work, what to do when unsure and most importantly, how to be the best junior doctor you can be.Life as a student is hard. You attend University full-time, study when you’re not there, and somehow try and fit in a part-time job as well. Your earning potential is limited by your professional student life, so how are you supposed to experience life as a student at the same time? Furthermore, how do you stop yourself from compensating for this when you graduate by spending all your newfound cash?Today, Investec talks to you about the smart way to handle your money – how you can have your cake, and eat it too. Devoting endless hours to studying medicine does not lend itself to developing a knowledge of finance or investment strategies, and so today we are remedying that by giving you a life lesson that can have a profound impact on your future.
Mini-Plenaries
Dr Jacqui Gilmour and Dr Graham Forward are a truly amazing husband and wife poverty fighting team who have touched the lives of many hundreds of people in need in Africa.Jacqui is the Founder and Director of Hope for Children Australia, a foundation that cares for HIV/AIDS affected orphans and families, she is also the past director of hope for Children USA and Ethiopia. On top of this Jacqui is a member of the Executive committee of the Australians Children Trust, which works with underprivileged children in Indigenous and non-Indigenous communities.
Graham is an Orthopaedic Surgeon who established Australian Doctors for Africa in 2005 after the Tsunami in Somalia during which time he led a team of medical experts in the wake of the disaster. Australian Doctors for Africa supports hospitals in Ethiopia, Somalia and Madagascar with equipment, training and funding.
Both Graham and Jacqui have spent extensive amounts of time working and living in Ethiopia and have adopted four Ethiopian Children together.
Come hear from these two incredible individuals how to get involved with Global Health and make a difference.
Ever sat before a clinical exam, cramming details from Talley and O’Connor’s Clinical Examination and wishing you could meet the mind that brought you this medical bible? Well now you can.Dr Simon O’Connor will be returning to the AMSA convention to provide delegates a masterclass on the clinical skills seen in his book. Come along to this workshop as he shares the quirky side of clinical exams, looking at some of the weird and wonderful signs you may find during an examination. Also keep an ear out for expert tips on how to ace an OSCE- straight from the man who wrote the book on clinical practice, literally!
Seminars
Aid is a vital service to improving the lives of those most in need and it is something which makes you feel good at the same time, right? The problem is many charity organisations are incredibly inefficient. Today Nick Watts will discuss with you the ethics of aid provision; how to effectively use your resources to make a relevant, sustainable difference to the lives of those less fortunate than yourselves. Nick is currently working for the World Health Organisation’s Dept. of Public Health and the Environment, the Lancet-University of Oslo Commission on Global Governance for Health, as well as working for the World Bank Group. In these capacities, he has been involved in policy development, governmental negotiation, and primary research. On the side of this Nick is a 4th year medical student who has just completed his BMedSc (Public Health), with the NHS Sustainable Development Unit. If you want to learn what you need to do to help, come down to this and challenge your perspective on global aid.To be in a critical condition is to be on the very Edge of life. Now what happens in the case where one is also at the very beginning of life? The human child is fragile at its healthiest, but what exactly do we do when they are facing the extremes of health? We all know the protocols for a human adult, but a newborn child is roughly 20 times smaller and physiologically very different. Dr Gareth Kameron, a Western Australian Paediatrician will talk to us about the critical decisions needed to save a child that is somewhere between the balance of life and death.Imagine you are holding in your hand the results of a test that says your patient is likely to die. How do you tell them? How do you help break the news to their family? Many of us will find ourselves in such a position in the not too distant future. Breaking bad news is a vitally important skill as a doctor which will dramatically impact how your patient handles this situation. Dr Evan Bayliss, a Perth Oncologist and a clinical lecturer at the University of Western Australia, will discuss with you how to break bad news to patients and their families.If you are interested in working in the areas of conflict and helping with medical crises faced by those in the third world, then this seminar by the Red Cross is a must! Dr Jenny Stedmon, Chair of the International Humanitarian Law Board of Red Cross Australia and consultant anaesthetist at Fremantle Hospital, will join us to discuss how to safely provide emergency health care in dangerous areas and the principles of international humanitarian law that apply to and protect medical professionals who work in conflict zones. Come along and find out how to get involved and stay safe!Need to fix the fracture? For anyone looking to take on an anaesthetic registrar this is for you! Consultant orthopaedic surgeons Professor Rene Zellweger and Mr Michael Wren will run two concurrent, interactive seminars focusing on how to assess and deal with complicated and interesting fractures that you might expect (or not expect!) to see in some truly horrendous trauma cases. Both Mr Wren and Professor Zellweger have a strong commitment to teaching; before teaching for UWA Professor Zellweger taught at Michigan State and Brown University and worked for over 10 years at the University Hospital in Zurich, Switzerland. Mr Wren has also taken his teaching expertise abroad in his time teaching Orthopaedic trainees in Ethiopia.Who knows what’s going on when they look at an ECG? Ever get palpitations of your own when your consultant asks about axis deviation? Luckily Winthrop Professor Tony Celenza is here to help decipher those confusing glyphs. Impress your team next time you are put on the spot with your sweet ECG skills garnered from this session.Professor Celenza is the Head of the Discipline of Emergency Medicine at the University of Western Australia, and practices as a Specialist Emergency Physician at Sir Charles Gairdner Hospital, Perth. Following on from his ECG seminar, he brings you the know-how on all things X-Rays and radiology. He is widely regarded as one of the best clinical teachers UWA has to offer and today he is here to make sense of those shadows and black-patches. Get ready to rock your radiograph!Imagine being over 500km away from the nearest hospital when disaster strikes. This is the reality that faces many Australians every day. During this session, you will hear about some of the challenges that face practitioners in the remotest regions of Australia’s largest state. It will also serve as a fascinating introduction to aerial retrieval medicine and guaranteed to be filled with many ‘out-there’ stories. This session is a must for any student considering going rural for their study or future employment.Working on a variety of intriguing and challenging cases, including the excision of facial tumours and submandibular glands and obstructive sleep disorders in children, our locally and nationally famous West Australian otolaryngology surgeon Dr. Lannigan is a favourite amongst both his paediatric and adult patients. He is an active member of the largest schools and societies of surgery and otolaryngology including ASOHNS, OHNS, and RACS. Dr. Lannigan is also a very entertaining teacher – and will be joining us at Convention to deliver an invigorating speech about his experiences in the field of Otolaryngology!This year Convention brings back the fitness phenomenon that has taken the world by storm! Take a break from lazing in lectures to get your heart pumping and feet thumping to some zesty latin beats with experienced Zumba instructor Angie Stojic. This workout workshop will cream calories and sculpt your muscle with a little hustle! It’s a fitness party – Zumba!Skills Workshops
Become the most popular kid in the medicine after learning about the various techniques of massage from an experienced masseuse. And if you find someone at a social night to practice on, all the better. Get ready to get oiled up.This workshop is ideal for all those students who are soon to undertake their first surgical rotations and who want to impress on the first day! Comprising of instrument handling, basic suturing skills and applying a good cosmetic effect, you will be able to develop your technique under the guidance of experienced surgeons at this workshop.Surgical die-hards, this workshop is for you! You will be focusing on perfecting your techniques in complex stitches and knot tying as well being introduced to alternate wound closure techniques such as wound glue and situations when it may be utilised. This knowledge will put you head and shoulders above your peers in clinical years. Suitable for those with surgical experience.