Entrustable Professional Activities (EPA's) in Undergraduate Medicine

Posted by Professor Mike O’Connor AM on 2 December 2019
Entrustable Professional Activities (EPA's) in Undergraduate Medicine
Definition EPA's are a set of basic competencies required for professional life. They are put in place to replace mere time-related education programs and focus on the capacity of the student to perform the required tasks in their early professional career. The concept evolved in 2005. NSW Health requirements of medical schools are that they deliver medical graduates with sufficient capacities to function adequately during their intern year (which may well become 2 years in the futu...
Posted in:ObstetrcisOther  

Vaginal Mesh: Class Actions, Trials and Tribulations

Posted by Professor Mike O’Connor AM on 9 September 2019
Vaginal Mesh: Class Actions, Trials and Tribulations
More than 6 percent of people in first world countries have received an implantable medical device "for rebuilding body functions, achieving a better quality of life, or expanding longevity" and 1.7 million patients have been injured worldwide from 2005 to 2014. Nevertheless the innovations and continual improvements in medical devices mean that a majority of patients have received great benefit from these implants. Up to 15% of women recipients of vaginal mesh experienced vagin...
Posted in:Medicolegal  

Errors in Antenatal Genetic Diagnosis and Wrongful Therapeutic Abortion

Posted by Dr Mike O'Connor on 5 June 2019
Errors in Antenatal Genetic Diagnosis and Wrongful Therapeutic Abortion
In November 2018 a 39 year old IVF patient of mine received terrible news that her Non Invasive Prenatal Test at 11 weeks was positive for Trisomy 13. Patau syndrome is associated with severe intellectual disability and a range of physical defects including heart abnormalities, cleft lip, microphthalmia, brain and spinal anomalies. Only 10% or less of such infants survive until the second year of life.  Needless to say many mothers would request a therapeutic abortion when giv...
Posted in:Obstetrcis  

Menstrual Cups and Toxic Shock

Posted by Professor Mike O’Connor AM on 10 December 2018
Menstrual Cups and Toxic Shock
Menstrual cups are flexible silicone or rubber cups which are applied to the upper vaginal fornices to collect menstrual blood. They are increasingly being used as a more environmentally-friendly alternative to tampons. They are intended for re-use and can last for upwards of 10 years. Whereas the monthly cost of tampons is ~$10  (before the lifting of GST soon) a menstrual cup costs between  $35-50. At a recent tutorial at WSU I found that 50% of the women students preferred...
Posted in:Obstetrcis  

Reproductive Aspects of Acute Appendicitis

Posted by Professor Mike O’Connor AM on 26 July 2018
Reproductive Aspects of Acute Appendicitis
Introduction Appendicitis most often occurs between the ages of 10 19 years, with an incidence of between 19-28 per 10,000 before the age of 14 years. Less than 7 per 10,000 children present with appendicitis before the age of 4 years & less than 5% of presentations with appendicitis occur before the age of 5 years.  Causation  In tropical climates the cause is often a parasitic worm (pinworm or roundworm) causing obstr...
Posted in:ObstetrcisUltrasoundOther  

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