A Journey Through Medicine

The lads are joined by Michael who has over 10 years of nursing experience across Australia and the UK as they begin preparations for their upcoming OSCE. Both the history of the presenting complaint and comprehensive history are integral parts of medical practice, being skills clinicians use on a daily basis. Listen as Michael provides a solid example of these and Norm botches his attempt by laughing at the patient.

Shout-out to Ben Earner!

Content covered in this episode:

- History of the presenting complaint (SOCRATES)

- Comprehensive history taking (eg, social, familial and past medical history)

The lads are joined by Jarrod as they put their recently acquired knowledge of gram-negative bacterial infections to the test by going through some case reports. Follow along and see if you can identify the most likely bacterial causes of the cases presented.

FYI: This episode is MEANT to be HARD, so don't worry if you don't get all the answers!

Shout-out to Ben Earner!

Norman struggles to pronounce various species names (all of them), as he, Terence, Jarrod and Shaun explore the pathogens that comprise the Gram-positive rods, as well as the types of infections they can cause.

Shout - out to Ben Earner!

Content covered in this episode:

- Endospore formers: Bacillus and Clostridium

- Non - endospore formers (eg Lactobacillus, Listeria, Cornybacterium, Actinomyces, Nocardia)

In this episode the lads try to wrap their heads around some of the most common and clinically important bacteria as well as some of the infections they can cause. FUN FACT: Healthcare workers are consistently found to have some of the highest rates of Staph aureus carriage in the population.

Shout-out to Ben Earner!

Content covered in this episode:

- How gram-positive cocci are classified (gram-stain, catalase and coagulase tests, haemolysis of blood agar, Lancefield grouping, etc)

- Common infections and pathologies associated with:

- Staph. Aureus

- Staph. Saprophyticus and Staph. Epidermidis

- The Viridans group Streptococci

- Strep. Pneumoniae

- Enterococcus Faecalis and Faecium

The lads are joined by pharmacist (and pharmacology expert) Claire to discuss how drugs go through our bodies and how certain substances can alter or maintain the balance in our autonomic nervous systems! (Trigger warning: mentions suicide.)

Shout-out to Ben Earner!

Things covered in this episode include:

- The potential dangers of grapefruit juice in altering the metabolism of medications

- An overview of pharmacokinetics (absorption, distribution, metabolism and excretion of drugs)

- Core concepts of pharmacogenomics, drug-drug-interactions and toxicology

- ANS pharmacology core concepts (sympathetic vs parasympathetic nervous systems)

- Adrenergic receptor agonists & antagonists, their effects and clinical uses

- Cholinergic receptor agonists & antagonists, their effects and clinical uses

- Acetylcholinesterase inhibitors, their effects and clinical uses

- How amphetamines work

- Some of the drugs covered: adrenaline, noradrenaline, phenylephrine, salbutamol, propranolol, metoprolol, pilocarpine, atropine, tiotropium, amphetamines, pseudoephedrine, neostigmine

This episode is all about how our skeletal muscles can take us from point A to point B! Norm, Shaun and Terence are joined by fellow medical student Jasper, who has a honours degree in skeletal muscle physiology to talk about how these voluntary muscles can contract and what molecules are involved. 

Shout-out to Ben Earner!

Content covered in this episode includes: 

- The process of excitation-contraction coupling, including action potential propagation, the roles of ATP and calcium and the sarcomere. 

- The length-tension curve relationship and the difference between active and passive tension

- Motor unit recruitment patterns and muscle fibre types 

- Dexterity vs strength  

- The myotactic (catch) and inverse myotactic (drop) reflexes

Norm, Shaun and Terence are joined by fellow medical student Natalie, who has a PhD in immunology, to discuss innate and adaptive immunity. Natalie studied the regulation of the innate immune system in preterm neonates, focusing on toll-like receptors and how their expression can regulate the transcription of various genes associated with inflammation. 

Shout-out to Ben Earner! 

Content covered in this episode includes: 

- The first line of defense: physical and chemical barriers 

- Key cells and proteins associated with the innate immune response such as neutrophils, macrophages, complement, cytokines, etc

- Acute vs chronic inflammatory responses 

- MHC classes 1 vs 2

- The initiation of the adaptive immune response 

- B and T cell structure and function

On this episode, Norman, Shaun and Terence talk about the fundamentals of pathology! We explain how cells adapt and change in response to different stimuli as well as what happens to a cell once it is irreversibly injured. These concepts cover the basics of many clinical conditions that we will be covering through this podcast. 

Shoutout to Ben Earner!

Topics covered in this episode includes:

- Adaptations to cellular stress including hypertrophy, hyperplasia and metaplasia

- The mechanisms of the different types of cell death (apoptosis, necrosis and autophagy) 

- Different types of necrosis and clinical examples including gangrene, myocardial infarction, fibrinoid and caseous necrosis. 

[CORRECTION: The brachialis muscle in the arm is innervated by the musculocutaneous nerve on the medial part and the radial nerve on the lateral part.)

Thanks again to Ben Earner for being a legend!

Concepts covered in this episode: 

- Different types of joints including synovial, synchondrosis, symphisis, syndesmosis, sutures, etc 

- Development of the limbs from the body wall

- Dorsal vs ventral muscles and actions 

- Innervation of the forelimbs and hindlimbs as well as most muscles and bones 

Norman and Terence teach Shaun about the thorax and abdomen, regions of the body containing some of our most important organs. 

Thanks again to Ben Earner for helping out with the editing of this episode!

Content covered in this episode: 

Thorax

- The regions of the mediastinum 

- Anatomy of the lungs, ribs, diaphragm, heart and associated vessels 

- Nerves of the region including the Phrenic and Vagus

Abdomen 

- Organs of the foregut, midgut, hindgut and their respective blood supplies

- Anatomy of the liver, stomach and intestines

- Mesenteries 

- Blood supply and drainage of the paired glands and anus