Clinical Update

In this episode of the Clinical Update podcast, GP Dr Toni Hazell talks to MIMS Learning editor Pat Anderson about obesity, women’s health, and the use of weight loss medications by people who may be taking hormones for contraception or menopause.

Dr Hazell talks about the nature of obesity and its effects on people’s lives, including the ‘heartbreaking’ stigma that they may experience. She says that newer weight loss medications such as GLP-1 agonists or dual GIP/GLP-1 agonists are a ‘game changer’ for many people.

However, there are considerations around the potential effect of newer weight loss medications on the absorption of hormones from oral contraceptives and oral components of HRT, which GPs need to be clear on.

Dr Hazell provides practical tips for primary care and signposts useful guidance that will help them best support people who could be affected by these issues.

You can access the website version of this podcast, along with a list of key learning points, on MIMS Learning - and make notes for your appraisal. MIMS Learning offers hundreds of hours of CPD for healthcare professionals, along with a handy CPD organiser.

Educational objectives

After listening to this podcast, healthcare professionals should be better able to: 

• Reflect on the impact of obesity and of GLP-1-related weight loss medications
• Understand why these weight loss medications may affect hormones taken orally
• Know how to approach the use of contraception and HRT in this context
• Access guidance providing practical advice for GPs

Please note: this podcast is presented by medical editors and discusses educational content written or presented by doctors, nurses and other healthcare professionals on the MIMS Learning website and at live events.

MIMS Learning

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Podcast: focus on contraception

Complex contraception scenarios part 1

Answering patients’ questions on intrauterine contraception

Podcast bonus episode: Dr Olivia Hum on the latest in menopause management

Guidance update: NICE guidelines on menopause

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In this episode of the Clinical Update podcast, the MIMS Learning team discusses presentations of fever, and accompanying symptoms for GPs to look out for that could indicate potentially serious disease.

Fever is a common symptom discovered during a GP consultation, and may be an indicator of potentially serious disease. MIMS Learning editor Pat Anderson and medical editor Sangeeta Krishnan look at red flags associated with fever, possible causes in adults and children, when to suspect sepsis, and recommendations around the use of scoring tools in general practice.

You can access the website version of this podcast on MIMS Learning to get key learning points and make notes for your appraisal. MIMS Learning offers hundreds of hours of CPD for healthcare professionals, along with a handy CPD organiser.

Educational objectives

After listening to this podcast, healthcare professionals should be better able to: 

• Recall red flag symptoms associated with presentations of fever in adults
• List some categories that these red flag symptoms might fall into
• Identify possible causes of fever in adults
• Consider signs and symptoms of sepsis
• Remember key red flag symptoms associated with fever in children
• Understand recommendations around use of scoring tools in general practice

Please note: this podcast is presented by medical editors and discusses educational content written or presented by doctors, nurses and other healthcare professionals on the MIMS Learning website and at live events.

MIMS Learning

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Fever in adults - red flag symptoms 

Patient, presentation, pathway for cancer

Leg ulcers: part 2 - treatment and referral

Testicular pain and lumps - red flag symptoms

Guidance update: NICE guidelines on sepsis

Fever of unknown origin in children - red flag symptoms

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MIMS Learning’s deputy editor, Rhiannon Ashman, brings you key insights and discussions from MIMS Learning Live South (13 June 2025), taking a tour through hot topics — including asthma diagnosis, menopause management, why ‘old is new’ in childhood infections, and earlier cancer diagnosis.

Our expert guests – Dr Steve Holmes, Dr Olivia Hum, Dr Justin Penner and Dr Owen Carter – distil complex information into practical takeaways, empowering you to enhance patient care across multiple specialities.

MIMS Learning subscribers can access bonus episodes, including full interviews with our speakers at mimslearning.co.uk.

Educational objectives

After listening to this podcast, healthcare professionals should be better able to:

• Apply the BTS/NICE/SIGN asthma guidelines in practice, understanding key changes to diagnosis and treatment.
• Confidently manage menopausal symptoms in women with a history of breast cancer, including appropriate use of HRT and non-hormonal therapies.
• Identify and address the challenges of vaccine hesitancy and antimicrobial resistance.
• Optimise earlier cancer diagnosis by recognising common barriers to presentation and using safety-netting strategies for at-risk patients, particularly those with serious mental illness.

You can access the website version of this podcast on MIMS Learning to make notes for your appraisal. MIMS Learning offers hundreds of hours of CPD for healthcare professionals, along with a handy CPD organiser.

Please note: this podcast is presented by medical editors and discusses educational content written or presented by doctors, nurses and other healthcare professionals on the MIMS Learning website and at live events.

Useful links

Resources from MIMS Learning

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Podcast: paediatric infectious disease

Guidance update: NICE guidelines on menopause

Measles update

Guidance update: latest NICE guidelines on recognition and referral of suspected cancer

Podcast: Dr Ravi Ramanathan on changes to GP appraisal

Podcast: NHS England’s Professor Peter Johnson on optimising early cancer diagnosis

MIMS

Hormone replacement therapy (HRT)

Combination inhalers for asthma

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Musculoskeletal disorders can range from acute injuries to chronic conditions and accounts for nearly one third of GP consultations.

In this episode of the Clinical Update podcast, the MIMS Learning’s medical editors discuss musculoskeletal symptoms that can be red flags, inflammatory conditions, and back pain.

Educational objectives

After listening to this podcast, GPs and other healthcare professionals should be more aware of:

• The red flag symptoms for muscle weakness, paraesthesia, and bone pain.
• The differences between various causes of muscle weakness, including neurological, rheumatological, gastrointestinal, endocrine, and malignant etiologies.
• Key indicators of serious underlying conditions associated with paraesthesia.
• NICE guidance for the diagnosis and management of gout.
• Identify characteristic features of axial spondyloarthritis , including inflammatory back pain and extra-musculoskeletal manifestations, to facilitate earlier diagnosis.
• How to manage acute low back pain effectively by providing appropriate self-management advice and analgesia.

You can access the website version of this podcast on MIMS Learning to make notes for your appraisal. MIMS Learning offers hundreds of hours of CPD for healthcare professionals, along with a handy CPD organiser.

Please note: this podcast is presented by medical editors and discusses educational content written or presented by doctors, nurses and other healthcare professionals on the MIMS Learning website and at live events.

MIMS Learning

Red flags

Bone pain - red flag symptoms

Paraesthesia - red flag symptoms

Muscle weakness - red flag symptoms

Arthritis and inflammatory

Guidance update: Latest NICE guidelines on gout

Diagnosing axial spondyloarthritis in primary care

Widespread joint pain - red flag symptoms

Back pain

Acute low back pain: initial presentation to primary care

Back pain - red flag symptoms

MIMS

Tests for patients on disease-modifying arthritis drugs

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‘Up to 20% of people with type 2 diabetes may actually have type 3c diabetes,’ GP Dr Patrick Holmes tells Dawn Liz Powell in this episode of the Clinical Update podcast.

Type 3c diabetes, also known as pancreatic diabetes, occurs as a result of damage to the pancreas. Risk factors include chronic pancreatitis, excessive alcohol use, prior pancreatic surgery, and conditions such as cystic fibrosis.

Dr Holmes says that distinguishing between type 3c diabetes and type 2 diabetes can be difficult, but features that may be suggestive of type 3c diabetes include lack of response to traditional oral therapies, rapid progression to insulin, or weight loss.

A key concern, though, in a person presenting with signs and symptoms of pancreatic disease is pancreatic cancer. 

You can access the website version of this podcast on MIMS Learning to make notes for your appraisal. MIMS Learning offers hundreds of hours of CPD for healthcare professionals, along with a handy CPD organiser.

Educational objectives

After listening to this podcast, GPs and other healthcare professionals should be more aware of:

• The risk factors for type 3c diabetes
• Features suggestive of type 3c diabetes
• How to diagnose and manage type 3c diabetes
• The link between type 3c diabetes and pancreatic cancer

Please note: this podcast is presented by medical editors and discusses educational content written or presented by doctors, nurses and other healthcare professionals on the MIMS Learning website and at live events.

MIMS Learning

Cardio-renal-metabolic disease: clinical review

Cystic fibrosis: clinical review

Guidance update: latest NICE guidelines on type 2 diabetes in adults

Case study: latent autoimmune diabetes in adults

Pancreatic cancer - red flag symptoms

Patient, Presentation, Pathway for Cancer

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MIMS

Drug shortages - live tracker

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The General Medical Council (GMC) says that patients should be considered to be ‘approaching the end of life’ when they are likely to die within the next 12 months, adding that one of the most challenging decisions — for healthcare professionals and patients — is when/if to withdraw life-prolonging treatment.

In this episode of the Clinical Update, the MIMS Learning team explores how to identify when a patient is entering into the last stages of their life and what the role of the GP is in supporting them. We also look at how to approach conversations about end-of-life care with patients and their loved ones, including when a patient lacks capacity.

Additionally, we discuss the NICE guidelines on end-of-life care for both adults and children.

You can access the website version of this podcast on MIMS Learning to make notes for your appraisal. MIMS Learning offers hundreds of hours of CPD for healthcare professionals, along with a handy CPD organiser.

Please note: this podcast is presented by medical editors and discusses educational content written or presented by doctors, nurses and other healthcare professionals on the MIMS Learning website and at live events.

MIMS Learning

End of life care: a guide for GPs and nurses

Guidance update: care of dying adults in the last days of life

Guidance update: latest NICE guidelines on end of life care in children

Guidance update: SIGN guidelines for support of people with dementia and their carers

Managing respiratory problems in palliative care

Polypharmacy in a patient with dementia: nursing home case study

Unsafe swallow in a patient who lacks capacity: nursing home case study

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Related podcasts

Talking General Practice: should assisted dying be legalised?

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In this episode of the Clinical Update Podcast, GP Dr Kevin Barrett speaks to MIMS Learning’s medical editor Sangeeta Krishnan about bowel problems in older people. Dr. Barrett provides invaluable insights into the gastrointestinal issues in older patients encountered in primary care.

He explores the spectrum of GI conditions seen in older adults, with a particular focus on diagnostic challenges as a result of polypharmacy, comorbidities and frailty. He also discusses managing constipation, IBD and diverticulitis, and their management in older people. 

The discussion also covers the critical role of the gut microbiome and dietary interventions, and the availability of newer treatments and diagnostic methods.

Educational objectives

After listening to this podcast, healthcare professionals should be better able to:

• Recognise the challenges in diagnosing bowel disorders in older individuals
• Implement holistic management strategies for constipation in the elderly
• Understand the varied presentations of IBD in older populations 
• Appreciate the impact of polypharmacy and lifestyle factors on GI health

You can access the website version of this podcast on MIMS Learning to make notes for your appraisal and find key learning points. MIMS Learning offers hundreds of hours of CPD for healthcare professionals, along with a handy CPD organiser.

Please note: this podcast is presented by medical editors and discusses educational content written or presented by doctors, nurses and other healthcare professionals on the MIMS Learning website and at live events.

Useful links

MIMS Learning

Irritable bowel syndrome: clinical review

Mild to moderate IBD 

IBD in older people: diagnosis and management strategies 

Extra-intestinal manifestations in IBD 

Frailty: clinical review

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MIMS Learning editor Pat Anderson and deputy editor Rhiannon Ashman outline how this year’s MIMS Learning Live South 2025 event programme aligns with GPs’ learning needs, and how the programme design meets delegate preferences.

Find out which hot topics we’ll be covering at the event, listen to clips from speakers about why their topics are important and what they’re looking forward to, and recall the additional benefits of attending this live event.

You can access the website version of this podcast on MIMS Learning - it has a list of key learning points and enables you to make notes for your appraisal. MIMS Learning offers hundreds of hours of CPD for healthcare professionals, along with a handy CPD organiser.

Please note: this podcast is presented by medical editors and discusses educational content written or presented by doctors, nurses and other healthcare professionals on the MIMS Learning website and at live events.

For more information and bookings for the live event, visit mimslearninglive.com/london

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People with learning disabilities have a lower life expectancy than those without, Professor Carolyn Chew-Graham tells medical editor Dawn Liz Powell in this episode of the Clinical Update podcast. She adds that while this can relate to  comorbid physical conditions, it can also be because of health inequalities . ‘ Possibly they don’t receive the same quality of care that the general population receives…. Or there’s lack of coordination and integration of care’, Professor Chew-Graham explains.

As well as having poorer physical health than the general population, people with learning disabilities can also have poorer mental health. This can be because common mental health problems, such as anxiety and depression, can present differently in this population — making them difficult to diagnose and treat.

Professor Chew-Graham, in this interview, outlines how GPs and other primary care professionals can support patients with learning disabilities, including ensuring information is presented in an accessible format and that the person has as much autonomy as possible.

You can access the website version of this podcast on MIMS Learning to make notes for your appraisal. MIMS Learning offers hundreds of hours of CPD for healthcare professionals, along with a handy CPD organiser.

Please note: this podcast is presented by medical editors and discusses educational content written or presented by doctors, nurses and other healthcare professionals on the MIMS Learning website and at live events.

MIMS Learning modules

Guidance update: NICE guidelines on mental health problems in people with learning disabilities

Podcast: Professor Carolyn Chew-Graham on supporting people with severe mental illness

Autism spectrum disorder: clinical review

Mental health conditions in autistic children and adolescents

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From laryngitis to Parkinson's disease, vocal overuse to malignancy, this episode of the Clinical Update podcast explores some common and other more serious causes of speech and voice disorders. Listen for practical insights on patient assessment, red flags to look out for, vocal hygiene, and when to refer, so you can manage these presentations more confidently.

You can access the website version of this podcast on MIMS Learning to make notes for your appraisal. MIMS Learning offers hundreds of hours of CPD for healthcare professionals, along with a handy CPD organiser.

Please note: this podcast is presented by medical editors and discusses educational content written or presented by doctors, nurses and other healthcare professionals on the MIMS Learning website and at live events.

Resources from MIMS Learning

Hoarse voice - red flag symptoms

Understanding and identifying inducible laryngeal obstruction

Speech disturbance in adults - red flag symptoms

Webinar: Diagnosis and treatment of hypothyroidism

Stroke: clinical review

Delirium – red flag symptoms

Delirium: clinical review

Schizophrenia: clinical review

Further reading

Pestana PM, Vaz-Freitas S, Manso MC. Prevalence of Voice Disorders in Singers: Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis. J Voice 2017; 31(6): 722–7.

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