Given that DFTB18 was held in Melbourne it was important to highlight the work of PREDICT (the Paediatric Research In Emergency Department International Collaborative)* This talk, by Franz Babl, centred around the management of bronchiolitis and focussed on the recent PARIS trial.

We were very privileged to be joined in Melbourne by the team from Simulcast. This piece of radio theatre was recorded in front of a live studio audience.

The team discussed, amongst others, these papers…

Bearman M, Molloy E. Intellectual streaking: The value of teachers exposing minds (and hearts). Medical teacher. 2017 Dec 2;39(12):1284-5.

Ingrassia PL, Franc JM, Carenzo L. A novel simulation competition format as an effective instructional tool in post-graduate medical education. Advances in Simulation. 2018 Dec;3(1):17.

Spoilers: There are some minor swears at the beginning of this talk so if you are easily offended or are listening with children around then fast-forward 10 seconds or so.

We have all made mistakes. Some are small – like forgetting to get the milk on the way home, some are huge – like forgetting your wedding anniversary. In this closing talk from DFTB18 Ross talks about the ancient Japanese art of Kintsugi. By fixing shards of broken pottery with molten gold artists created something even more beautiful than that which was broken.

Outside of his interest in ears, noses and throats Eric is passionate about our wellbeing. No doctor or healthcare provider is immune to the risk of depression. Andrew Tagg spoke about his own personal struggles at our first conference. Perhaps part of the same spectrum of work potentiated illness is burnout. Characterized by emotional exhaustion, low professional efficacy and high levels of cynicism it is rampant amongst our profession.

The  audience at DFTB18 were privileged to attend a series of sessions from team at Simulcast, the premier podcast for all things sim and debriefing. 

In this second talk of the session Ben Symon interviews Jannie Geertsema about why we become defensive at work and in the educational space education when we could be connecting.

The  audience at DFTB18 were privileged to attend a series of sessions from team at Simulcast, the premier podcast for all things sim and debriefing. 

In this first talk of the session Vic Brazil interviews Kara Allen about the place of simulation and asks ‘Is at really all that?‘ Kara Allen is a consultant anaesthetist at the Royal Melbourne Hospital and Clinical Lead at Monash Simulation. Whilst sim seems like an exciting way of doing ‘stuff’ and we all love the chance to get out of our respective departments and play let’s- pretend is it fit for purpose?

There is nothing like the thought of dealing with a shocked neonate to strike the fear of the almighty into the most experienced doctor. If you are lucky enough to have Kath Browning Carmo on speed dial then you may be a little more relaxed but if you don’t, here she is to offer some words of comfort.

Ari Horton is many things – an advocate for kindness, a Cordon Bleu trained pastry chef and, just very occasionally, a paediatric cardiologist. Andrew Tagg remembers the day Ari found his calling. Working as a paediatric ED resident in Melbourne’s inner west he came to present a patient. He could barely sit still and his grin threatened to infect the fishbowl as he announced, “I found a murmur!”

We may not all be as acoustically gifted as Ari but that thing we wield around our necks is not just for listening for wheezes or for distracting toddlers.

We were pleased that Amanda Ullman took up our offer to speak at DFTB after the great post she and the Vascular Access Management Service wrote for us on management of paediatric central access devices. This talk comes complete with trigger warnings. We’ve all been in the situation when we have been confronted with doughy armed toddlers and no sign of a vein in site. The parents, and that patient, are relying on you to get it right.

Given the prime directive of physicians of Primum Non Nocere (First Do No Harm) it is worth considering if we should be cannulating the child in the first place. In a study by Holloway et al. (2017) they found that 22% of PIVCs were unused after insertion. With a success rate of around 60% in our well children, we really to sway the odds further in our favour.

But is also worth considering the flipside – cannulation may be less painful than heel prick for blood sampling in neonates. Amanda asks us to consider if you are the right person to put in that cannula. Should you just ‘give it a go anyway’? Have you been up half the night and can barely focus? Have you just missed you last six cannulae and have something to prove?

Associate Professor Stephen Stathis has fellowships in both paediatrics and psychiatry. As Medical Director of the Child and Youth Mental Health Services in Brisbane, Australia. He heads up the gender dysphoria service at Queensland Children’s Hospital.