We're marking World Antimicrobial Resistance (AMR) Awareness Week 2025 with an episode dedicated entirely to antibiotics, the medicines we rely on every day and the ones we need to protect.

We're joined by Caroline Chen, a senior antimicrobial stewardship pharmacist and project officer at the Royal Melbourne Hospital, for a deep dive into all things antibiotics. Together, we walk through the ABCs of commonly used antibiotics, or more accurately the B through T, including beta-lactams, clindamycin, doxycycline, macrolides, metronidazole, nitrofurantoin, quinolones, rifampicin and trimethoprim.

This episode highlights how these medicines work and when we use them and key counselling points. Antibiotics are a finite resource, and understanding them is one of the most powerful tools we have to preserve their effectiveness for the future.

Listen in as Kristin chats with Dr Angela Kwong, a Sydney-based General Practitioner with a special interest in medically supervised weight management, about the use of GLP-1 agonists.

Dr Kwong serves as the NSW State Lead for the RACGP Specific Interests Group in Obesity Management and works closely with colleagues across disciplines to improve care for people living with obesity. She is also the founder of Enlighten Me, a multidisciplinary online program that provides evidence-based, GP-led support for patients seeking weight management. The program has been recognised for its contribution to patient education and its focus on accessible, stigma-free care.

Additional GLP-1 reading:

1. GLP-1 agonist role in renal protection - FLOW Trial

1a. Digestible summary of the FLOW trial

2. Current ANZCA guidelines for anaesthesia / sedation in patients using GLP-1 agonists (May 2025)

3. Tirzepatide as Compared with Semaglutide for the Treatment of Obesity

We talk with Prof Pete Smith, an allergist from Queensland about

• Why rhinitis shouldn't be sneezed at (sorry we had to), including the consequences of allergic rhinitis being un/undertreated
• The recommended method to use intranasal sprays - hint "if you can taste it, you're wasting it"
• How to discuss concerns patients might have about intranasal corticosteroids
• The long list of potential triggers of nonallergic rhinitis
• What are the red flag symptoms of rhinitis?

Some further reading:

• Nonallergic Rhinopathy: A Comprehensive Review of Classification, Diagnosis, and Treatment. The journal of allergy and clinical immunology. In practice, S2213-2198(24)00270-8. Advance online publication. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jaip.2024.03.009
• Itch Beyond the Skin-Mucosal Itch. Front Allergy. 2021;2:700368. Published 2021 Oct 28. https://doi.org/10.3389/falgy.2021.700368
• Characteristics of nonallergic vasomotor rhinitis. World Allergy Organ J. 2009 Jun 15;2(6):102-5. https://doi.org/10.1097/wox.0b013e3181a8e389
• Allergic and Mixed Rhinitis: Diagnosis and Natural Evolution. J Clin Med. 2019 Nov 19;8(11):2019. https://doi.org/10.3390/jcm8112019

Listen in to round out our conversation about anticoagulation, by hearing from two Anticoagulation Stewardship Pharmacists - Hadley Bortz from the Alfred in Melbourne and Julianne Chong from Concord Hospital.

Find out more about ACS programs in Australia and overseas and the benefits that these programs can bring to your health service.

Anticoagulant patient care plan

Anticoagulation Forum

Advancing Anticoagulation Stewardship: A Playbook

CATAG Medicines Stewardship Toolkit

Join us as we talk with Prof Prash Sanders about the role of anticoagulation for patients with atrial fibrillation (AF), learn when patients should be screened for AF, how to perform a stroke risk assessment and strategies to reduce the risk of bleeding.

This podcast is in collaboration with Medcast and the Quality Use of Medicines Alliance, a provider of health professional education in Australia focused on the quality use of medicines. Check out their resources here.

Clinical guide: Anticoagulant management for AF

Anticoagulant patient care plan

Prof Prash Sanders is a cardiologist and electrophysiologist with a focus on heart rhythm disorders, particularly atrial fibrillation. He graduated with Honours from the University of Adelaide and completed advanced training in Melbourne and Bordeaux, France, earning national and international recognition for his research and clinical expertise.

He is the Clinical Director of Cardiac Electrophysiology at the Royal Adelaide Hospital and holds the Knapman – National Heart Foundation Chair of Cardiology Research at the University of Adelaide. Dr Sanders has published over 600 papers and is a leader in advanced ablation techniques. He consults and performs procedures across multiple hospitals and regional clinics in South Australia.

Jarrah is a clinical pharmacist with a passion for education and quality use of data. He has led national health programs, including GP audit and feedback initiatives and Indigenous health nKPIs. He is currently clinical lead at MedCast, supporting best practice care through the Quality Use of Medicines Alliance.

Naloxone has been available in Australia without prescription since 2022 (after pilot programs through 2019-2021, analysis showed this trial saved 3 lives per day). Join us as Kristin and Nat talk naloxone with Pharmacist Emily Turkovic. Emily shares her personal story and why she is passionate about ensuring that naloxone is widely available in our community. Listen in for tips and tricks on how to broach the subject with patients and ways to de-stigmatise naloxone.

Resources:

Opioid Safety Toolkit

Free Take Home Naloxone training program

Find out more about the Take Home Naloxone program here.

Take Home Naloxone Program Resources

Listen in as Kristin chats with Dr Ian Heslop about the health care needs of travellers, covering topics such as traveller's diarrhoea, altitude sickness and more. Listen until the end to find out what Ian brings in his travel medicine kit!

Ian is currently an Associate Professor at the University of Newcastle and has a strong background in Hospital Pharmacy and in academia. He was involved in the establishment of the Bachelor of Pharmacy program at James Cook University in Townsville - and whilst teaching at JCU, he completed his doctorate in travel health.

Listen in to our latest episode as Kristin chats with Chelsea Felkai about being a healthcare provider for patients with intellectual disability. Chelsea is a community pharmacist who is completing her PhD at the University of Newcastle.

You can find resources relating to the provision of inclusive healthcare and the NSQHS Standards User Guide for the Health Care of People with Intellectual Disability that Chelsea refers to in the podcast here.

Other resources include:

• PSA Medicine safety: disability care report https://www.psa.org.au/advocacy/working-for-our-profession/medicine-safety/disability-care/

• Australian Commission on Safety and Quality in Health Care - https://www.safetyandquality.gov.au/our-work/intellectual-disability-and-inclusive-health-care

• Australia's Disability Strategy 2021-2031 - https://www.disabilitygateway.gov.au/ads/strategy

• NDIS - https://www.ndis.gov.au/

• NDIS – Consumables - https://ourguidelines.ndis.gov.au/would-we-fund-it/consumables

• Guardianship Division - https://ncat.nsw.gov.au/how-ncat-works/ncat-divisions-and-appeal-panel/guardianship-division.html

• Behaviour Support Plans - https://www.ndiscommission.gov.au/rules-and-standards/behaviour-support-and-restrictive-practices

• Easy Read - https://pwd.org.au/resources/easy-read-info/

• Ten Principles of Good Prescribing (British Pharmacological Society's Principles for Good Prescribing 2010)

• Maudsley deprescribing guidelines for antidepressants, benzodiazepines, Gabapentinoids, and Z-drugs.

• PHARMACISTS OPTIMISING MEDICINES IN PEOPLE WITH INTELLECTUAL DISABILITY AND AUTISM (POMPIDA) – Facebook group

• Public Hearing Report – Hearing 6 (Royal Commission into Violence, Abuse, Neglect and Exploitation of People with Disability)

Join Natalie as she chats with Dermatologist A/Prof Deshan Sebaratnam about the management of acne. Listen in as they chat about over the counter treatment options, what may have changed in acne management and the effectiveness of isotretenoin.

A/Prof Sebaratnam, in addition to his private practice, as a specialist dermatologist at Liverpool and Dubbo Base Hospitals in NSW.

Tune in as Dr Sayontonee Ghosh gives an overview of TB including:

• Transmission
• Diagnosis
• Screening
• Symptoms
• Treatment options