Aussie Med Ed- Australian Medical Education

Almost every anaesthetic involves a decision about ventilation — and the patient’s lungs shape every one of those decisions. The asthmatic needing an appendicectomy, the COPD patient listed for a knee replacement, the patient with undiagnosed sleep apnoea whose riskiest period is two nights post-op on the ward, and the patient whose record says “previous difficult intubation”.
In this episode Dr Gavin Nimon, (Orthopaedic Surgeon), talks with consultant anaesthetist Dr Nick Harrington about what happens to the lungs the moment someone lies flat on the table, and how an anaesthetist assesses and plans for respiratory disease. They cover the pre-operative history and examination that matter most, smoking and recent chest infections, when to investigate (and when an echo is more useful than lung function tests), asthma and bronchospasm, COPD and CO₂ retention, interstitial lung disease, how the lungs and the right heart interact under positive-pressure ventilation, obstructive sleep apnoea and positioning, bedside airway assessment and the difficult-airway plan, malignant hyperthermia, lung-protective ventilation, extubation, post-operative analgesia and the role of respiratory physiotherapy — ending with Nick’s three take-home messages for medical students and junior doctors.
Dr Nick Harrington graduated from the University of Queensland while serving part-time in the Australian Army, worked with the Royal Flying Doctor Service in the Pilbara and holds a fellowship of the Australian College of Rural and Remote Medicine. He is now a consultant anaesthetist in Adelaide with fellowship training in paediatric and trauma anaesthesia, a special interest in regional anaesthesia, and is an examiner for the ANZCA primary exam.
This episode is general education for medical students, junior doctors and GPs. It is not medical advice and reflects Australian practice at the time of recording.
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Aussie Med Ed is independent and free — made possible by these amazing Australian organisations. 
Heidi Health — AI medical scribe built for Australian clinicians. Finish clinic on time and keep your focus on your patients. Visit Heidi Health
HealthShare — Australia's health information and referral platform, connecting GPs, specialists and patients. Visit HealthShare
Avant Medical Defence Organisation — Protecting over 80,000 Australian healthcare professionals. Visit Avant
eMedici -an Australian-made medical education platform for med students, junior doctors, and IMGs. Visit eMedici.com/MEDED
Better Medical- GP clinics across QLD, SA, VIC and TAS – offering you the freedom to practise your way, backed by a strong support network. Visit BetterMedical

Thanking the organisations that make Aussie Med Ed possible. Visit our full Sponsors page

Peptides in Medicine: What They Are, How They’re Used, and Why Australian Regulators have concerns about those that have not been approved for use.
In this Aussie Med Ed episode, Orthopaedic surgeon Dr. Gavin Nimon speaks with Dr Ian Musgrave, a molecular pharmacologist and toxicologist, about what peptides are (short amino-acid chains) and how they are used as major medicines such as insulin, oxytocin, erythropoietin, and GLP-1 receptor agonists. They discuss why  peptide medicines cannot be taken orally, how peptide therapeutics are discovered and developed, and the evidence pathway required for approval in Australia, including clinical trials and manufacturing under good manufacturing practice. The conversation explains why Australian regulators are concerned about unapproved peptide products.
🎙️ Proudly Supported By Our Sponsors
Aussie Med Ed is independent and free — made possible by these amazing Australian organisations. 
Heidi Health — AI medical scribe built for Australian clinicians. Finish clinic on time and keep your focus on your patients. Visit Heidi Health
HealthShare — Australia's health information and referral platform, connecting GPs, specialists and patients. Visit HealthShare
Avant Medical Defence Organisation — Protecting over 80,000 Australian healthcare professionals. Visit Avant
eMedici -an Australian-made medical education platform for med students, junior doctors, and IMGs. Visit eMedici.com/MEDED
Better Medical- GP clinics across QLD, SA, VIC and TAS – offering you the freedom to practise your way, backed by a strong support network. Visit BetterMedical

Thanking the organisations that make Aussie Med Ed possible. Visit our full Sponsors page

Every doctor writes notes. At some point in your career, someone will ask you for a report — an insurer, a lawyer, an employer, or a court — and the rules change. You are no longer simply documenting care; you are providing evidence. 
In this episode of Aussie Med Ed, host Dr Gavin Nimon (Orthopaedic Surgeon) welcomes back Dr Mary Obele, Specialist Occupational and Environmental Physician (FAFOEM, RACP), to demystify the medical report. Medical reports sit at the heart of Dr Obele’s day-to-day work — treating doctor reports, independent medical examinations and permanent impairment assessments across the workers’ compensation and personal injury systems — and she explains what happens to these documents once they leave the doctor’s desk and enter the courts and tribunals.
Topics include:
·       How a medical report differs from clinical notes 
·       Who requests reports and why
·       The three main types defined: treating doctor’s report, independent  and permanent impairment assessments
·       Whole person impairment: what the percentage measures, what it does not, and why two 20% impairments do not equal 40%
·       The AMA Guides to the Evaluation of Permanent Impairment 
·       Training, accreditation and ongoing reaccreditation for permanent impairment assessors
·       The standard structure of a medicolegal reportonduct and AI disclosure
·       Where reports end up 
·       The expert witness’s primary duty to the court, and what examination-in-chief and cross-examination actually involve
·       Practical take-home messages for a junior doctor or GP writing their first report
Suitable for GP CPD, junior doctor education, medical students, and any clinician or health professional who may be asked to write a report or attend as an expert witness.
🎙️ Proudly Supported By Our Sponsors
Aussie Med Ed is independent and free — made possible by these amazing Australian organisations. 
Heidi Health — AI medical scribe built for Australian clinicians. Finish clinic on time and keep your focus on your patients. Visit Heidi Health
HealthShare — Australia's health information and referral platform, connecting GPs, specialists and patients. Visit HealthShare
Avant Medical Defence Organisation — Protecting over 80,000 Australian healthcare professionals. Visit Avant
eMedici -an Australian-made medical education platform for med students, junior doctors, and IMGs. Visit eMedici.com/MEDED
Better Medical- GP clinics across QLD, SA, VIC and TAS – offering you the freedom to practise your way, backed by a strong support network. Visit BetterMedical

Thanking the organisations that make Aussie Med Ed possible. Visit our full Sponsors page

People with intellectual disability represent approximately 2% of the Australian population, yet they experience some of the worst health outcomes of any group — with a life expectancy 27 years shorter than the general population and twice the rate of preventable deaths. 
In this episode, Host Dr Gavin Nimon (Orthopaedic Surgeon)  is joined by Dr Hannah Wu, GP and consultant with the South Australian Intellectual Disability Health Service (SAIDHS), and Stephanie Searle, OT and Service Manager at South Australian Intellectual Disability Health Service, to discuss the practical clinical knowledge every health professional needs when caring for this population. 
Topics include:
Communication strategies and person-first versus identity-first language
Consent, capacity, and the role of guardianship
The HELP framework for assessing behavioural change
Diagnostic overshadowing and cognitive bias
Psychotropic prescribing, chemical restraint, and NDIS reporting obligations
The Comprehensive Health Assessment Program (CHAP) and relevant MBS item numbers
Screening, immunisation, and preventative health considerations
Suitable for GP CPD, junior doctor education, and any clinician/ Health Professional seeking to improve care for this underserved group.
🎙️ Proudly Supported By Our Sponsors
Aussie Med Ed is independent and free — made possible by these amazing Australian organisations. 
Heidi Health — AI medical scribe built for Australian clinicians. Finish clinic on time and keep your focus on your patients. Visit Heidi Health
HealthShare — Australia's health information and referral platform, connecting GPs, specialists and patients. Visit HealthShare
Avant Medical Defence Organisation — Protecting over 80,000 Australian healthcare professionals. Visit Avant
eMedici -an Australian-made medical education platform for med students, junior doctors, and IMGs. Visit eMedici.com/MEDED
Better Medical- GP clinics across QLD, SA, VIC and TAS – offering you the freedom to practise your way, backed by a strong support network. Visit BetterMedical

Thanking the organisations that make Aussie Med Ed possible. Visit our full Sponsors page

Occupational and environmental medicine sits in a strange blind spot in medical training, even though work-related presentations turn up almost daily in general practice, emergency departments and on the wards. In this episode of Aussie Med Ed, host and Orthopaedic surgeon Dr Gavin Nimon sits down with Dr Mary Obele, specialist occupational and environmental physician with  expertise in work capacity, causation and medicolegal reporting, and Dr Berni Cameron, occupational health nurse practitioner and academic at Edith Cowan University with over 25 years' experience across mining, industry and work health and safety education.
Together they unpack what occupational medicine actually involves, how the occupational health nurse, GP and occupational physician each fit into the return-to-work pathway, and how to approach that first consultation: take a good history, examine carefully, focus on function rather than incapacity, and complete the certificate of capacity with clarity. Along the way they cover environmental exposures such as silica, why early communication with the workplace matters, the evidence behind keeping workers meaningfully engaged during recovery, psychosocial hazards as the new frontier of workplace health, and practical tips for young GPs walking onto a worksite for the first time.
Whether you're a medical student, junior doctor or GP, this episode offers a pragmatic framework for managing work-related presentations — starting with one simple question: "Tell me about your work.
🎙️ Proudly Supported By Our Sponsors
Aussie Med Ed is independent and free — made possible by these amazing Australian organisations. 
Heidi Health — AI medical scribe built for Australian clinicians. Finish clinic on time and keep your focus on your patients. Visit Heidi Health
HealthShare — Australia's health information and referral platform, connecting GPs, specialists and patients. Visit HealthShare
Avant Medical Defence Organisation — Protecting over 80,000 Australian healthcare professionals. Visit Avant
eMedici -an Australian-made medical education platform for med students, junior doctors, and IMGs. Visit eMedici.com/MEDED
Better Medical- GP clinics across QLD, SA, VIC and TAS – offering you the freedom to practise your way, backed by a strong support network. Visit BetterMedical

Thanking the organisations that make Aussie Med Ed possible. Visit our full Sponsors page