MediVision 2014: Day 1Some possible areas to improve on as suggested from the research UTAS MBBS V conducted (above) and possible follow up research areas in the improvement of heart failure health care students and professionals likewise would like to conduct as proposed by Professor Thomas Marwick, DIrector of Menzies Research Institute Tasmania (below).
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MediVision is a yearly educational symposium organized by both the staff of Royal Hobart Hospital, UTAS School of Medicine and UTAS medical students to offer a platform for engaging medical students as well as medical practitioners in Tasmania to get in touch with the most current medical research around the world, as well as to inform them of potential research opportunities that they can conduct. The first day of Medivision has already brought to us many renowned experts from various fields of medicine from Parasitology to Lipology and Psychiatry. The day started off with an interesting psychological perspective by Prof. Kenneth Walsh on the way clinicians can approach Evidence Based practice. Dr Richard Bradbury then gave the next presentation on various diagnostic tools a health practitioner should employ given the increasing frequencies of travel around the world by people on the correct identification of possible parasitic infection. After that we had Professor Kazuhiko Kotani, a familiar face if you have attended last year's symposium, to give us the latest in his research on modified lipoproteins and the role they play in cardiometabolic diseases. Prof. Kotani research into both LDLs last year and his followup research on oxidised HDLs provided a great insight into how the markers we have used to track lipid diseases could be improved on. We then have Dr Philip Roberts-Thompson whom enlightened us about the various relationships a patent foramen ovale have with other seemingly disparate pathological processes and Prof. Thomas Marwick who talked about how we as clinicians should look at (and for) heart failure. Professor Alan Remaley from the United States provided us with novel ways to utilise the most current knowledge in HDL biology to create a new peptide for enhancing cholesterol efflux in cardiovascular disease pharmacotherapies. After lunch, we have our very own Yoni Bryon from MBBS V, whom under Dr Udayan Ray's supervision, conducted research on insulin resistance and found that a lower HbA1c and fasting BGL threshold should be adopted in improving pre-diabetic management. A welcome respite from the onslaught of biomedical research findings, Dr Robin Youngson, a specialist anaesthetist, gave his thoughts on the current practice of health care in hospitals and the need for humanity and compassion in this struggling system. We then have Dr David Basser to discuss about the current medical model of chronic pain, and how this pathological perspective which drives the symptomatic management of it resulted in the paradigm shift from the physiological role pain plays and the dangers of thinking so. After a short presentation by our sponsor MIPS, Prof Saxby Pridmore gave us an interesting introduction to the role of epigenetics in psychiatry and then wrapping up day 1 of the symposium, Prof. James Vickers, the Deputy Dean of the Faculty of Health UTAS discussed about the neuronal aspects of Alzheimer's disease and the various research Menzies Research Institute as well as other institutions around the world are finding a way to mitigate risk factors behind developing senile dementia. Stay tune for the coverage on Day 2! Terence |
MediVision 2014: Day 2
The final day of MediVision brings us another exciting variety of speakers sharing with us insights about clinical pharmacology and its crucial role in medicine to how mobile phones are spreading nosocomial infections across the wards. Prof. Julia Potter gave us an interesting take on how clinicians tend to dismiss and miss side effects as coincidence which tie in quite nicely in with the presentation given to us by ED physician Dr David Bertoni, on the common cognitive mistakes clinicians tend to make, especially in a high pressure environment like the DEM. We also have interesting presentations on the pathogenesis and classification of smoking related airway disease by Professor Haydn Walters and a novel perspective by Prof Garry Halliday on how UV rays cause skin cancers and how the research into the intracellular processes have paved way for one of the greatest pharmacological therapy pending approval in the management and prevention of skin cancer.
We too are proud to present our very own MBBS V students whom have made an impact in biomedical research. Angela Gates, previously a lawyer and now MBBS V, presenting to us various key research areas we can explore in the management of gastrochisis and metabolic acidosis in newborns, and Louis Scarrold presented on the research relevance of membrane transporters in intracellular trafficking. We then have Foong Yi Chao who discussed about how the use of mobile phones is associated with the rates of nosocomial infections in hospital. Day 2 also brought to us other interesting topics, such as "The Modern Ovary" by Dr Steve Badford with the Tasmania IVF, and also Professor Christopher Lawrence, a coroner from the States, whom gave an interesting presentation on how to (almost) get away with murder. In the afternoon we have A/Prof Linda Cambell talking to us about the opportunities present in cancer cytogenetic research, and then Prof. John Rasko gave the penultimate presentation on the challenges faced by the medical practice of gene therapy and stem cell resrearch in Australia. The day closed with thanks given to the organising committee by Dr Udayan Ray and Cecilia Xiao, marking the end to another exciting year of MediVision. Catch you guys next year! Terence |