Browse topics
Microbiology
17 notes, 52 questions and 146 flashcards.
Tier 1 is core knowledge expected of every trainee. Tier 2 is deeper or less common.
Clinical pharmacology
- Antimicrobial stewardship: principles and interventionsFree sampleWhy stewardship matters, the Australian framework (NSQHS Standard 3, the AMS Clinical Care Standard, NAPS and NAUSP), the interventions that work, how antibiotic use is measured, and the evidence for shorter courses.Tier 1, medical sciences concept, 3 questions, 8 flashcards
- Principles of empiric antimicrobial therapyHow to choose an antibiotic before the organism is known, from site, likely pathogens, local resistance, host and severity, with the PK/PD and loading-dose reasoning Paper 1 tests.Tier 1, medical sciences concept, 3 questions, 7 flashcards
Gastroenterology and hepatology
Infectious diseases
- Bacterial structure, classification and virulence factorsFree sampleHow cell wall structure, Gram stain, oxygen needs, capsules, biofilm and toxin-mediated disease explain bedside findings, empiric antibiotic choice and why some infections need more than a bactericidal drug.Tier 1, medical sciences concept, 4 questions, 9 flashcards
- Chain of infection, hand hygiene, aseptic technique and disinfectionThe chain of infection and where each control breaks it, how alcohol-based handrub works and why it fails against C. difficile spores and norovirus, the 5 Moments, aseptic non-touch technique, chlorhexidine-alcohol skin preparation, and the Spaulding classification for cleaning, disinfection and sterilisation.Tier 1, medical sciences concept, 3 questions, 9 flashcards
- Mechanisms of antimicrobial resistanceHow bacteria resist antibiotics (enzymes, altered targets, porin loss, efflux and bypass), how resistance genes spread, intrinsic resistance worth knowing, and why mutation frequencies justify combination therapy.Tier 1, medical sciences concept, 3 questions, 9 flashcards
- Microscopy, culture, organism identification and susceptibility testingWhat the Gram stain tells you and why, blood culture volume and contaminants, specimen quality, MALDI-TOF identification, MICs and EUCAST breakpoints (S, I and R), inducible resistance traps, and using PK/PD targets such as vancomycin AUC/MIC to decide if "susceptible" is enough.Tier 1, medical sciences concept, 3 questions, 9 flashcards
- Multidrug-resistant organisms: MRSA, VRE, ESBL and CPEThe four MROs Australian hospitals track, the mechanism behind each, how mechanism drives treatment choice (vancomycin AUC, MERINO, carbapenemase-specific agents), and how they rank for isolation.Tier 1, medical sciences concept, 3 questions, 8 flashcards
- Principles of molecular and serological testing for infectionHow PCR, Ct values, antigen tests and antibody tests work, what each can and can't tell you, window periods, IgM, avidity and paired sera, treponemal versus non-treponemal syphilis tests, hepatitis B patterns, and why low-prevalence screening needs confirmatory testing.Tier 1, medical sciences concept, 3 questions, 9 flashcards
- Routes and dynamics of transmission: R0, incubation and infectious periodsRoutes of transmission, R0 and the herd immunity threshold, incubation versus infectious periods, and how the timing of infectiousness against symptoms decides whether isolation, quarantine or vaccination controls an outbreak.Tier 1, medical sciences concept, 3 questions, 9 flashcards
- Standard and transmission-based precautions: PPE and isolationHow organisms spread in hospital and which precautions block each route, contact, droplet and airborne precautions with organism-specific durations, negative-pressure rooms and air-change maths, PPE order and respirator fit, and how to prioritise scarce single rooms.Tier 1, medical sciences concept, 3 questions, 9 flashcards
- Viral structure, replication, latency and oncogenesisHow envelopes, genome type, replication strategy and latency explain disinfection choices, antiviral selectivity and resistance, herpesvirus and hepatitis B reactivation, and virus-associated cancers.Tier 1, medical sciences concept, 3 questions, 9 flashcards
- Biology of medically important fungi and parasitesHow fungal cell membranes and walls set antifungal targets and biomarkers, and how protozoan replication, helminth life cycles and Strongyloides autoinfection explain parasitaemia, relapse, eosinophilia and hyperinfection.Tier 2, medical sciences concept, 3 questions, 9 flashcards
- Haematogenous spread, secondary sites and post-infectious complicationsWhy bacteraemia seeds particular sites, which organisms go where, and how the latent period separates infection-driven from immune-mediated complications such as rheumatic fever, post-streptococcal glomerulonephritis, reactive arthritis, Guillain-Barré syndrome and HUS.Tier 2, medical sciences concept, 3 questions, 8 flashcards
- High-risk groups for infection and the global burden of infectious diseaseHow each host defect predicts a particular set of organisms, which Australian populations carry a higher infection burden and why, and the global numbers for TB, malaria, HIV and the neglected tropical diseases.Tier 2, medical sciences concept, 3 questions, 8 flashcards
- Intracellular and atypical bacteria, mycobacteria and spirochaetesWhy intracellular, wall-deficient, acid-fast and spiral bacteria escape routine Gram stain and culture, need antibiotics that reach inside cells, and are diagnosed by serology, antigen tests or PCR.Tier 2, medical sciences concept, 3 questions, 8 flashcards
- Occupational infections: bloodborne viruses in healthcare workers and zoonosesTransmission risks after a sharps injury and why they differ between HBV, HCV and HIV, post-exposure management, the CDNA rules for healthcare workers living with bloodborne viruses, and the Australian occupational zoonoses (Q fever, leptospirosis, brucellosis, psittacosis, lyssavirus, Hendra).Tier 2, medical sciences concept, 3 questions, 9 flashcards