Browse topics
Physiology
108 notes, 328 questions and 914 flashcards.
Tier 1 is core knowledge expected of every trainee. Tier 2 is deeper or less common.
Cardiology
- Cardiac action potential and excitation-contraction couplingFree sampleThe ion currents behind the ventricular and pacemaker action potentials, how calcium couples excitation to contraction and relaxation, and how potassium, channelopathies, digoxin and antiarrhythmics act on each phase.Tier 1, medical sciences concept, 3 questions, 9 flashcards
- Lipoprotein metabolism: exogenous, endogenous and reverse cholesterol transport pathways, the LDL receptor and PCSK9The three lipoprotein pathways and their apolipoproteins, lipoprotein lipase and its regulators, LDL receptor recycling and PCSK9, how each lipid-lowering drug acts on these steps, Friedewald LDL calculation, and the inherited disorders that map onto each step.Tier 1, medical sciences concept, 3 questions, 9 flashcards
- Pathogenesis of atherosclerosis and plaque ruptureHow apoB lipoproteins, endothelial dysfunction and inflammation build a plaque, why plaques form at branch points, what makes a plaque rupture or erode, how stenosis severity relates to flow, and the inflammation trials (CANTOS, COLCOT, LoDoCo2) that the exam uses.Tier 1, medical sciences concept, 3 questions, 8 flashcards
- Regulation of arterial blood pressure: baroreflex, vascular resistance and pressure natriuresisHow cardiac output and resistance set arterial pressure, the baroreflex for seconds-to-minutes control, the renin-angiotensin-aldosterone system, and why the kidney's pressure natriuresis curve sets long-term blood pressure.Tier 1, medical sciences concept, 3 questions, 8 flashcards
- Regulation of cardiac output: preload, afterload, contractility and Frank-StarlingHow heart rate, preload, afterload and contractility set cardiac output, the Frank-Starling and venous return curves, wall stress, SVR and Fick calculations, and how these explain heart failure treatment, shock haemodynamics and fluid responsiveness.Tier 1, medical sciences concept, 3 questions, 9 flashcards
- Cardiac conduction system and the physiological basis of the ECGThe path of the cardiac impulse, its speeds, blood supply and autonomic control, how each ECG wave maps to the action potential, and how electrolytes, conduction blocks and accessory pathways change the trace.Tier 2, medical sciences concept, 3 questions, 8 flashcards
- Cardiac cycle, pressure-volume loops and heart soundsThe phases of the cardiac cycle with normal chamber pressures, how pressure-volume loops show preload, afterload, contractility and valve lesions, and how the cycle explains heart sounds, the JVP waveform, arterial pulses and bedside manoeuvres.Tier 2, medical sciences concept, 3 questions, 9 flashcards
- Coronary anatomy and the regulation of coronary blood flowCoronary territories and dominance, why the subendocardium is vulnerable, coronary perfusion pressure, metabolic autoregulation and flow reserve, the physiology behind FFR, vasodilator stress testing and microvascular dysfunction, and how anti-anginal drugs balance supply and demand.Tier 2, medical sciences concept, 3 questions, 9 flashcards
- Endothelial function and the control of vascular toneNitric oxide, prostacyclin and endothelin as the endothelium's controls on vascular tone, the cGMP pathway that nitrates, PDE5 inhibitors and riociguat act on, the endothelium's antithrombotic surface, and what endothelial dysfunction means in atherosclerosis, sepsis and pre-eclampsia.Tier 2, medical sciences concept, 3 questions, 8 flashcards
Clinical pharmacology
Dermatology
Endocrinology
- Adrenal steroidogenesis, the HPA axis and the adrenal medullaFree sampleThe enzymes of the three adrenal cortical zones, how ACTH and cortisol feedback works and fails, how enzyme blocks produce the patterns of congenital adrenal hyperplasia, how dynamic tests read the axis, and how the medulla makes and clears catecholamines.Tier 1, medical sciences concept, 3 questions, 9 flashcards
- Bone remodelling and the pathophysiology of osteoporosisThe remodelling cycle and the RANKL, OPG and Wnt-sclerostin signals that control it, why oestrogen loss, glucocorticoids and ageing cause bone loss, how T-scores and turnover markers are read, and how each osteoporosis drug targets the cycle.Tier 1, medical sciences concept, 3 questions, 8 flashcards
- Calcium and phosphate homeostasis: PTH, vitamin D and FGF23How the calcium-sensing receptor, PTH, calcitriol and FGF23 control calcium and phosphate across gut, bone and kidney, how albumin and pH change ionised calcium, and how to read the biochemical patterns of hyperparathyroidism, vitamin D deficiency, CKD and phosphate-wasting disorders.Tier 1, medical sciences concept, 3 questions, 9 flashcards
- Hormone secretion, transport, binding proteins and feedback controlPulsatile and circadian secretion, the binding proteins that carry thyroid and steroid hormones and how changes in them distort total hormone levels, half-life and time to steady state, and the feedback logic that underlies paired hormone testing, dynamic tests and assay interference.Tier 1, medical sciences concept, 3 questions, 9 flashcards
- Hormone structure, receptors and second messenger signallingPeptide, amine and steroid hormones and how their chemistry sets storage, transport and half-life; the G protein, tyrosine kinase, JAK-STAT and nuclear receptor families with the hormones that use each; and the receptor mutations, toxins and drugs that Paper 1 uses to test them.Tier 1, medical sciences concept, 3 questions, 8 flashcards
- Hypothalamic-pituitary anatomy and physiologyEmbryology and relations of the pituitary, the portal circulation, the five anterior pituitary cell types and their hypothalamic controls, dopamine inhibition of prolactin, the posterior pituitary and ADH, and how this explains stalk effect hyperprolactinaemia, visual field loss, the order of hormone loss in hypopituitarism and the triple-phase response after surgery.Tier 1, medical sciences concept, 3 questions, 8 flashcards
- Insulin secretion and action, and the role of glucagonHow the beta cell couples glucose to insulin release through the KATP channel, what insulin and glucagon do to liver, muscle and fat, how C-peptide and HOMA-IR are used, and how these steps explain diabetes drugs, monogenic diabetes, hypoglycaemia work-up and potassium shifts.Tier 1, medical sciences concept, 3 questions, 8 flashcards
- Thyroid hormone synthesis, regulation and actionHow the thyroid traps iodide and makes T4 and T3, how the HPT axis and deiodinases set hormone levels, and how these steps explain thyroid function tests, iodine and amiodarone effects, drug actions and sick euthyroid patterns.Tier 1, medical sciences concept, 3 questions, 8 flashcards
- Adipose tissue as an endocrine organ and the regulation of appetiteWhite, brown and beige fat, the adipokines (leptin, adiponectin) and adipose steroid enzymes, the arcuate POMC and NPY/AgRP circuits with the gut signals that feed them, monogenic obesity and lipodystrophy, the hormonal adaptations that drive weight regain, worked energy-balance numbers, and how obesity drugs and bariatric surgery act on these pathways.Tier 2, medical sciences concept, 3 questions, 8 flashcards
- Cellular energy metabolism: glycolysis, the Krebs cycle and oxidative phosphorylationWhere glycolysis, pyruvate dehydrogenase, the Krebs cycle and the electron transport chain sit, their regulated steps and vitamin cofactors, an ATP tally per glucose, and how blocks at each stage explain type A and type B lactic acidosis, thiamine deficiency, cyanide and salicylate toxicity, metformin, and Krebs enzyme mutations in cancer.Tier 2, medical sciences concept, 3 questions, 8 flashcards
- Fed and fasting states: glucose counter-regulation and ketogenesisHow the insulin to glucagon ratio switches the body between storage and mobilisation, the phases of fasting and the protein-sparing shift to ketones, the glycaemic thresholds for counter-regulation, the biochemistry of hepatic ketogenesis, and how these explain DKA, euglycaemic and alcoholic ketoacidosis, starvation ketosis and hypoketotic hypoglycaemia.Tier 2, medical sciences concept, 3 questions, 8 flashcards
- Female reproductive physiology: the menstrual cycle and menopauseThe two-cell, two-gonadotrophin model, how rising oestradiol switches to positive feedback and triggers the LH surge, how to time a luteal progesterone, what AMH measures, why hypothalamic amenorrhoea and menopause give opposite gonadotrophin patterns, and the KNDy neuron mechanism of hot flushes that NK3 antagonists target.Tier 2, medical sciences concept, 3 questions, 9 flashcards
- Growth and puberty: the GH-IGF-1 axis and pubertal developmentHow GH acts directly and through IGF-1, why IGF-1 is the screening test and a stimulation test the diagnostic one, mid-parental height and bone age worked through, how the HPG axis reawakens at puberty, the normal timing and sequence of puberty, why oestrogen closes the growth plates in both sexes, and how delayed and precocious puberty are separated by gonadotrophins.Tier 2, medical sciences concept, 3 questions, 8 flashcards
- Healthy nutrition, physical activity and bone health across the lifespanWhat the Australian Dietary Guidelines and physical activity guidelines recommend at each life stage and the physiology behind them, peak bone mass and age-related loss, calcium and vitamin D requirements with a worked intake calculation, what the vitamin D trials (including Australia's D-Health and the annual high-dose trial) showed, MET-minutes, protein needs in older people, and mandatory fortification in Australia.Tier 2, medical sciences concept, 3 questions, 9 flashcards
- Male reproductive physiology: the hypothalamic-pituitary-testicular axisHow pulsatile GnRH drives LH to Leydig cells and FSH to Sertoli cells, why intratesticular testosterone matters for sperm, how SHBG, aromatase and 5α-reductase shape testosterone results, and how to read a gonadotrophin pattern in obesity, Klinefelter syndrome, anabolic steroid use and androgen deprivation therapy.Tier 2, medical sciences concept, 3 questions, 8 flashcards
- Nutrition therapy in diabetes and obesityThe physiology behind diet in diabetes and obesity, with worked numbers. Why weight loss slows (the energy gap and adaptive thermogenesis), carbohydrate counting with insulin-to-carbohydrate ratio and correction factor, glycaemic index and load, very low energy diets and remission (DiRECT), low-carbohydrate eating with SGLT2 inhibitors, alcohol and hypoglycaemia, and deficiencies after bariatric surgery.Tier 2, medical sciences concept, 3 questions, 8 flashcards
- Sexual differentiation and its disordersHow SRY drives the bipotential gonad to a testis, how AMH, testosterone and DHT build the male internal and external genitalia, and how a defect at each step (gonadal dysgenesis, CAH, 5-alpha-reductase deficiency, androgen insensitivity) produces a predictable phenotype and hormone pattern, with the 2006 Chicago consensus terminology.Tier 2, medical sciences concept, 3 questions, 8 flashcards
Gastroenterology and hepatology
- Bilirubin metabolismHow haem becomes bilirubin, how the hepatocyte takes it up, conjugates and excretes it, what gut bacteria do to it, and how each step maps to a cause of jaundice, with a steady-state worked example showing why Gilbert syndrome plus haemolysis gives a higher bilirubin than either alone.Tier 1, medical sciences concept, 3 questions, 9 flashcards
- Exocrine pancreatic secretion, digestive enzymes and tests of pancreatic functionHow acinar and duct cells make pancreatic juice, the phases of secretion, why enzymes are made as zymogens, how CFTR sets bicarbonate output, and how to read amylase, lipase, faecal elastase and faecal fat, with worked numbers for fat absorption and enzyme replacement dosing.Tier 1, medical sciences concept, 3 questions, 9 flashcards
- Gastric acid secretion and its regulationHow parietal cells make acid, how acetylcholine, gastrin, histamine and somatostatin control it, where acid-suppressing drugs act, and how this explains hypergastrinaemia, Zollinger-Ellison syndrome, achlorhydria and vomiting alkalosis.Tier 1, medical sciences concept, 3 questions, 9 flashcards
- Gastrointestinal hormones: gastrin, CCK, secretin, incretins and ghrelinWhere each gut hormone is made, what releases it and what it does, the control of gastric acid secretion through gastrin, histamine and somatostatin, and how the physiology explains hypergastrinaemia, Zollinger-Ellison syndrome, dumping, incretin drugs and post-bariatric hypoglycaemia.Tier 1, medical sciences concept, 3 questions, 8 flashcards
- Liver function tests: what each marker reflectsWhere ALT, AST, ALP, GGT, bilirubin, albumin and INR come from, their half-lives and non-hepatic sources, how to classify a pattern with the R ratio, what very high transaminases and an AST to ALT ratio mean, and which markers actually measure liver function, with worked examples.Tier 1, medical sciences concept, 3 questions, 9 flashcards
- Liver structure and function: lobule, zonation and hepatic metabolismThe dual blood supply, the lobule and acinus, the cells of the sinusoid, metabolic zonation and why zone 3 bears paracetamol, ischaemic and alcohol injury, the liver's roles in glucose, protein, ammonia and drug handling, and hepatic clearance worked through extraction ratio and bioavailability.Tier 1, medical sciences concept, 3 questions, 8 flashcards
- Bile formation, bile acids and the enterohepatic circulationHow the liver makes bile, the synthesis and conjugation of bile acids, micelles and fat absorption, the enterohepatic circulation and its FXR-FGF19 feedback, and how the physiology explains ileal resection diarrhoea, gallstones, cholestatic pruritus, inherited transporter defects and the drugs that act on bile acids.Tier 2, medical sciences concept, 3 questions, 9 flashcards
- Digestion and absorption of carbohydrate and proteinHow starch, disaccharides and protein are broken down by luminal and brush border enzymes, which transporters carry sugars, amino acids and peptides across the enterocyte, and how defects in each step present, with worked numbers for lactose malabsorption, breath testing and the D-xylose test.Tier 2, medical sciences concept, 3 questions, 9 flashcards
- Digestion and absorption of fat and fat-soluble vitaminsThe four steps of fat absorption (emulsification, lipolysis, micelle formation, chylomicron assembly), the bile acid enterohepatic circulation and why short and long ileal resections cause different diarrhoea, medium-chain triglycerides, fat-soluble vitamin deficiencies, and the tests that localise steatorrhoea, with a worked bile acid pool calculation.Tier 2, medical sciences concept, 3 questions, 9 flashcards
- Energy and protein requirements and the metabolic response to starvation and stressHow energy expenditure is made up and measured, energy and protein targets in health and critical illness, nitrogen balance, the fuel switch from glycogen to gluconeogenesis to ketones in starvation, and why the catabolic stress response behaves differently.Tier 2, medical sciences concept, 3 questions, 8 flashcards
- GI motility, swallowing and the enteric nervous systemHow the enteric nervous system, interstitial cells of Cajal and extrinsic nerves coordinate swallowing, gastric emptying, the migrating motor complex and colonic transit, and how this explains achalasia, scleroderma oesophagus, gastroparesis, Hirschsprung disease and the actions of prokinetics, opioids and antiemetics.Tier 2, medical sciences concept, 3 questions, 9 flashcards
- Intestinal water and electrolyte transport and the mechanisms of diarrhoeaThe daily intestinal fluid balance, the absorptive and secretory transporters of villus and crypt, how cholera and E. coli toxins, VIP, bile acids and osmotic loads cause diarrhoea, the stool osmotic gap worked through, why oral rehydration solution works, and why a high-output jejunostomy worsens with water.Tier 2, medical sciences concept, 3 questions, 9 flashcards
Geriatric medicine
- Age-related changes in organ systems and homeostenosisHomeostenosis and loss of reserve, then system by system the physiological changes of ageing (cardiovascular, respiratory, renal, body composition, liver, nervous, musculoskeletal, immune and endocrine including menopause and male hormonal decline), with worked numbers for PaO2, creatinine clearance, maximum heart rate and drug distribution, and how each change explains atypical presentations.Tier 2, medical sciences concept, 3 questions, 10 flashcards
- Biology of ageing: hallmarks, senescence and telomeresThe 2023 hallmarks of ageing, telomere shortening and the Hayflick limit, cellular senescence and the SASP, apoptosis versus necrosis, inflammaging and clonal haematopoiesis, progeroid syndromes and telomere biology disorders, and the drug targets (mTOR, senolytics, BCL-2) that come from them.Tier 2, medical sciences concept, 3 questions, 8 flashcards
- Pathophysiology of Alzheimer disease: amyloid, tau and neurodegenerationAPP processing and the amyloid cascade, tau hyperphosphorylation and Braak staging, the cholinergic and glutamate deficits behind current drugs, genetics (APP, PSEN1, PSEN2, APOE), cerebral amyloid angiopathy and the mechanism of ARIA, and how CSF, plasma and PET biomarkers map onto the 2024 biological definition, with a worked predictive value example for plasma p-tau217.Tier 2, medical sciences concept, 3 questions, 9 flashcards
- Pathophysiology of non-Alzheimer dementias: synucleinopathies, frontotemporal lobar degeneration and vascular injuryDementia as a set of protein misfolding and vascular disorders. Alpha-synuclein in Lewy body disease and MSA (with the biology behind RBD, neuroleptic sensitivity, DaT and MIBG imaging and seed amplification assays), tau, TDP-43 and FUS in frontotemporal lobar degeneration with C9orf72, GRN and MAPT, small vessel and strategic vascular injury including CADASIL, LATE and prion disease.Tier 2, medical sciences concept, 3 questions, 9 flashcards
Haematology
- Coagulation cascade, the cell-based model and coagulation testsThe classical cascade as a map of laboratory tests, the cell-based model of how thrombin is really made, vitamin K-dependent factors, and how to interpret PT, INR, APTT, thrombin time and mixing studies.Tier 1, medical sciences concept, 3 questions, 10 flashcards
- Iron metabolism and hepcidinWhere the body's 3 to 4 g of iron sits, how the duodenum absorbs it and macrophages recycle it, how hepcidin and ferroportin set plasma iron, the cellular IRP/IRE switch, and how these explain anaemia of inflammation, haemochromatosis, iron overload in thalassaemia, alternate-day oral iron and the new hepcidin mimetic rusfertide.Tier 1, medical sciences concept, 3 questions, 8 flashcards
- Oxygen and carbon dioxide transport: the dissociation curve, Bohr and Haldane effectsCalculating oxygen content and delivery, reading the dissociation curve and what shifts it, the Bohr and Haldane effects, the three forms of CO2 carriage and the chloride shift, and why carbon monoxide, methaemoglobin and anaemia leave the PaO2 normal.Tier 1, medical sciences concept, 3 questions, 8 flashcards
- Vitamin B12 and folate metabolismHow B12 and folate are absorbed and used, why the methyl-folate trap causes megaloblastic anaemia, why only B12 deficiency damages the cord, and how MMA, homocysteine, drugs and nitrous oxide fit together.Tier 1, medical sciences concept, 3 questions, 8 flashcards
- Erythropoiesis, erythropoietin and red cell survivalHow the kidney senses oxygen through HIF and sets erythropoietin, the stages and timing of red cell production, how to judge the marrow response with the reticulocyte production index, the metabolism and membrane that keep a red cell alive for 120 days, and what happens when it dies.Tier 2, medical sciences concept, 3 questions, 8 flashcards
- Haematopoiesis, blood-forming tissues and haematopoietic growth factorsWhere blood is made across life, the stem cell hierarchy and marrow niche, the growth factors that drive each lineage and how their receptors signal through JAK2, the cell kinetics behind the chemotherapy nadir, and clonal haematopoiesis.Tier 2, medical sciences concept, 3 questions, 8 flashcards
- Haemoglobin structure, synthesis and developmental switchingThe globin tetramer and its genes on chromosomes 11 and 16, the T and R states and 2,3-BPG binding, haem synthesis and how lead and sideroblastic anaemia break it, the fetal to adult switch and BCL11A, and how haemoglobin variants show up on the blood count, oximetry and HbA1c.Tier 2, medical sciences concept, 3 questions, 8 flashcards
- Natural anticoagulants and fibrinolysisHow antithrombin, the protein C pathway and TFPI limit clotting, how plasmin breaks clot down and is controlled, and how these explain thrombophilia, heparin action, D-dimer and tranexamic acid.Tier 2, medical sciences concept, 3 questions, 9 flashcards
- Primary haemostasis: platelets and von Willebrand factorPlatelet adhesion, activation and aggregation, the roles of von Willebrand factor and ADAMTS13, where antiplatelet drugs and desmopressin act, and how to read VWF and platelet function tests.Tier 2, medical sciences concept, 3 questions, 8 flashcards
Immunology and allergy
Medical oncology
- Apoptosis: intrinsic and extrinsic pathwaysThe BCL-2 family and mitochondrial (intrinsic) pathway, death receptors and caspase-8 (extrinsic), how apoptosis differs from necrosis, the diseases of too little or too much apoptosis (follicular lymphoma, CLL, ALPS), and venetoclax pharmacology including the ramp-up and CYP3A4 arithmetic.Tier 2, medical sciences concept, 3 questions, 8 flashcards
- Cellular adaptation, cell injury and necrosisHypertrophy, hyperplasia, atrophy and metaplasia; what ATP depletion, calcium and free radicals do to a cell; the line between reversible and irreversible injury; the patterns of necrosis; reperfusion injury; and how leaked enzymes (troponin, CK, ALT) track injury over time.Tier 2, medical sciences concept, 3 questions, 8 flashcards
- Mechanisms of metastatic spread: invasion, angiogenesis and organ tropismThe invasion-metastasis cascade (E-cadherin loss, matrix metalloproteinases, circulation, colonisation), the routes of spread, why cancers favour particular organs (venous drainage, Batson plexus, seed and soil), lytic versus sclerotic bone metastases, and angiogenesis with the pharmacology of VEGF blockade.Tier 2, medical sciences concept, 3 questions, 8 flashcards
- The cell cycle and its regulationPhases of the cell cycle, the cyclin-CDK engine, the Rb-E2F restriction point and the p53 checkpoint, how cancers break them, CDK4/6 inhibitor pharmacology, phase-specific chemotherapy and the tumour growth arithmetic behind adjuvant therapy.Tier 2, medical sciences concept, 3 questions, 8 flashcards
Nephrology
- Glomerular filtration and its regulation: Starling forces, autoregulation and tubuloglomerular feedbackThe filtration barrier, the Starling forces that set GFR, how afferent and efferent arteriolar tone change GFR and filtration fraction, and how myogenic autoregulation and tubuloglomerular feedback explain the effects of ACE inhibitors, SGLT2 inhibitors and NSAIDs on kidney function.Tier 1, medical sciences concept, 3 questions, 8 flashcards
- Measurement of renal function and estimation of GFRClearance as the basis of GFR measurement, why creatinine and cystatin C mislead in predictable situations, the CKD-EPI and Cockcroft-Gault equations, and when to measure GFR directly.Tier 1, medical sciences concept, 3 questions, 8 flashcards
- Osmoregulation versus volume regulation: thirst, ADH release and effective circulating volumeWhy plasma sodium reflects water balance and extracellular volume reflects sodium balance, how osmoreceptors and baroreceptors control ADH and thirst, what effective circulating volume means in heart failure and cirrhosis, and how to work through osmolality and saline-in-SIAD calculations.Tier 1, medical sciences concept, 3 questions, 8 flashcards
- Potassium homeostasis and renal potassium handlingWhere the body keeps its potassium, what shifts it into and out of cells, how the distal nephron secretes it under aldosterone and flow, and how to use the urine potassium to creatinine ratio to separate renal from extrarenal losses.Tier 1, medical sciences concept, 3 questions, 8 flashcards
- Renal acid handling: bicarbonate reabsorption, ammoniagenesis and renal tubular acidosisHow the kidney reclaims filtered bicarbonate and makes new bicarbonate through titratable acid and ammonium, how the urine anion and osmolal gaps estimate ammonium, and how each type of renal tubular acidosis follows from a defect in one step.Tier 1, medical sciences concept, 3 questions, 8 flashcards
- Renin-angiotensin-aldosterone system physiologyWhat triggers renin release, what angiotensin II and aldosterone do, why blocking the system lowers GFR and raises potassium, how to read an aldosterone-to-renin ratio, and how drugs acting at each step explain their benefits and adverse effects.Tier 1, medical sciences concept, 3 questions, 9 flashcards
- Tubular sodium handling along the nephronHow each nephron segment reabsorbs sodium, the transporters that diuretics and inherited tubulopathies target, glomerulotubular balance and tubuloglomerular feedback, and how to calculate filtered load and fractional sodium excretion.Tier 1, medical sciences concept, 3 questions, 9 flashcards
- Urine concentration: the countercurrent mechanism and ADH actionHow the loop of Henle, urea recycling and the vasa recta build the medullary gradient, how ADH acts through V2 receptors and aquaporin-2, how solute intake sets urine volume, and how this explains AVP deficiency, AVP resistance and drug effects on water handling.Tier 1, medical sciences concept, 3 questions, 9 flashcards
- Body fluid compartments, Starling forces and the distribution of intravenous fluidsThe sizes of total body water and its compartments, how osmolality moves water between them, where 1 L of dextrose, saline or albumin ends up, and the revised Starling principle behind oedema.Tier 2, medical sciences concept, 3 questions, 8 flashcards
- Lower urinary tract and prostate: structure and micturition physiologyBladder and sphincter innervation and receptors, the spinal and pontine reflexes of micturition, how lesion level predicts bladder behaviour, prostate zones and androgen biology, and the pharmacology that follows from them.Tier 2, medical sciences concept, 3 questions, 8 flashcards
- Nephron structure and renal blood flowWhat each nephron segment does and which drugs act there, how renal blood flow is distributed between cortex and medulla, why the outer medulla is vulnerable to ischaemia, and how PAH clearance measures renal plasma flow.Tier 2, medical sciences concept, 3 questions, 8 flashcards
- Normal urine composition and the physiology of urinalysisNormal urine volume, osmolality, pH and protein, what each dipstick pad really detects, what casts and crystals mean, and how to calculate and interpret the fractional excretion of sodium.Tier 2, medical sciences concept, 3 questions, 9 flashcards
- Principles of renal replacement therapy: what dialysis and transplantation replaceWhich kidney functions dialysis replaces and which it doesn't, the physics of diffusion, convection and ultrafiltration, worked urea reduction ratio and Kt/V, peritoneal membrane transport, drug dialysability and disequilibrium.Tier 2, medical sciences concept, 3 questions, 9 flashcards
Neurology
- Acetylcholine and the monoamine neurotransmitters: synthesis, receptors and actionsHow acetylcholine, dopamine, noradrenaline, adrenaline, serotonin and histamine are made, stored, released, cleared and sensed, and how each step explains a drug action, a poisoning or a laboratory test.Tier 1, medical sciences concept, 3 questions, 9 flashcards
- Resting membrane potential, the action potential and nerve conductionHow ion gradients and potassium permeability set the resting membrane potential, how voltage-gated channels generate and propagate the action potential, and how this explains the effects of potassium and calcium disorders, demyelination, local anaesthetics, sodium channel drugs and channelopathies.Tier 1, medical sciences concept, 3 questions, 9 flashcards
- Anatomy of the visual pathway and visual field defectsHow the retina, optic nerve, chiasm, tract, lateral geniculate nucleus, optic radiations and occipital cortex are arranged, why each site produces its own field defect, and how congruity, macular sparing and the relative afferent pupillary defect localise a lesion.Tier 2, medical sciences concept, 3 questions, 8 flashcards
- Basal ganglia and cerebellar circuits in motor controlThe direct and indirect basal ganglia pathways, how dopamine loss gives parkinsonism and striatal loss gives chorea, the subthalamic lesion behind hemiballismus, the logic of deep brain stimulation, and how cerebellar anatomy explains ipsilateral ataxia and the midline versus hemispheric split.Tier 2, medical sciences concept, 3 questions, 9 flashcards
- Brain death: physiology and determinationWhat brain death means in Australian law, the physiology of herniation and the systemic changes that follow (catecholamine storm, vasoplegia, diabetes insipidus, hypothermia), the ANZICS preconditions, brainstem reflex testing and apnoea test with a worked CO2 calculation, imaging of brain blood flow, and the mimics and pitfalls examiners use.Tier 2, medical sciences concept, 3 questions, 8 flashcards
- Brain metabolism and the autoregulation of cerebral blood flowThe brain's oxygen and glucose demand, its fuels (glucose, lactate and ketones), the ischaemic thresholds behind the penumbra, and how pressure autoregulation, carbon dioxide, oxygen and neurovascular coupling set cerebral blood flow, applied to stroke, hypertensive emergency, hyperventilation, hypoglycaemia and Wernicke encephalopathy.Tier 2, medical sciences concept, 3 questions, 9 flashcards
- Brainstem and cranial nerve anatomy for lesion localisationWhere each cranial nerve nucleus sits in the midbrain, pons and medulla, the "rule of 4" for medial and lateral structures, and how crossed signs, named brainstem syndromes and nuclear versus fascicular lesions localise a lesion.Tier 2, medical sciences concept, 3 questions, 9 flashcards
- CSF physiology, the blood-brain barrier and intracranial pressureHow CSF is made, circulates and is absorbed, what the blood-brain barrier lets through and where it is absent, the Monro-Kellie doctrine and compliance curve, cerebral perfusion pressure, the types of cerebral oedema, and how these explain raised ICP, hydrocephalus, IIH, osmotherapy, osmotic demyelination and drug entry into the brain.Tier 2, medical sciences concept, 3 questions, 9 flashcards
- Electroencephalography: how the EEG is generated and key patternsHow summed postsynaptic potentials of cortical pyramidal cells and thalamocortical circuits produce the EEG, the normal rhythms and sleep stages, the yield and limits of routine EEG after a first seizure, and the patterns examined in encephalopathy, encephalitis, CJD, absence epilepsy and non-convulsive status.Tier 2, medical sciences concept, 3 questions, 9 flashcards
- Embryology of the eye, retinal structure and phototransductionHow the eye develops from neuroectoderm, surface ectoderm and neural crest, the layers and dual blood supply of the retina, the rhodopsin-transducin-PDE6 cascade, and how these explain the cherry-red spot, night blindness, retinitis pigmentosa and the visual effects of sildenafil, digoxin and hydroxychloroquine.Tier 2, medical sciences concept, 3 questions, 8 flashcards
- Functional areas of the cerebral cortex and cortical syndromesThe functional map of the frontal, parietal, temporal and occipital cortex, hemispheric dominance, the aphasias, neglect, apraxia, Gerstmann and Balint syndromes, visual field defects from the radiations and cortex, and how lesion patterns map to arterial territories, focal seizure semiology and the focal dementias.Tier 2, medical sciences concept, 3 questions, 10 flashcards
- Glutamate, GABA and excitotoxicityGlutamate and GABA receptors, the glutamate-glutamine cycle, how ischaemia and prolonged seizures turn glutamate into a toxin, and how receptor changes explain benzodiazepine-resistant status epilepticus, alcohol withdrawal and the actions of ketamine, memantine, baclofen and vigabatrin.Tier 2, medical sciences concept, 3 questions, 8 flashcards
- Nerve conduction studies and EMG: axonal loss versus demyelinationWhat CMAP and SNAP amplitude, latency, conduction velocity, F waves and repetitive stimulation measure, how they separate axonal loss from demyelination and pre- from postganglionic lesions, and how needle EMG distinguishes neurogenic from myopathic disease.Tier 2, medical sciences concept, 3 questions, 8 flashcards
- Physiology of hearing and vestibular functionMiddle ear impedance matching, endolymph and the endocochlear potential, hair cell transduction, inner and outer hair cells, tonotopy, the central auditory pathway, and the semicircular canals, otoliths and vestibulo-ocular reflex, applied to tuning forks, ototoxic drugs, the head impulse test, calorics and BPPV.Tier 2, medical sciences concept, 3 questions, 8 flashcards
- Pupillary reflexes and the control of eye movementsThe light reflex arc and the relative afferent pupillary defect, parasympathetic and sympathetic pupil pathways with their pharmacological tests, light-near dissociation, and the gaze centres, MLF and vestibulo-ocular reflex that explain gaze palsies, INO and the doll's eye test.Tier 2, medical sciences concept, 3 questions, 9 flashcards
- Sleep-wake regulation: arousal systems, sleep architecture and circadian rhythmThe ascending arousal systems, the VLPO flip-flop switch and orexin, REM generation and atonia, the two-process model of adenosine and the suprachiasmatic clock, normal sleep stages and how they change with age, and how these explain narcolepsy, REM sleep behaviour disorder, parasomnias, jet lag and the actions of hypnotics and wake-promoting drugs.Tier 2, medical sciences concept, 3 questions, 8 flashcards
- Spinal cord tracts and spinal cord syndromesWhere the corticospinal, dorsal column and spinothalamic tracts run and cross, how that produces the Brown-Séquard, central cord, anterior cord and posterior column syndromes, and how a sensory level and reflexes localise a cord lesion.Tier 2, medical sciences concept, 3 questions, 8 flashcards
- Synaptic transmission and the neuromuscular junctionStep-by-step transmission at the neuromuscular junction, the safety factor, and how myasthenia gravis, Lambert-Eaton syndrome, botulism, organophosphates and neuromuscular blocking drugs each break a different step, with the repetitive nerve stimulation patterns that tell them apart.Tier 2, medical sciences concept, 4 questions, 9 flashcards
Obstetric medicine
- Cardiovascular and haematological changes of normal pregnancyHow blood volume, cardiac output, heart rate and systemic vascular resistance change through pregnancy, labour and the puerperium, with worked cardiac output and SVR calculations; normal examination, ECG and echo findings; why stenotic valves decompensate and regurgitant ones don't; dilutional anaemia and Australian haemoglobin thresholds; white cells, gestational thrombocytopenia, and the procoagulant shift that raises VTE risk and D-dimer.Tier 1, medical sciences concept, 4 questions, 9 flashcards
- Endocrine and metabolic changes of normal pregnancy: thyroid, glucose and calciumHow hCG and oestrogen change thyroid tests, why insulin resistance rises in the second half of pregnancy and what that means for gestational diabetes and DKA, the placental and renal drive to calcium absorption with falling total calcium, and the adrenal, pituitary and lipid changes that make non-pregnant reference ranges misleading.Tier 1, medical sciences concept, 3 questions, 9 flashcards
- Factors of high-risk pregnancy and risk factors for pregnancy-associated diseaseWhat makes a pregnancy high risk (maternal, obstetric, medical and social factors), the shared mechanism of placental dysfunction behind pre-eclampsia, growth restriction and stillbirth, risk factor lists for pre-eclampsia, gestational diabetes, VTE and other pregnancy-specific disease, Australian maternal mortality data, and worked absolute risk and NNT calculations.Tier 1, medical sciences concept, 3 questions, 8 flashcards
- Impact of pregnancy on pre-existing medical conditionsHow the haemodynamic, renal, immune, coagulation and pharmacokinetic changes of pregnancy predict what happens to heart disease, CKD, epilepsy, autoimmune disease, diabetes and other conditions, with worked examples (mitral stenosis gradient, lamotrigine clearance, creatinine), mWHO 2.0 and CARPREG II from the 2025 ESC guideline, and the conditions that improve, worsen or flare after birth.Tier 1, medical sciences concept, 4 questions, 9 flashcards
- Respiratory and renal changes of normal pregnancyProgesterone-driven hyperventilation and the compensated respiratory alkalosis of pregnancy, the fall in FRC with preserved spirometry, the 50% rise in GFR and what it does to creatinine, urea, glucose and protein handling, the reset osmostat, and why pregnancy ranges change how you read an ABG or a creatinine.Tier 1, medical sciences concept, 3 questions, 9 flashcards
Palliative medicine
- Nociception: pain pathways and descending modulationThe IASP definition and categories of pain, nociceptor transduction channels and the inflammatory mediators that sensitise them, A-delta and C fibre conduction, dorsal horn processing and gate control, the spinothalamic pathways, referred pain, and descending modulation from the periaqueductal grey and locus coeruleus, with the drug and lesion questions they generate.Tier 1, medical sciences concept, 3 questions, 8 flashcards
- Physiology and blood chemistry changes of the dying phaseWhat happens in the body during the last days of life: falling intake and circulation, prerenal kidney failure, rising urea, sodium, potassium and calcium, lactate and bilirubin, the mechanisms behind Cheyne-Stokes breathing, mottling, noisy breathing and reduced consciousness, why opioid metabolites accumulate, and why routine blood tests should usually stop.Tier 1, medical sciences concept, 3 questions, 8 flashcards
- Mechanisms of neuropathic and nociplastic pain: peripheral and central sensitisationThe IASP's three mechanistic pain categories, the nociceptive pathway from transduction to perception, how peripheral and central sensitisation produce allodynia and hyperalgesia, ectopic firing and loss of inhibition in neuropathic pain, nociplastic pain, and how each mechanism maps to a drug target.Tier 2, medical sciences concept, 3 questions, 8 flashcards
Respiratory and sleep medicine
- Acid-base buffering, Henderson-Hasselbalch and respiratory compensationHow body buffers absorb acid, why the open bicarbonate system works despite its pKa, how chemoreceptors drive respiratory compensation, and how to use expected-compensation rules to find a second acid-base disorder.Tier 1, medical sciences concept, 3 questions, 8 flashcards
- Alveolar gas equation, diffusion and the A-a gradientCalculating alveolar PO2 and the A-a gradient to separate hypoventilation from lung disease, Fick's law and why oxygen transfer is normally perfusion-limited, and how DLCO and KCO patterns point to the cause of impaired gas transfer.Tier 1, medical sciences concept, 3 questions, 8 flashcards
- Ventilation/perfusion matching and the mechanisms of hypoxaemiaRegional V/Q differences in the upright lung, why low V/Q units cause hypoxaemia that high V/Q units can't offset while CO2 is compensated, shunt and the shunt equation, the five mechanisms of hypoxaemia and their response to oxygen, and how posture, vasodilators and oxygen itself change V/Q.Tier 1, medical sciences concept, 3 questions, 8 flashcards
- Airway anatomy and the mechanics of breathing: compliance, resistance and work of breathingHow the airway tree is built, why most airway resistance sits in medium bronchi, what sets compliance and FRC, how dynamic compression limits expiratory flow, and how to read ventilator pressures and flow-volume loops from first principles.Tier 2, medical sciences concept, 3 questions, 8 flashcards
- Control of breathing: central and peripheral chemoreceptorsThe brainstem controller, what central and peripheral chemoreceptors sense, the CO2 and hypoxic ventilatory responses and what blunts them, respiratory compensation for metabolic acid-base disorders (Winter's formula), and clinical applications from altitude to Cheyne-Stokes breathing and oxygen in COPD.Tier 2, medical sciences concept, 3 questions, 8 flashcards
- Lung volumes, dead space and alveolar ventilationThe static lung volumes and how they're measured, lung volume patterns in obstructive, restrictive and extraparenchymal disease, anatomical and physiological dead space (Bohr), and the alveolar ventilation equation that links breathing pattern to PaCO2.Tier 2, medical sciences concept, 3 questions, 8 flashcards
- Pulmonary circulation and hypoxic pulmonary vasoconstrictionPressures, resistance and flow in the low-pressure pulmonary circulation, how hypoxic pulmonary vasoconstriction matches perfusion to ventilation, and why losing it (vasodilators, sepsis, cirrhosis) or triggering it globally (altitude, COPD, sleep-disordered breathing) explains common exam findings.Tier 2, medical sciences concept, 3 questions, 8 flashcards
Rheumatology
- Extra-articular manifestations of rheumatic diseaseThe mechanisms behind constitutional, skin, eye and internal organ features of rheumatic disease, from IL-6, hepcidin and serum amyloid A to immune complexes, transplacental anti-Ro and the IL-23/IL-17 axis at entheses, with a worked rheumatoid pleural fluid and the patterns examiners pair with each disease.Tier 1, medical sciences concept, 4 questions, 9 flashcards
- Normal synovial joint structure: cartilage, synovium and synovial fluidHow articular cartilage carries load without blood vessels or nerves, what the synovium makes, why normal synovial fluid has under 200 cells/µL and no fibrinogen, how joints are lubricated, and how these explain synovial fluid results, cartilage that won't heal and where joint pain comes from.Tier 1, medical sciences concept, 3 questions, 8 flashcards
- Osteoarthritis: epidemiology and pathophysiology of cartilage failureHow common osteoarthritis, osteoporosis and rheumatoid arthritis are in Australia, who gets OA and why, how cartilage, bone, synovium and meniscus fail together, where OA pain comes from, and the mechanics behind weight loss and the STEP 9 semaglutide trial.Tier 1, medical sciences concept, 3 questions, 8 flashcards
- Urate metabolism, renal urate handling and hyperuricaemiaWhy humans run high urate levels, how purines become urate, how the proximal tubule reabsorbs 90% of filtered urate through URAT1 and GLUT9, how to calculate a fractional excretion of urate, which drugs raise or lower urate and why, and how rasburicase, allopurinol and urine pH fit the mechanism.Tier 1, medical sciences concept, 3 questions, 8 flashcards