Events Calendar

COVID Update, Influenza Outbreak, and the Twindemic Challenge – Prof Robert Booy

Prof Robert Booy brings us up to speed on two converging health issues: First, the COVID pandemic is far from over, with approximately 1,000 Australians dying per month. Further boosters for those over 50yo and teenagers amongst others are likely to be approved soon. COVID reinfection and long COVID are increasingly common and he will look at management strategies concerning these phenomena. Second, Australia is experiencing a rapidly growing INFLUENZA OUTBREAK. Governments are responding by increasing access to flu vaccination, and we will look at which options are best suited to our various patients, as well as what else can be done to prevent the situation from escalating to a full-blown TWINDEMIC. This presentation will explain the crucial role that GPs, Nurses, Pharmacists and other primary health professionals in handling this double-headed public health challenge.

Iron Deficiency - Vegetarians, Vegans, Teenagers, Fad Diets and Other Situations – Dr Renee Eslick

It sounds simple, doesn't it? The patient is iron deficient - prescribe iron supplements.

Dr Eslick will provide many practical tips on oral supplementation, how to address common issues such as intolerance and lack of compliance. As well as important and increasingly common, and sometimes hidden, conundrums such as vegetarianism and other dietary fads, teenagers with heavy periods and other factors that can impact on iron levels and how to tackle them. Dr Eslick will also provide useful advice on recognising which patients and scenarios oral therapy is unlikely to work and hence other options need to be explored.

Multidisciplinary Approach to Preventing and Managing Frailty, Falls and Fractures – Dr Desmond Graham

Safeguarding against frailty and falls is as much about improving a patient's quality of life as it is about them just living longer, and as such, it is very much the remit of primary care.

It's a very common scenario. The general practice patient who through age, cognitive decline or chronic disease or all three, gradually diminishes over time. Frailty becomes a feature and their ability to manage spirals downward sometimes slowly over a period of years, sometimes dramatically after falls, fractures or other health events. We cannot stop time, but as geriatrician Dr Desmond Graham explains, we can intervene and help prevent falls, fractures and many other factors that contribute to frailty. In his talk, Dr Graham provides a practical, systematic approach to assessing at-risk patients and recommends where appropriate, interventions that are most likely to be effective.

Triple Therapy in Practice – 2 COPD & 2 Asthma Case Studies in Primary Care – Dr Greg Katsoulotos

Triple therapy promises to make a major difference in the management of asthma and COPD.

However, there are risks if it is used inappropriately. The risk/benefit equation is quite different when comparing COPD with asthma. Dr Greg Katsoulotos will cover the practicalities through a series of cases - 3 COPD cases and 3 asthma cases to illustrate the indications, contraindications, risks and benefits and various other factors.