Clin Med
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Case Reports
Transfusion-related acute lung injury: a rare and life-threatening complication of a common procedure.
Transfusion-related acute lung injury (TRALI) has emerged as one of the leading causes of transfusion-related morbidity and mortality and is undoubtedly under diagnosed. It is a serious pulmonary syndrome that can lead to death if not recognised and treated promptly. The diagnosis of TRALI is based primarily upon clinical signs and symptoms and is, in part, a diagnosis of exclusion.
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This article summarises findings from studies of career choices made for the hospital medical specialties by medical graduates one, three and five years after qualifying from UK medical schools in selected years from 1974 to 2005. The percentage of doctors who, early in their careers, expressed a preference for the hospital medical specialties declined between the 1970s and 1980s, increased during the 1990s, and has stabilised since then. ⋯ Compared with doctors who choose other specialties, a higher percentage of doctors who choose the hospital medical specialties are uncertain about their specialty choice in the early years after qualification. This uncertainty needs to be considered by those planning postgraduate medical education for the hospital medical specialties, particularly now that postgraduate training in the UK has become much more structured.
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Advances in medical genetics are increasingly impacting on clinical practice outside specialist genetic services. It is widely acknowledged that physicians will need to use genetics knowledge and skills in order to incorporate these advances into patient care. In order to determine priority areas for genetics education for non-genetics specialist registrars, an educational needs assessment was undertaken. ⋯ From these, and informed by trainees' views of genetic education, six genetics learning outcomes that non-genetics medical specialty trainees should attain by the end of their training have been identified, each linked to core knowledge, skills and attitudes. These core concepts can be taught with reference to specialty-specific conditions to highlight their relevance to clinical practice. The results of this study are informing the genetic component of postgraduate medical training curricula.
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The burden of liver disease in the UK is increasing and much of this is managed in district general hospitals (DGHs). Previous studies of liver services have focused on specialist units. This study assessed the provision of liver services in non-specialist units. ⋯ Liver databases and outcomes are rarely kept. There are significant shortfalls in the provision of liver services across DGHs. This supports the need for managed clinical networks and data collection as proposed in the National Plan for Liver Services.
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A number of reports have suggested that academic medicine within the UK may be in decline. This article assesses the number and outcome of abstracts presented at consecutive British Society of Gastroenterology (BSG) meetings. All abstracts presented at the BSG between 1994 and 2002 were assessed (n=4,096). ⋯ In 1994, 57.6% of abstracts were subsequently fully published but by 2002 this number had fallen to 30.7%. The results show that the number of abstracts at the BSG which are then fully published has fallen with a significant trend. This observation could be taken as an indicator that there is a decline in research activity within the UK gastroenterology community.