Clinical medicine (London, England)
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ChatGPT, which can automatically generate written responses to queries using internet sources, soon went viral after its release at the end of 2022. The performance of ChatGPT on medical exams shows results near the passing threshold, making it comparable to third-year medical students. It can also write academic abstracts or reviews at an acceptable level. ⋯ However, sophisticated tasks such as understanding the human anatomy are still a limitation of ChatGPT. ChatGPT can simplify radiological reports, but the possibility of incorrect statements and missing medical information remain. Although ChatGPT has the potential to change medical practice, education and research, further improvements of this application are needed for regular use in medicine.
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In 2017 the Royal College of Physicians launched a voluntary accreditation process supported by British Association for the Study of the Liver (BASL) and the British Society of Gastroenterologists (BSG) to improve the quality and consistency of liver services across the UK and Ireland. This article describes the approach that we took and the challenges that we met on the way to achieving accreditation.
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Bedside teaching is a key component of education at medical school, particularly in the clinical years. It provides an invaluable opportunity for students to practise examining patients, and further develops their communication and professional skills. ⋯ However, foundation doctors often receive little to no training for bedside teaching and there is limited literature on practical tips on how to enhance bedside teaching. Here we consider the three stages of effective bedside teaching: preparation, teaching and evaluation.
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Catatonia is a severe neuropsychiatric syndrome that affects emotion, speech, movement and complex behaviour. It can occur in a wide range of psychiatric and neurological conditions, including depression, mania, schizophrenia, autism, autoimmune encephalitis (particularly NMDAR encephalitis), systemic lupus erythematosus, thyroid disease, epilepsy and medication-induced and -withdrawal states. This concise guideline highlights key recommendations from the British Association for Psychopharmacology (BAP) Catatonia Guideline, published in April 2023. ⋯ The benzodiazepine of choice is lorazepam, which is sometimes used in very high doses. Multidisciplinary working between psychiatrists and physicians is often essential. The main limitation of the guidelines is the low quality of the underlying evidence, comprising mainly small observational studies and case reports or series.
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Home dialysis therapies offer a significant benefit to patients in respect of quality of life and autonomy, as compared with in-centre haemodialysis. There is significant unwarranted variation across the world in the availability of both peritoneal dialysis (PD) and home haemodialysis, which has led in the UK to a recommendation of a minimum 20% prevalent rate of dialysis patients at home. ⋯ Peritonitis remains a significant complication which may present to general physicians and needs prompt recognition and treatment. The development of novel small dialysis machines has led to a resurgence of interest in home haemodialysis.