Member of Course Design Groups

I represent my campus as a member of design groups (DIGs) for all Phase I Medicine Courses. This allows me to give direct feedback and consult directly with course convenors to represent rural interests. My main objective in joining these groups has been to increase  face to face teaching  to improve the rural student experience. For example, working with the convenors to understand the requirements of learning activities, I was able to recruit local respiratory physicians for a learning activity that was set to be delivered online.

As part of my membership of Design Groups I have written a number of innovative assignments. The aims are outlined below, but I have also attached the assignments here.

1. AEB Assignment Informed Consent in Patients Who Have Dementia:

Background

Informed consent is a critical ethical and legal obligation of practitioners to ensure that patients fully understand medical treatment, including any risks, and have the ability to consent or decline voluntarily. When obtaining informed consent from patients with dementia, establishing that the individual has understood the therapy being offered can present a significant challenge. It cannot be assumed that patients with dementia are incapable of giving consent as patients with mild to moderate dementia have significant capacity for autonomous decision making with regards to therapy. It is important that a clinician is aware of, and is able to apply, the legal and ethical considerations surrounding informed consent in patients with dementia.

Task Description

1. Review relevant current laws related to establishing informed consent in patients with dementia. In this section, outline the steps you would take to ensure a patient with dementia has the capacity for informed consent.
2. Review ethical perspectives from at least two ethical theories (such as principle-based ethics and human rights, or principle-based and feminist care ethical frameworks) underpinning the importance of establishing informed consent in dementia.
3. Outline the principles and key points of a conversation you would have with the family in the scenario provided below to manage this situation.

 

SCENARIO: An elderly woman with dementia has been diagnosed with cataracts. It is recommended that she undergo surgery to improve her vision, resulting in enhanced quality of life and safety in the home. Despite assurances that the elective surgery is relatively low risk, she has refused the procedure. Her family asks you to help convince her to have the surgery.

 

4. Reflect on how what you have learned in this assignment has challenged your prior conceptions or aligns with your own existing beliefs on informed consent in dementia and/or other health conditions in which decision-making is impaired. How will this impact your future practice as a doctor?

 

 

2. Foundations assignment  Effect of Exercise On The Immune System:

Introduction

A major focus of Foundations and the medicine program is the maintenance of wellbeing whilst dealing with the demands of an intense curriculum. Most people would know that exercising regularly is a significant component of cardiovascular, cognitive health and overall wellbeing. However you may be surprised to learn that exercise has also been well-known to have a profound impact on the immune system and hence impact susceptibility to infection through these effects.

Interestingly the beneficial effects of exercise appear to be contingent on the intensity of exercise. While regular periods of shorter lasting (i.e. up to 45 minutes) moderate intensity exercise appear to enhance immune defences, intense exertion exercise appears to increase susceptibility to infection(Simpson et al., 2020).

This assignment will require you to research the basic science basis of what we suspect many of you already know about- the healing powers of exercise!

1. Summarise and critically evaluate clinical (aka human) studies investigating the effects of exercise on infection susceptibility, referring to differential impacts observed with varying exercise intensity.
2. Summarise and critically evaluate the impact of exercise on the cellular and chemical components of the innate and adaptive immune systems.
3. A patient who is an athlete training for an intense marathon event has come to you for advice. He has heard that prolonged endurance exercise increases susceptibility to infection and he would like you to recommend some strategies to counteract this.

 

Using an Evidence-Based Medicine (EBM) approach as outlined below, summarise and critically evaluate evidence regarding strategies proposed to reduce negative effects of intense exercise on the immune system using the CRAAP appraisal method. You should present this task as a table as outlined below. Succinctly outline what your advice to the patient would be based on your critical appraisal of the literature.

 

EBM STEP 1 - ASK:

• Form a specific PICO style research question(s) to help you research this topic.
• Put this at the top of your search table.

EBM STEP 2 - ACQUIRE:

• Use key words from this PICO question to carry out a structured literature search to find the best evidence available to answer this question. Record your full research question, full search strategy and key results.

• Write this up as a summary table. The summary search table should show enough information for the search to be repeatable.

EBM STEP 2-3 – ACQUIRE-APPRAISE:

• Evaluate and compare each article using the framework of the CRAAP appraisal method. You can do this as a separate paragraph or as an extra column in your table.

 

EBM STEP 4 – APPLY:

Using all your appraised articles, critically discuss the evidence and form a conclusion about the research question. Outline what advice you will give to your patient after going through this EBM process to research the issue.

 

3. Society and Health Assignment (2026): Sex Differences and Barriers To Vaccination In Rural Areas

Background

Sex differences in the efficacy and frequency of adverse reactions to vaccination are well established. For example it has been reported that females mount stronger antibody responses and report more adverse reactions following vaccination(Fischinger et al., 2019). The mechanisms underlying this phenomenon are largely due to well-established sex differences in the adaptive immune system. An awareness of these differences is relevant to clinical practice as between 1990 and 2016, among individuals aged 19 to 49 years, females accounted for 83% of anaphylactic reactions to vaccines(Jensen et al., 2022). Further these sex differences have significant clinical relevance in the context of well-established sex differences in autoimmune diseases and mortality from infections(Fairweather et al., 2024; Gay et al., 2021). An awareness of these sex differences is also important for the design of preclinical and clinical trials, whereby sex should be considered when evaluating the safety and efficacy of vaccine design(Brigger et al., 2023).

The second component of this report focuses on social and cultural barriers to vaccination encountered in rural areas, and requires you to describe the considerations in patient assessment and management with regards to catchup vaccination as a strategy to address vaccination deficiencies in rural areas.

Aims:

1. To provide an overview of sex differences in the adaptive immune system, including the mechanisms underpinning these differences.
2. To outline how these sex differences in adaptive immunity contribute to sex differences in the response to vaccination.
3. To describe common barriers to vaccination in rural areas.
4. To describe the principles of catchup vaccination as a strategy to address inequities with regards to vaccination in rural areas. In this section describe the general considerations involved in patient assessment and management with regards to catch-up vaccinations.

Task 1: Week 1

Review literature on sex differences in the adaptive immune response. Review the clinical literature on sex differences in vaccination responses and review literature in the adaptive immune response that underpin these differences.

Task 2: Week 2

Review literature on the social and cultural barriers to vaccination coverage in rural Australia. Research the strategy of catchup vaccination and clinical considerations involved.

Task 3: Week 3

Prepare a report that incorporates the aims of the assignment.

Task 4: Week 4

Conduct a self-assessment to check how well you have addressed all the assessment criteria.  Review, finalise and proofread your report.

 

Development of Small Group Tutorial Materials (SGs):

1. Developed content for Foundations 2025 SG 1 to improve student understanding of Phase I requirements and complexities of the program.

2. Developed Health Maintenance A SG14: Thermoregulation and presentations on recreational drugs. Updated clinical guidelines to reflect contemporary clinical approaches using current clinical literature and consultation with clinicians.