The Northern Territory has the highest burden of chronic kidney disease (CKD) in Australia, particularly in the Indigenous population. For female CKD patients, hormonal dysregulation via the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal (HPA) axis can contribute to abnormal uterine bleeding (AUB), including heavy menstrual bleeding or post-menopausal bleeding. Our research drew upon the current literature, in combination with a retrospective audit of patients with CKD and AUB at Alice Springs Hospital to explore the complex interplay between these conditions.

Existing literature suggests that the prevalence of AUB in CKD patients is high, and likely under-recognised. Moreover, CKD and AUB interact bi-directionally; CKD contributes to AUB through hormonal dysregulation and altered haemostasis, whilst excessive vaginal bleeding can worsen the anaemia in CKD. Each aspect of AUB management must be tailored in the setting of CKD.

Our audit identified seventeen cases of AUB in CKD patients at Alice Springs Hospital in the last 5 years. These cases provide interesting insight into the burden of AUB in Central Australian CKD patients, and highlight some of the management considerations and challenges in this cohort, as well as opportunities for further research and management optimisation in the future.

The efficacy of creating of StAMPS and MCQ like questions using trained Large Language Models. Dr Sykes has a background in software engineering and Dr Eskander has been a chief examiner for RACGP writing questions for the MCQ and KFP. By utilising their respective skills they have developed a resource to autogenerate verisimilitude fellowship exams for GP registrars. These are their findings.

The growing use of pharmacologics historically thought of as illicit substances for therapeutic effects, the grey area that used to delineate between recreational and therapeutic use of these illicit substances is increasingly blurred. Death or injury related to drug use at music festivals is well documented related to the isolation, festival atmosphere, and accepting nature of personal drug use all leading patrons to utilize more volume, more variety, and more unique substances than would be expected in urban environments.

Medical professionals working at large outdoor concerts are in position to provide harm reduction and drug counselling information to those most at risk

We partnered with the onsite medical team, harm reduction group Conscious Nest, and with Pill Testing Australia (PTA), at festival “Rabbits Eat Lettuce” held on the Easter Weekend. This festival is known as the last Queensland event where patron deaths via overdose on illicit substance happened. We utilized years of prior data, before Pill Testing, to categorized use of the medical field unit by presentation and severity. By comparing the data, we show a reduction in unstable presentations and reduced use of local health services despite similar percentage of drug affected people

There has been a global effort to integrate general practice and public health. However, the contribution of general practitioners (GPs) to public health remains poorly understood. This qualitative project is being conducted with the aim of exploring the contribution that GPs make to public health activities in Australia. This project explores GPs views on the public health role that they can play, interweaving the learnings of GPs with further training and experience. The findings have broad implications for GP job satisfaction, workforce retention and delivery of community health interventions. This project intersects with broader debates about GP models of care. This ongoing research is being conducted as an academic post project with funding through ACRRM.

Geographical narcissism is a largely under-recognised factor contributing to chronic rural healthcare workforce shortages and subsequent inequitable access to healthcare. Emerging evidence suggests current health policies inadequately address this piece of the jigsaw puzzle, thus limiting growth in Australia’s rural medical workforce.
A qualitative study using a reflexive thematic analysis and realist evaluation has identified where, when and how GN occurred during medical education and training and for whom, in what circumstances and why GN influenced their rural career intent. Twenty-nine semi-structured interviews were conducted with both medical students and prevocational junior doctors, in rural and metropolitan settings. During medical education and training GN was identified in six key contexts and five key mechanisms were identified at play with regards to the experience of GN, and multiple CMO configurations were identified.
From these findings the development of an innovative solutions-focussed framework has the potential to minimise the experience of and impact of GN on medical students and prevocational junior doctors as they deliberate on their future medical career.