Browse topics
General medicine
30 notes, 90 questions and 270 flashcards.
Tier 1 is core knowledge expected of every trainee. Tier 2 is deeper or less common.
Presentations
Undifferentiated presentations
- Acute red eyeFree sampleSeparating benign conjunctivitis from the sight-threatening red eye, with angle closure, keratitis, scleritis, uveitis and chemical injury managed safely before the ophthalmologist arrives.Tier 1, approach to a presentation, 3 questions, 10 flashcards
- Chest painExcluding the six chest pain killers, using troponin pathways, Wells, PERC, YEARS and ADD-RS sensibly, and the pleuritic causes from PE to pneumothorax.Tier 1, approach to a presentation, 3 questions, 10 flashcards
- FatigueSeparating fatigue from weakness and sleepiness, the causes worth finding, a targeted first-line blood panel, red flags, and current thinking on ME/CFS and post-viral fatigue.Tier 1, approach to a presentation, 3 questions, 9 flashcards
- Pain and swellingThe hot swollen joint (septic until aspirated, then gout or CPPD) and the painful swollen limb (DVT, cellulitis, necrotising fasciitis, compartment syndrome), with Australian antibiotic and anticoagulation choices.Tier 1, approach to a presentation, 3 questions, 10 flashcards
- Reduced level of consciousness and comaFirst-minute treatment of the unresponsive patient, localising the problem with GCS, pupils, brainstem reflexes and breathing, toxidromes, and the structural causes you can't afford to miss.Tier 1, approach to a presentation, 3 questions, 10 flashcards
- Unintentional weight lossWhen weight loss matters, the causes in proportion, a first-line work-up that reliably rules out most cancers, when to image, and how to feed safely without causing refeeding syndrome.Tier 1, approach to a presentation, 3 questions, 9 flashcards
- VomitingFinding the cause of vomiting from timing, content and context, spotting the surgical, neurological and metabolic emergencies, correcting fluid and electrolyte losses, and matching the antiemetic to the mechanism.Tier 1, approach to a presentation, 3 questions, 9 flashcards
Key conditions
- Autonomic dysfunctionNeurogenic orthostatic hypotension and supine hypertension, POTS, diabetic autonomic neuropathy (gastroparesis, bladder, erectile dysfunction, hypoglycaemia unawareness), the synucleinopathies, and autonomic dysreflexia.Tier 1, condition, 3 questions, 9 flashcards
- Hypotension and shockRecognising shock before the BP falls, sorting it into hypovolaemic, distributive, cardiogenic and obstructive with bedside haemodynamics and ultrasound, and the first-hour management of each type, including Surviving Sepsis 2026.Tier 1, approach to a presentation, 3 questions, 10 flashcards
- Significant behavioural issuesThe aggressive, violent or challenging patient on a medical ward, finding the medical cause, de-escalation, safe sedation with droperidol, midazolam and olanzapine, restraint and the law, and patients who decline care or try to leave.Tier 1, approach to a presentation, 3 questions, 7 flashcards
Metabolic emergencies
- AlkalosisMetabolic alkalosis split by urine chloride and blood pressure, how it is maintained and corrected, and the causes and compensation of respiratory alkalosis.Tier 1, condition, 3 questions, 8 flashcards
- Metabolic acidosisA stepwise blood gas approach with compensation, the albumin-corrected anion gap, delta ratio and osmolar gap, then the causes, renal tubular acidosis and when bicarbonate helps.Tier 1, condition, 3 questions, 10 flashcards
Psychiatry
- Anxiety disordersRecognising generalised anxiety, panic and social anxiety disorder, excluding the medical mimics, and treating with CBT and SSRIs while avoiding long-term benzodiazepines, with older people and pregnancy covered.Tier 1, condition, 3 questions, 9 flashcards
- Mood disorders (depression and bipolar disorder)Diagnosing major depression and bipolar disorder in medical patients, antidepressant choice and treatment-resistant options including PBS esketamine, and lithium, valproate and the other mood stabilisers with their monitoring and toxicity.Tier 1, condition, 3 questions, 10 flashcards
- Overdose or toxic effects of illicit drug useRecognising and treating toxicity from opioids including nitazenes, methamphetamine, cocaine, MDMA, GHB, synthetic cannabinoids, ketamine and inhalants, with the complications that bring these patients under medicine.Tier 1, condition, 3 questions, 9 flashcards
- Psychotic disordersClassifying psychosis, excluding the medical and drug causes, choosing and monitoring antipsychotics, clozapine and its dangers, NMS, and the physical health of people with schizophrenia.Tier 1, condition, 3 questions, 9 flashcards
- Self-harm and suicidal behaviourPsychosocial assessment after self-harm without relying on risk scores, medical care of the common overdoses including paracetamol, capacity and duty of care when patients refuse treatment, and aftercare.Tier 1, condition, 3 questions, 8 flashcards
- Substance use disorders, overdose and withdrawalDiagnosing substance use disorders, managing alcohol, opioid, benzodiazepine, GHB, stimulant and cannabis withdrawal in hospital, continuing opioid agonist treatment safely, and relapse-prevention drugs, with older people and pregnancy.Tier 1, condition, 3 questions, 9 flashcards
Less common or complex conditions
Psychiatry
- Eating disordersRecognising anorexia nervosa, bulimia nervosa and binge eating disorder, spotting medical instability that needs admission, refeeding safely and knowing what the physician manages and what goes to the specialist team.Tier 2, condition, 3 questions, 10 flashcards
- Personality disordersThe three DSM clusters and the ICD-11 severity model, borderline personality disorder in the medical ward and ED, why structured psychotherapy and not medication is the treatment, and the organic causes of new personality change.Tier 2, condition, 3 questions, 9 flashcards
- Somatoform disorderSomatic symptom disorder and its relatives (illness anxiety, functional neurological disorder, factitious disorder and malingering), how DSM-5-TR changed the definitions, and how a physician investigates proportionately and manages persistent symptoms.Tier 2, condition, 3 questions, 8 flashcards
- Trauma and stressor-related disordersAcute stress disorder, PTSD, complex PTSD, adjustment disorder and prolonged grief disorder, their time frames, trauma-focused psychological therapy as first line under the Phoenix Australia guidelines, the limited role of drugs, and PTSD after medical illness.Tier 2, condition, 3 questions, 10 flashcards
Investigations and procedures
Specific issues
- Approaches to clinical problem solvingDual-process reasoning, illness scripts and pattern recognition, building and ranking a differential with pre-test probability, the cognitive biases that cause diagnostic error, and debiasing strategies that work.Tier 1, medical sciences concept, 3 questions, 8 flashcards
- Chronic and complex care, teams and transitionsMultimorbidity in Australia, the 2025 GP chronic condition management plans, NDIS and aged care entry rules, cost and access, multidisciplinary goal setting, safe handover and transitions, and how risk registers, HACs and open disclosure manage system-level harm.Tier 1, topic overview, 3 questions, 9 flashcards
- Determinants of health and psychosocial factorsThe social, environmental, behavioural and individual determinants of health with current Australian data (AIHW 2026, Closing the Gap 2026), how physical and psychological illness drive each other, and the social services and practical steps a physician uses to treat the whole person.Tier 1, topic overview, 3 questions, 8 flashcards
- General medicine: psychiatry issuesPsychiatry on the medical ward, covering suicide risk in medical inpatients, drug and alcohol services, how Mental Health Acts work and what they don't authorise, the physical complications of mental illness and its treatments, psychiatric presentations of systemic disease, working with consultation-liaison psychiatry, and the signs of drug use.Tier 1, topic overview, 3 questions, 8 flashcards
- Patient-centred care across diverse populationsThe Australian Charter of Healthcare Rights and shared decision-making, then practical, specific care for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander and Māori patients, adolescents and young adults, culturally and linguistically diverse patients, people with disability, people on low incomes or homeless, and people with mental illness.Tier 1, topic overview, 3 questions, 9 flashcards