Postgraduate medical journal
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Scientific conferences in the UK are attended by practising doctors and medical students for sharing research, networking and professional development. Student/trainee conferences are typically cheaper than professional conferences, but as they are not acknowledged in national scoring systems for medical and surgical training applications, they may have worse attendance than otherwise possible. We questioned whether student/trainee conferences are of a similar scientific quality to professional conferences, while being considerably cheaper. ⋯ Our results show that student/trainee conferences offer a similar level of scientific quality to professional medical conferences in the UK at a fraction of the cost, which should be reflected within the national scoring systems.
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Academic neurosurgery encompasses basic science and clinical research efforts to better understand and treat diseases of relevance to neurosurgical practice, with the overall aim of improving treatment and outcome for patients. In this article, we provide an overview of the current and future directions of British academic neurosurgery. Training pathways are considered together with personal accounts of experiences of structured integrated clinical academic training and unstructured academic training. ⋯ Funding is explored, for the specialty as a whole and at the individual level. UK academic neurosurgical organisations are highlighted. Finally, the UK's international standing is considered.
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Internationally, supporting surgical trainees during pregnancy, maternity and paternity leave is essential for trainee well-being and for retention of high-calibre surgeons, regardless of their parental status. This study sought to determine the current experience of surgical trainees regarding pregnancy, maternity and paternity leave. ⋯ Over a quarter of surgical trainees felt unsupported by their department during pregnancy, while a quarter of male trainees experience difficulty in arranging paternity leave. Efforts must be made to ensure support is available in pregnancy and maternity/paternity leave.
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Patients with immune thrombocytopaenia (ITP) have a wide spectrum of disease severity and bleeding risk even at similar platelet counts. Hence, additional clinical and laboratory factors may be considered in the evaluation of bleeding risk in ITP. ⋯ A risk-stratified approach to management of ITP is hoped to reduce bleeding complications in high-risk patients; however, the outcomes of such management approach need to be studied prospectively. Additionally, whether therapy intensification or combination of dual therapy such as intravenous immunoglobulin or rituximab in combination with dexamethasone can reduce bleeding complications in high-risk ITP should be studied in the future.