Internal medicine journal
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Internal medicine journal · May 2023
ReviewThe Importance of Frailty Assessment in Multiple Myeloma: A Position Statement From The Myeloma Scientific Advisory Group (MSAG) To Myeloma Australia.
Multiple myeloma (MM) is a disease of older people, yet factors relating to comorbidity and frailty may threaten treatment tolerability for many of this heterogenous group. There has been increasing interest in defining specific and clinically relevant frailty assessment tools within the MM population, with the goal of using these frailty scores, not just as a prognostic instrument, but also as a predictive tool to allow for a frailty-adapted treatment approach. ⋯ While the IMWG-FI remains the most widely accepted tool, the simplified frailty scale is the most user-friendly in busy day-to-day clinics based on its ease of use. This paper summarises the recommendations from the Myeloma Scientific Advisory Group (MSAG) of Myeloma Australia, on the use of frailty assessment tools in clinical practice and proposes a frailty-stratified treatment algorithm to aid clinicians in tailoring therapy for this highly heterogeneous patient population.
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Internal medicine journal · May 2023
Hepatitis C virus in people with serious mental illness: An analysis of the care cascade at a tertiary health service with a pilot 'identify and treat' strategy.
People with serious mental illness (SMI) are underserved from a hepatitis C virus (HCV) screening and treatment perspective. ⋯ People with SMI are underserved by traditional models of HCV healthcare. Intensified community-based support can partially bolster the treatment cascade, although investment in innovative screening and management strategies are required to achieve healthcare parity.
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Internal medicine journal · May 2023
Consultation with patients for whom English is not their native language.
Good communication with the patient is the cornerstone of effective and efficient consultation. The absence of a common language between the patient and physician negatively impacts the consultation outcome. ⋯ While involving an interpreter may help, it has its downsides and may not be ideal in all situations. Here, we discuss the experiences of various medical practitioners from different cultural and linguistic backgrounds (from Middle Eastern and Asian Countries) in managing non-English-speaking patients with a focus on the impacts of linguistic/cultural barriers in delivering optimal healthcare services and possible solutions to them.
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Internal medicine journal · May 2023
'Tu Souffres, Cela Suffit': Louis Pasteur's (1822-1895) inspirational motto for Sydney's St George Hospital.
In the fiscal year of 1960-1961, board members of Sydney's St George Hospital elected to adopt a new motto for the organisation: 'Tu souffres, cela suffit' - French for 'You are suffering, that is enough'. Today these words are all too familiar to staff members and visitors to St George Hospital, but few are aware of their actual historical significance. Accessible histories of the hospital attribute the motto to the distinguished French microbiologist Louis Pasteur (1822-1895), but the original context of Pasteur's remark is not commonly stated. We set out to record the exact source and history of the hospital's motto alongside its logo, referencing in passing, Louis Pasteur's outstanding legacy to Australian medicine in this bicentenary year of his birth.