Required Topics

Cardiovascular

  • ECG — a general guide to interpretation
  • ECG — common abnormalities
  • Echocardiography
  • How to start ACE-inhibitors
  • Angina pectoris
  • Acute coronary syndromes (ACS)
  • Complications of MI
  • Arrhythmias
  • Bradycardia
  • Narrow complex tachycardia
  • Broad complex tachycardia
  • Atrial fibrillation and flutter
  • Pacemakers
  • Heart failure—basic concepts and management
  • Hypertension
  • Rheumatic fever
  • Mitral valve disease
  • Aortic valve disease
  • Infective endocarditis (IE)
  • Driving and the heart

Respiratory medicine

  • Pneumonia
  • Bronchiectasis
  • Cystic fibrosis (CF)
  • Lung tumours
  • Asthma
  • Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD)
  • Acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS)
  • Respiratory failure
  • Pulmonary embolism (PE)
  • Pneumothorax
  • Pleural effusion
  • Sarcoidosis
  • Interstitial lung disease (ILD)
  • Extrinsic allergic alveolitis (EAA)
  • Idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis (IPF)
  • Industrial dust diseases
  • Obstructive sleep apnoea syndrome
  • Cor pulmonale

Endocrinology

  • Diabetes mellitus (DM):
    • Classification and diagnosis
    • Treating diabetes mellitus
    • Diabetic neuropathy and diabetic foot care
    • Hypoglycaemia
  • Thyroid and parathyroid disease:
    • Thyroid function tests (TFTS)
    • Thyrotoxicosis
    • Thyroid eye disease
    • Hypothyroidism (myxoedema)
    • Parathyroid hormone and hyperparathyroidis
    • Hypoparathyroidism
    • Multiple endocrine neoplasia (MEN-1; MEN-2)
  • The adrenal gland:
    • Adrenal cortex and Cushing’s syndrome
    • Addison’s disease (adrenal insufficiency)
    • Hyperaldosteronism
    • Phaeochromocytoma
    • Hirsutism, virilism, gynaecomastia and impotence/ED
  • The pituitary gland:
    • Hypopituitarism
    • Pituitary tumours
    • Hyperprolactinaemia
    • Acromegaly
    • Diabetes insipidus (DI)

Gastroenterology

  • Dysphagia
  • Dyspepsia/peptic ulcer
  • Gastro-oesophageal reflux
  • Hiatus hernia
  • Upper GI bleeding
  • Bleeding varices
  • Liver failure
  • Cirrhosis
  • Haemochromatosis
  • 1-antitrypsin deficiency
  • Primary biliary cirrhosis
  • Primary sclerosing cholangitis (PSC)
  • Autoimmune hepatitis
  • Non-aloholic fatty liver disease
  • Wilson’s disease
  • Liver tumours
  • Ulcerative colitis (UC)
  • Crohn’s disease
  • Irritable bowel syndrome
  • Carcinoma of the pancreas
  • Coeliac disease
  • Chronic pancreatitis
  • Alcoholism

Renal medicine

  • Urinary tract infection (UTI)
  • Acute kidney injury (AKI)
  • Chronic kidney disease (CKD)
  • Glomerulonephritis (GN)
  • Nephrotic syndrome
  • Diuretics and their mechanism of action
  • Renal vascular disease
  • Renal tubular disease

Haematology

  • Iron-deficiency anaemia
  • Anaemia of chronic disease
  • Sideroblastic anaemia
  • Macrocytic anaemia
  • B12 deficiency and pernicious anaemia
  • Sickle-cell anaemia
  • Thalassaemia
  • Coagulations pathways
  • Blood transfusion
  • Acute lymphoblastic leukaemia
  • Acute myeloid leukaemia
  • Chronic myeloid leukaemia
  • Chronic lymphocytic leukaemia
  • Hodgkin’s lymphoma
  • Non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma
  • Pancytopenia and bone marrow failure
  • Myeloproliferative disorders
  • Myeloma
  • Paraproteinaemia
  • Amyloidosis

Infectious disease

  • Antibiotics: penicillins, cephalosporins and others
  • Gastroenteritis
  • Malaria
  • Tuberculosis
  • Infectious mononucleosis
  • Influenza
  • Toxoplasmosis & CMV
  • Cytomegalovirus
  • Viral hepatitis
  • HIV
  • Sexually transmitted infections (scabies, chlamydia etc)
  • Diphtheria
  • Tetanus
  • Cholera & bacillary dysentery
  • Leprosy
  • Spirochetes (including Syphilis)
  • Viral haemorrhagic fevers
  • Polio, rabies, and dengue
  • Arthropod-borne bacteria
  • Q fever
  • Typhus
  • Trench fever; ehrlichiosis
  • Nematodes (roundworms)
  • Trypanosomiasis
  • Cestodes (tapeworms)
  • Leishmaniasis

Neurology

  • Dermatomes
  • Headache (includes trigeminal neuralgia & migraine)
  • Blackouts
  • Vertigo & dizziness
  • Hearing loss & tinnitus
  • Weak legs & cord compression
  • Stroke
  • Transient ischaemic attack
  • Subarachnoid haemorrhage
  • Intracranial venous thrombosis
  • Subdural haemorrhage
  • Extradural haemorrhage
  • Delirium (acute confusional state)
  • Dementia
  • Alzheimer’s disease
  • Epilepsy
  • Parkinsonism
  • Parkinson’s disease
  • Multiple sclerosis (MS)
  • Space-occupying lesions
  • Bell’s palsy
  • Mononeuropathies
  • Polyneuropathies
  • Autonomic neuropathy
  • Motor neuron disease (MND)
  • Cervical spondylosis
  • Disorders of muscle (myopathies)
  • Myasthenia gravis
  • Neurofibromatosis
  • Syringomyelia

Rheumatology

  • Osteoarthritis (OA)
  • Septic arthritis
  • Rheumatoid arthritis (RA)
  • Gout
  • CPPD arthropathy
  • Ankylosing spondylitis (AS)
  • Enteropathic, psoriatic and reactive arthritis
  • Mixed connective tissue disease
  • Polymyositis & dermatomyositis
  • Relapsing polychondritis
  • Systemic sclerosis
  • Systemic lupus erythematosus
  • Giant cell arteritis
  • Polyarteritis nodosa
  • Microscopic angiitis
  • Polymyalgia rheumatica
  • Fibromyalgia

Breast surgery

  • Breast carcinoma
  • Benign breast disease

GI surgery

  • Abdominal masses
  • Acute abdomen
  • Acute appendicitis
  • Obstruction of the bowel
  • Paralytic ileus
  • Pseudo-obstruction
  • Sigmoid volvulus
  • Volvulus of the stomach
  • Hernias
  • Colorectal carcinoma
  • Gastro-oesophageal carcinomas
  • Oesophageal rupture
  • Mesenteric ischaemia
  • Diverticular disease
  • Angiodysplasia
  • Anal cancer
  • Haemorrhoids (piles)

Hepatobiliary surgery

  • Gallstones
  • Acute pancreatitis

Urology

  • Renal stones
  • Urinary tract obstruction
  • Peri-aortitis
  • Urinary retention and BPH
  • Obstructive uropathy
  • Urinary tract malignancies
  • Benign diseases of the penis
  • Prostatitis
  • Bladder tumours
  • Urinary incontinence
  • Lumps in groin & scrotum
  • Torsion of the testis

Vascular surgery

  • Aneurysms of arteries
  • Thoracic aortic dissection
  • Peripheral arterial disease
  • Acute limb ischaemia
  • Carotid artery disease
  • Varicose veins
  • Gangrene & necrotizing fasciitis
  • Skin ulcers