Australian Doctor 1st April 2022 | Page 4

4 NEWS

4 NEWS

1 APRIL 2022 ausdoc . com . au

GPs wanted for ‘ stress test ’

Siobhan Calafiore THE RACGP is attempting to recruit
based on the Applied Knowledge Test for 45 minutes to assess the
“ It will help us assess how candidates interact with the platform and
some 1400 candidates sat remotely in their homes due to lockdown .
1000 doctors to sit a written exam
platform ’ s functions .
also perform a load test by putting
Currently fellowship candidates
on their computers this month so it
While the college will not score
the platform under stress , with more
take their exams at testing centres
can put its new exam software to the
participants , it will provide them
than 1000 people taking a test at a
around the country , using a pen-and-
ultimate pressure test .
with a copy of the answers once
similar time .”
paper format .
The mock assessment on 5 April
they finish .
He said the college was after a
But the college has previously said
will form part of a series of trials
Doctors will also be asked to
“ diverse cohort of candidates ” to
it could return to an online format
ahead of the college ’ s return to online
give feedback on what they think of
take part in the mock test , which
this year .
fellowship exams , which is expected
the process .
would run with staggered start times
Dr Butler said the ‘ stress test ’
to occur later this year .
“ The member trial is the biggest
from 7pm .
would be an opportunity for regis-
1000 college members needed .
Any college member can sign up as a candidate . They will be asked to work through exam questions
trial we ’ ve run to date ,” said the college ’ s national clinical lead for assessment , Dr Gary Butler .
It comes after the college was forced to abort its Key Feature Problem exam in October 2020 , which
trars to have a “ sneak peek ” at the new platform and have their say over its “ look , feel and user experience ”.

Gut feeling on death of Beethoven

FROM PAGE 1
letter : “ My health
some time ago suffered a severe
blow owing to an inflammation of
my intestines , which brought me
almost to death ’ s door .”
Professor Allen explains why
various diagnoses , such as lead poisoning
, should be discounted as a
cause of death .
“ While it can cause hearing loss ,
it cannot account for the very long
history of the relapsing diarrhoea or
the cirrhosis of the liver .”
He continues : “ Syphilis does not
cause chronic diarrhoea or cirrhosis .
“ A thick skull and deafness can
occur in Paget ’ s disease of bone , but
it does not cause the diarrhoea or
cirrhosis , nor does SLE cause diarrhoea
or cirrhosis .”
‘ The intuition of doctors in the late 1700s was better than that of doctors in the 20th century .’
Professor Allen also details why he rules out TB — which killed at least two members of Beethoven ’ s family — as well as viral hepatitis and cirrhosis caused by alcohol . The one condition that ties the composer ’ s three symptoms together , he concludes , is inflammatory bowel disease , which was first suggested by researchers only 17 years ago .
The symptoms seem more like chronic ulcerative colitis rather than Crohn ’ s disease , Professor Allen adds .
Studies have linked ulcerative colitis to hearing loss , as well as primary sclerosing cholangitis , he says . This was indeed the way that Beethoven described the progress of his illness , writing to friends that his medical advice was that his abdominal condition led to the deafness . “ It would indicate that the diagnostic intuition of Beethoven ’ s doctors in the late 1700s , who thought that the diarrhoea caused the deafness , was better than that of the doctors of the 19th and 20th centuries .” Ann Diagn Pathol 2022 ; 31 Jan .

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