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