Presentations
- Atypical presentation of chronic disease
- Delirium
- Frailty
- Functional decline
- Malaise
- Pain
- Poor wound healing
- Recurrent infections
- Urinary incontinence
- Weight loss
Conditions
- Acute and chronic pain management
- Cardiovascular disease, including arrythmias, heart failure, and acute coronary syndrome
- Chronic kidney disease and acute kidney injury
- Dermatological conditions, such as incontinence associated dermatitis, shingles, and scabies
- Electrolyte derangements
- Endocrine conditions, including diabetes and thyroid dysfunction
- Gastrointestinal conditions, including dysphagia, reflux disease, anaemia, and gastrointestinal bleeding
- Hypertension and orthostatic hypotension
- Infections, including pneumonia, aspiration pneumonia, urinary tract infections, and COVID-19
- Malignancy, including breast, lung, prostate, bowel, and skin cancers
- Mood disorders
- Multiple myeloma and monoclonal gammopathy of undetermined significance (MGUS)
- Myelodysplastic and myeloproliferative neoplasms
- Oral care and nutrition
- Palliation and end of life care
- Peripheral vascular disease, including aneurysms and varicose veins
- Respiratory conditions, including chronic obstructive lung disease, asthma, bronchiectasis, and pulmonary fibrosis
- Rheumatological conditions, including gout, osteoarthritis, and osteoporosis
- Sensory impairments
- Sleep disorders, particularly good sleep habit education
- Thromboembolism, including pulmonary embolism and deep vein thrombosis
- Valvular heart disease, particularly aortic stenosis
- Wound management, including pressure areas and ulcers
For each presentation and condition, Advanced Trainees will know how to:
Synthesise
- recognise the clinical presentation
- identify relevant epidemiology, prevalence, pathophysiology, and clinical science
- take a comprehensive clinical history
- conduct an appropriate examination
- establish a differential diagnosis
- plan and arrange appropriate investigations
- consider the impact of illness and disease on patients and their quality of life when developing a management plan
Manage
- provide evidence-based management
- prescribe therapies tailored to patients’ needs and conditions
- recognise potential complications of disease and its management, and initiate preventative strategies
- involve multidisciplinary teams
Consider other factors
- identify individual and social factors and the impact of these on diagnosis and management
Conditions
- Dermatological conditions, including bullous pemphigoid
- Glomerulonephritis
- Polycystic kidney disease
- Polymyalgia rheumatica
- Vasculitis, including giant cell arteritis
For each presentation and condition, Advanced Trainees will know how to:
Synthesise
- recognise the clinical presentation
- identify relevant epidemiology, prevalence, pathophysiology, and clinical science
- take a comprehensive clinical history
- conduct an appropriate examination
- establish a differential diagnosis
- plan and arrange appropriate investigations
- consider the impact of illness and disease on patients and their quality of life when developing a management plan
Manage
- provide evidence-based management
- prescribe therapies tailored to patients’ needs and conditions
- recognise potential complications of disease and its management, and initiate preventative strategies
- involve multidisciplinary teams
Consider other factors
- identify individual and social factors and the impact of these on diagnosis and management
- Age-related risk factors for cardiovascular disease
- Gender and development of cardiovascular disease in older people
- Genetics, lifestyle, and other physiological aspects of ageing, such as inflammation and oxidative stress
- Glomerular filtration rate and the decline with age
- Impact of lifestyle, occupation, and socioeconomic factors on disease
- Physiology and biology of ageing, including concepts of impaired homeostasis, impaired immunity, and reduced reserve
- The links between kidney disease, obesity, hypertension, diabetes, and cardiovascular changes
- The risk of anaemia related to malnutrition, chronic infections, blood loss from the gastrointestinal tract, or as a complication of other diseases or medicines
Examinations
- Assess mental and social health, including risk of nutrition, mood, and immunisation status
- Full physical examination, including cardiovascular, respiratory, abdominal, neurological, skin, and joint review
Investigations
- Assess the relevance of imaging and procedures according to patient-centred risks and benefits
- Routine haematology, biochemistry, urine testing, and imaging, including x-rays, CT scans and MRIs
- Appropriate patient-centred targets, such as glycosylated haemoglobin (HbA1c), blood pressure, and oxygen saturations
- Consider red flags for elder abuse
- Develop patient advocacy skills and promote positive attitudes towards older people
- Enhance productivity in health care delivery
- Implement strategies to minimise the risk of iatrogenic complications
- Importance of socioeconomic factors that contribute to illness and vulnerability and aim to support socioeconomic participation
- Medication review and polypharmacy management
- Promote good health across the lifespan
- Promote strategies for healthy ageing
- Recognise specific needs of older adults from Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander and Māori populations, and culturally and linguistically diverse backgrounds
- Shared decision-making strategies, especially regarding surgery, chemotherapy, and dialysis
