Presentations
- Apnoeas and apparent life-threatening events (ALTEs)
- Chest pain
- Concerns about breathing during sleep
- Cough
- Dyspnoea
- Fatigue
- Fever
- Haemoptysis
- Hypoxia
- Respiratory distress (including in the newborn)
- Stertor
- Stridor
- Tachypnoea
- Wheeze
Conditions
- Acute aspiration lung disease
- Acute exacerbation of chronic lung conditions such as bronchiectasis, cystic fibrosis, neuromuscular disease / neuro-disability
- Acute respiratory distress syndrome
- Asthma flare-up
- Atelectasis
- Chylothorax
- Foreign body aspiration
- Haemothorax
- Lung infection, including (but not limited to):
- atypical and/or fungal infections
- bronchiolitis
- empyema
- influenzae, COVID, RSV, and other viral infections
- lung abscess
- pneumonia
- Pleural effusions
- Pneumothorax
- Pulmonary oedema
- Severe upper airways disease
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
Presentations
- Acute respiratory deterioration of patient on ventilatory support (invasive or non-invasive)
- Antenatal or postnatal diagnosis of respiratory conditions (e.g., congenital diaphragmatic hernia, congenital lung malformations)
- Non-respiratory acute presentations of cystic fibrosis
- Respiratory deterioration in patients undergoing treatment for oncological or haematological conditions
- Respiratory distress in the patient with immune deficiency / immunosuppression
- Respiratory distress of the newborn or young infant
- Syncope
Conditions
- Acute lung injury:
- toxic inhalation including vaping (EVALI)
- trauma
- Congenital diaphragmatic hernia
- Congenital lung malformations
- Down syndrome
- Drowning
- Eosinophilic lung disease
- Hypersensitivity pneumonitis
- Interstitial lung disease
- Post-stem cell transplant
- Pulmonary disease associated with congenital heart disease
- Pulmonary hypertension
- Pulmonary vascular disease (including pulmonary arteriovenous malformation, vasculitides such as granulomatosis with polyangiitis)
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
Epidemiology
- Asthma and preschool wheeze
- Bronchiolitis
- Obstructive sleep apnoea (OSA) / sleep disordered breathing (SDB)
- Pneumonia
- Respiratory disease in Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander and Māori peoples
- Smoking and e-cigarette use
- Sudden infant death syndrome / sudden unexpected infant death
Investigations
- Basic lung function tests, such as DLCO, lung volumes, and spirometry:
- abbreviated or limited channel sleep studies
- polysomnography
- Radiological tests:
- airway fluoroscopy
- chest CT scan
- chest ultrasound
- chest x-ray
- contrast swallow tests
- nuclear medical tests
Procedures
- Aerosol delivery systems (with or without additional oxygen):
- potential complications, including infection control
- procedural skills
- risks and benefits
- Airway management, including emergency intubation
- Bronchoscopy (flexible versus rigid) for acute presentations
- Oxygen therapy:
- adverse effects
- assessment of ongoing therapy
- indications and guidelines for use
- oxygen delivery systems and their application:
- different mask set-ups
- nasal prongs, including humidified circuit and low flow versus high flow
- Pleural procedures:
- intercostal tube placement and drainage (large and small bore)
- needle thoracentesis (fluid and air)
- pleural ultrasound imaging
- Surgical procedures:
- intravascular line placement
- lung, lymph node, or lung mass biopsy, including radiologically guided
- thoracoscopy
- tracheostomy
- Ventilatory support in the acute setting:
- adverse effects
- assessment of ongoing therapy
- delivery systems
- different modalities for delivery ventilatory support
- indications and guidelines for use
- Acute management of pulmonary bleeding (mild to severe)
- Impact of climate change on respiratory health, including:
- directly promoting or aggravating respiratory diseases, such as asthma and respiratory infections
- increasing exposure to risk factors for respiratory diseases, such as chemical air pollutants and effect on aeroallergens
- Radiation dose related to CT scans and other imaging techniques, and variation between different equipment and scanning protocols
- Smoking and vaping cessation strategies and interventions, including management of nicotine withdrawal in young people (both in the hospital and in the community)
