Pearls

Spinal cord compression and cauda equina syndrome are on our (long!) list of things we never want to miss. They’re uncommon presentations, but they cause us a lot of anxiety.

It’s been a week when tech and AI have been all over the news – so we thought we would share a Pearl from our Lifestyle Medicine course on technology to support health and wellbeing. 

It’s a new calendar year and, for some, this means increased focus in preparing for the Simulated Consultation Assessment (SCA). So, this month, we’re providing a comprehensive Pearl that is all about the SCA!

When under pressure, separating the sick from the self-limiting on the triage list can feel even more difficult! We don’t have all the answers, but, in this week’s Pearl, we wanted to share our article on acute cough and pneumonia in adults.

For this week’s Pearl, the last of 2024, we wanted to share an article from our Lifestyle Medicine course. It offers a roadmap to wellbeing that we can use to support ourselves, family members and patients as we embark on 2025.

In 2021, the British Association for Sexual Health and HIV (BASHH) and UKHSA published a joint position statement against using antibiotics for STIs other than HIV. But what is our role in primary care if a patient approaches us for advice?

As we sift through the winter URTIs and coughs, one diagnosis we should consider is pertussis or whooping cough – the subject of this week’s Pearl.

There is also chronic cough in children to consider (cough that lasts more that 8 weeks), so we’ve provided a bonus resource this month!

In our waiting rooms, how can we best manage the increase in acute coughing in children that we see at this time of year? Here’s a great article that covers assessment, as well as discussing the important role of antibiotics!

This emotive subject has been in the news and social media over the past few weeks, and there will have been many requests for PSA testing.

Last week saw World Diabetes Day, and we wanted to support this by sharing some Red Whale diabetes content.

End-of-life care can be one of the most rewarding parts of our jobs. It can also be one of the most stressful. In this week’s Pearl, we consider the important issue of bleeding and haemorrhage in advanced cancer.

Could it be chronic urticaria? This is one of those conditions where a good photo at the time of the attack can make the diagnosis easier. How confident are you in spotting and managing it?

It’s November, the weather is starting to get colder and we’ve got the heaters coming on in the Red Whale studio! Applied Knowledge Test (AKT) discussions up and down the country are heating up too, so this month's trainee Pearl is all about the AKT.

In this week’s Pearl, we unpack the growing understanding of the importance of the gut microbiome, why it matters and future practical applications.