RCGP eLearning Podcast – Details, episodes & analysis

An estimated 10 million people (6 million women, 4 million men) in the UK have osteoarthritis, with an estimated 5.4 million people affected osteoarthritis in the knee and 3.2 million in the hip. An estimated 350,000 people are diagnosed with osteoarthritis each year with a median age of symptom onset of 55 years.

In this podcast Dr Thomas Round, a GP and EKU Clinical Lead, talks with Dr Louise Warburton, a GP with a special interest in musculoskeletal care and rheumatology, Honorary Senior Lecturer at Keele University and Co-president of the Primary Care Rheumatology and Musculoskeletal Medicine Society, about osteoarthritis including risk factors, presentation, clinical history, examination, diagnosis and treatment/self management.  

Sponsored by Pfizer Limited. Pfizer has had no involvement in the editorial component of this educational material. Editorial and content decisions were made solely by the RCGP.

Respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) is an RNA virus which causes respiratory infections; the most significant clinical effects are in infants and people who are elderly and have chronic medical conditions or immunosuppression. In this podcast, Professor Simon de Lusignan from the RCGP’s Research and Surveillance Centre discusses the new RSV vaccination programme, which offers a one-off vaccine to everyone at the age of 75, with an initial catch-up programme between the ages of 75 and 80. He also touches on monoclonal antibodies and antivirals, which are given in secondary care to children who are at high risk of serious complications if they contract RSV.

In this series of two podcasts, Dr Dirk Pilat, the medical director for professional development of the RCGP, discusses the resurgence of measles in the United Kingdom. In the first part, Dr Michael Mulholland, the honorary secretary of the RCGP, reminds us of the severity of the disease, the efficacy of the MMR vaccine and how to prepare for a potential increase of cases in the community. In the second part, Dr Tehseen Khan, a GP in North East London, the Population Health & Health Inequalities Lead at North East London ICS and a Clinical Advisor for NHS England, shares his experiences on how to increase immunisation coverage within communities where coverage has traditionally been below average and how to address lack of vaccine confidence in the consultation.

This podcast was produced by RCGP Learning. Editorial and content decisions were made solely by the RCGP.

Non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) presents as a disease spectrum. Fatty change is a common and frequently benign condition, present in 20-30% of the population and up to 90% of the morbidly obese.

This Essential Knowledge Update (EKU2017.1) podcast explores the NICE guideline on non-alcoholic fatty liver disease. It discusses epidemiology of the condition as well as assessment, diagnosis (including severity) and management in primary care. 

The mean age of women who have a natural menopause is 51 years, although there is wide variation between women.

This Essential Knowledge Update (EKU18) podcast explores the diagnosis, treatment and management of the menopause. It also discusses the peri-menopause, primary ovarian insufficiency (POI), symptoms of the menopause and more. 

Alcohol use disorders are most common among those in young adulthood (18-29 years), a group that are relatively low at consulting primary care.

This Essential Knowledge Update (EKU18) podcast discusses the global burden of the disease and the main groups at risk of alcohol use disorder. It explores the diagnostic terms, identification, investigations, interventions and management in primary care and also highlights the area of driving and the DVLA.

Statistics for England in 2011 showed approximately 320,000 adults with epilepsy were receiving anti-epileptic drugs (AED), but it is estimated that only two thirds of these adults have it adequately controlled.

This Essential Knowledge Update (EKU17) podcast explores history taking including eye witness accounts of seizures, differential diagnoses, support from and referral to secondary care including diagnosis in hospital settings. It also discusses the treatment of seizures, driving and epilepsy and epilepsy in pregnant women and people with learning disabilities. 

Recent research (Ahmad 2015) has shown an increase in lifetime cancer risk from approximately 1 in 3 for those born in 1930 to 1 in 2 for those born after 1960. 

This Essential Knowledge Update (EKU17) podcast provides information on the NICE guideline in which the EKU module was based including the recommendations for site specific cancers and also by symptom/findings of primary care investigations in both adults and children. It also discusses the referral criteria and how to explain the reasoning for the referral to a patient.

Multiple Sclerosis (MS) is the most common disabling neurological disease of young adults in the UK. Over 100,000 people in the UK have MS and it effects over 2,000,000 more. It is not considered a terminal illness and it is not contagious.
This Essential Knowledge Update (EKU16) podcast discusses the prevelance, presentation and assessment, symptom relief, relapses and exacerbations, referral and management (including ongoing information, advice and support) of MS. It also highlights MS in pregnancy.

It is estimated that patients with MUPS represent up to 20% of GP contacts, and 30% of patients presenting with physical symptoms.

This Essential Knowledge Update (EKU16) podcast explores the pharmacological and non-pharmacological interventions for somatoform disorders and medically unexplained physical symptoms (MUPS).