MDTea Club and Podcast – Join the conversation

MDTea is by Dr Joanna Preston @GerisJo and Dr Iain Wilkinson @geriatricsdoc, consultant Geriatricians at St. George’s Hospital, London and Surrey and Sussex Healthcare Trust respectively.

MDTea offers free education on ageing for the whole MDT. We produce fortnightly podcasts on common topics encountered in clinical practice, critically looking at what evidence bases exist and which do not and applying practical solutions. The aim is to upskill a diverse workforce by discussing each topic from multi-disciplinary view points, not just one profession. We work and learn in teams in real life to solve problems so we aim to translate this to a shared format.

We have released 30 episodes over the last 18 months with funding for 20 more at the moment. Our 4th series started recently with an episode on Theories of Ageing. Others include mouth care, pain, delirium, falls prevention and management, interventions in early dementia, identity and nutrition, to name a few. Our most recent episode was on Sex and older adults – a largely neglected topic.

Building a BGS fit for the future: final report from our Member Services & Communications Review

Ed Gillett, Communications Manager at the BGS, highlights some key findings from the Society’s recent Member Services and Communications Review.

Since April of this year, BGS officers and staff have been busy working on a review of the Society’s member services and communications, alongside Forster Communications. More than 650 BGS members and non-members have recently responded to surveys or joined focus groups as part of this process.

Our aims with the review were twofold: firstly, we wanted to study the member services offered by the Society and the ways in which we communicate our work; then, to identify how we can improve those areas in the future, and make the Society even better. In July, a final report was presented to BGS trustees by Forster, offering into our current work and a set of recommendations for the future.

Geriatric Medicine and the burden of common sense.

Prof Kenneth Rockwood is Director of Geriatric Medicine Research at Dalhousie University, Canada and serves on the International Advisory Panel of Age and Ageing journal. 

I’ve been teaching geriatric medicine for about 25 years. During that time, my attitude towards the common sense of geriatric medicine has changed. At first, I saw it as a great blessing: it was easy to let people know what they needed to do. Then I began to see it as a challenge: an audience could sit through a diverting 40 minutes, but in the end not be persuaded that they have learned anything. “Nothing to that – it’s all common sense”. Now I see the common sense of what we do as a foe, and one that we should conquer.

Your speciality needs you…..to write questions for the MRCP(UK)

Adam Gordon is a Consultant and Honorary Associate Professor in Medicine of Older People based in Nottingham, UK.  He is also the editor of this blog.

Good CPD can be hard to come by.  Sure, there are endless opportunities to attend symposia and conferences and workshops and away-days……but how often do you engage in a piece of CPD that makes you reflect critically on your understanding of key aspects of your work as a geriatrician, or that makes you question the essence of what it is that separates your specialty from the others, or what makes geriatrics relevant to patient care?

If you’re looking for something more than powerpoint presentations in glamourous venues with finger-food of varying quality, something that encourages you to think deeply and reflect on what it is that is most important about being a geriatrician, then I may have just the thing for you.

BGS Spring Scientific Meeting is in Belfast

On behalf of the President of the BGS and the 2013 Spring Meeting Organising Committee, Dr Rosemary Kelly, extends a warm welcome to the BGS Spring Meeting in Belfast which is taking place from 17 – 19 April 2013.

A combination of local, national and international experts will deliver an interesting and varied scientific programme. The Northern Ireland Minister for Health will be in attendance and Thursday’s guest lecture will be delivered by Robert Francis QC, author of the newly released Francis report.

We begin the conference on Wednesday afternoon, highlighting exciting developments within the expanding areas of nursing home medicine, psychiatry liaison and orthogeriatric medicine. There will also be a thought-provoking analysis of medicolegal aspects of geriatric medical practice as well as a timely update on appraisal and revalidation.