Every day, specialists deliver high-quality care in 68 disciplines in health centres across Canada. Yet many Canadians know very little about what many specialists actually do, and the important role these disciplines play in Canada’s health care system.

very day, specialists deliver high-quality care in 68 disciplines in health centres across Canada. Yet many Canadians know very little about what many specialists actually do, and the important role these disciplines play in Canada’s health care system. This video provides a brief high-level overview of what Internal Medicine Specialists actually do, their training, and their role in Canadian health care.

A step by step approach to Hypokalaemia including causes, diagnosis and management.

A brief description of hypertensive emergencies including its definition, risk factors, clinical manifestations and management

A brief overview of Filarial infection in humans. This presentation includes the etiopathogenesis, clinical manifestations, diagnosis and treatment of this condition.

A stepwise approach to the causes and diagnosis of Anaemia in clinical practice. This presentation includes the all important concept of the Reticulocyte production index. Discussion of Hereditary and acquired causes of Anaemia has been included in detail.

A detailed discussion of the pathophysiology, diagnostic criteria, clinical features and management of hepatorenal syndrome.

A detailed description of the approach to a use of bleeding disorders. This presentation includes the causes, history, clinical features and diagnosis of specific bleeding disorders. These include Haemophilia, DIC, Von Willebrand Disease and others. The final differentiation is often made on the basis of the Prothrombin Time, activated Partial thromboplastin time and platelet count.

A detailed discussion of the causes, diagnosis and management of the causes of Meningitis and Encephalitis. Includes bacterial, viral, fungal and autoimmune conditions as well as treatment of these conditions. Includes antivirals such as Aciclovir and Ganciclovir as well as IVIG and plasma exchange for autoimmune encephalitis.

A brief description of the mechanisms, types and assessment of chromosomal analyses. Techniques such as standard cytogenetic testing, FISH and array methods are discussed. Indications for testing in prenatal, neonatal and adult periods are also discussed. Deletions, translocations, inversions etc are described, as are mosaicism and aneuploidy.

A detailed description of the Arterial Pulse including its waveform and pathological subtypes. Also discussed are the abnormal rates (tachycardia and bradycardia) and their causes, abnormal rhythm (including regularly regular and irregularly irregular pulses) and abnormal character (including pulses bisferiens, pulses parvus et tarsus, pulsus alternans, pulses paradoxus and others.) Description of pulse in various pathological states including Aortic stenosis and aortic regurgitation is also included. Finally there is also a description of the peripheral signs of aortic regurgitation.

The discussion begins with a basic explanation of Bone biology taking into consideration the osteoblast and osteoclast balance. Concepts of RANK, RANK ligand and Osteoprotegerin are included. Risk factors for Osteoporosis such as Age, alcohol, smoking, sedentary lifestyle are also discussed.

A detailed description of the Hepato-pulmonary syndrome including its definition, pathophysiology, diagnosis and treatment. The pathophysiology includes nitric oxide in the pulmonary vasculature which results in intrapulmonary vasodilatation. This causes the classical and unique symptom of platypnea and orthodeoxia.

A detailed description of Adrenal insufficiency (Addison's disease) including basic physiology of the HPA axis, causes of primary and secondary insufficiency, clinical features of acute and chronic adrenal insufficiency. Lab testing for Addison's disease is also dealt with in detail. The management, both short term and long term are discussed in detail.

A brief description of the pathophysiology, clinical features, warning signs, diagnosis and management of Dengue fever. This description is based on the World Health Organisation guidelines of the management of Dengue fever.

A step wise approach to the pathogenesis, types, disease entities and diagnosis of vasculitis. This discussion also includes the management options of vasculitis and their adverse drug reactions. In essence, vasculitis is a clfinicopathologic process characterised by inflammation and damage of blood vessels. This may be mainly due to three pathological processes which include immune complex deposition, anti-neutrophillic antibody formation and pathological T lymphocyte response and granuloma formation. The disease entities include Wegner's granulomatosis, Churg Strauss and many others. These present with palpable purpura, unexplained renal dysfunction etc which can be diagnosed based on biopsy and angiogram.

Hemophagocytic lymphohistiocytosis is a rare but life threatening condition characterised by activation of macrophages which result in phagocytosis of RBCs and cytokine mediated tissue damage. This presentation aims to discuss the genetic basis, clinical features, diagnostic criteria and management options in this serious condition. The management options in HLH include Etoposide, Dexamethasone, Cyclosorine, Tacrolimus, Alemtuzumab and stem cell transplant.

A detailed description of the causes and diagnosis of pleural effusion. The presentation includes a discussion of the causes and exudative and transudative pleural effusions. Light's criteria and its modification are described along with definition and clinical implication of pleural fluid acidosis, glucose, adenosine deaminase, hemorrhagic pleural effusion and protein and LDH as well.

A decade ago we thought that Chikungunya was a tropical disease restricted to the rain forests. However, after the 2007 epidemic in Italy and later in the Reunion islands, this dreaded condition has now spread to the Carribean and the Americas. Its an arthropod borne alpha virus which causes fever, polyarthralgia and arthritis. There could be serious complications in the adult such as meningoencephalitis or GBS as well as in neonates. This presentation discusses in detail the clinical features, diagnosis and management of Chikungunya fever. A detailed discussion of its complications is also included. Check out our other videos