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6th February 2020 Newsletter

Writer's picture: CamWAMS TeamCamWAMS Team

Updated: Apr 2, 2021

Hello readers! Welcome to the Cambridge Widening Access to Medicine Society fortnightly newsletter 😊



Food for Thought: an example interview question


Should we introduce NHS screening for prostate cancer?


See the bottom for some suggested approaches to this!



Behind the Headlines


The coronavirus virus epidemic has caused a lot of fear and frenzy in the past few weeks. A lot of this could be said to be due to the media and the myths that surround the virus and its transmission. This article puts the facts straight and dispels 5 myths about this issue.

  1. Face masks aren't that useful - face masks offer little evidence that they work as they are generally not worn properly and do not protect the whole face. Instead, it is better to maintain good hygiene practices such as, covering your mouth and nose while sneezing, wash your hands, keep your distance from those who are coughing and sneezing

  2. You can't catch the virus from animals - there is no evidence that your pet animals can be infected with the virus.

  3. It is seldom a 'killer' - most people will have mild symptoms and will recover. The risk so far is tiny compared with the seasonal flu.

  4. But there is no cure - there are no specific medicines or vaccines for the viru, but treatment options do exist.

  5. It's safe to eat Chinese food - it is also safe to receive parcels from China.



Link of the fortnight

The medic portal is a website that contains a lot of help and information about applying for medicine. It ranges from quizzes on the best type of medical course for you and comparison between all the medical schools based on various criteria to find the best medical school for you. In addition, it offers interview tips, UKCAT and BMAT tips as well as a large question bank with some mock exams. It is a very useful resource to use if you are expolring whether medicine is the right course for you, or if you have already made your decision and would like more tips and help to help you to achieve this goal.



Myth-buster

“Telling my medical school about a health condition or concern will affect my fitness to practise”


NOT TRUE! As the GMC states, having a health condition or concern does not mean there is a concern around your fitness to practise. On the contrary, please do tell your medical school about any health concerns as they want to support you and ensure your wellbeing. Medical schools have lots of mechanisms in place that can provide you with help and support. For example, at Cambridge you can access support from the clinical sub-dean for student welfare, the university counselling service, the occupational health department, your pastoral advisor (a senior clinician) or your peers. There is also a specific Clinical Student Mental Health Service which allows clinical students rapid access to support from a consultant psychiatrist and a clinical psychologist where appropriate. Please do not suffer in silence - many doctors and medical students experience health issues and keeping your medical school informed allows them to best support you.



Food for thought: an example approach

Screening for cancer means aiming to detect cancers before they cause symptoms and ideally before they metastasise (spread to other parts of the body).

Prostate cancer is the most common cancer in men in the UK.

The PSA (Prostate Specific Antigen) test is a potential screening tool for prostate cancer. PSA is a substance made by the prostate which is measurable in the blood and is often elevated in cases of prostate cancer.

Benefits of screening for prostate cancer using PSA:

  • May allow earlier detection of cancer before it produces significant symptoms, resulting in a better prognosis. About 6000 men a year are diagnosed with late-stage cancer which is incurable - screening may help to pick up some of these cases at an earlier stage when treatment is still an option.

Risks of screening for prostate cancer using PSA:

  • High false positive rate - PSA tests have relatively low sensitivity and may suggest prostate cancer even if no cancer actually exists. This may lead to unnecessary biopsies which can cause patients significant pain.

    • PSA can be raised in other conditions that affect the prostate, such as prostate infections or an enlarged prostate, or by certain medical procedures or medications.

    • About 75% of men with raised PSA will not have cancer.

  • High false negative rate - PSA may not be raised even in men with prostate cancer (>10% of cases).

  • Risk of overtreatment & overdiagnosis - PSA may be elevated in cases of slow growing tumours that may never shorten life expectancy or even produce symptoms. This means there is a risk of treating people with harmful radiotherapy or chemotherapy drugs which may not be of any clinical benefit in cases that would have not otherwise been detected.

Consequently, there is currently no national screening programme for prostate cancer. Instead, the NHS runs an informed choice programme called prostate cancer risk management. This is for otherwise healthy men over the age of 50 who of their own accord ask their GP about a PSA test. GPs discuss the benefits and risks of PSA testing with these patients who can then decide whether to have the test on the NHS. This means patient choice guides the screening process.


Thanks for reading – if you have any questions then as ever please just email us at access@clinsoc.co.uk!


Hope you have a great fortnight and GOOD LUCK!


Love,

CamWAMS Committee


* 2nd April 2021 Update

This newsletter was originally written before masks were made mandatory in indoor public spaces, and before the World Health Organisation's and UK government's advice to start wearing masks.


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