Fever, cough and myalgia in a traveller - Emergency Department

CurtinYear 515 min + 2 min readingInfectious diseasesStandardPre-internship
  • Focused history
  • Request investigations
  • Dx + differentials
  • Initial Mx
  • Summary to examiner

Ready

2 min reading, 15 min station, warning at 2 min

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Station - Instructions for candidate

You are an intern in the Emergency Department of a Perth metropolitan hospital.

Carmela Rossi, a 52-year-old retired postal worker, presented this morning with three days of fever and cough. The nurse has recorded her observations and asked you to see her.

Triage observationsTemperature 38.5°C, heart rate 102 regular, respiratory rate 20, blood pressure 128/82 mmHg, oxygen saturation 96% on room air, pain score 4/10 (from myalgia)

Your tasks are to:

  1. Take a focused history of the presenting complaint, including travel history and exposure risks.
  2. Request appropriate investigations. Results will be provided by the examiner if appropriately indicated.
  3. State your most likely diagnosis and two to three plausible differentials with brief justification.
  4. Outline your initial management plan including infection control measures and specific treatment or further investigation.
  5. Summarise your findings and plan to the examiner, including your rationale for the investigations requested.
  • You do not need to perform an examination of the patient in this station; findings will be provided to you.
  • Findings will be provided by the examiner on request.

This is a 15-minute station, with 2 minutes of reading time.

Ask the examiner

Solo practice: say out loud what you would ask for, then choose the category. Names appear only after you commit, and a result is revealed only when you ask for it.

Generated by AI for practice; check doses and pathways against eTG / AMH before relying on them.