Station - Instructions for candidate
You are an intern on the general medical ward of a metropolitan hospital in Perth.
Jarrah Bennell, a 52-year-old Noongar man, was admitted four days ago with right lower lobe pneumonia. He is improving, off oxygen, and the consultant has said he can go home today. He has told the nurse he wants to 'give up the smokes this time'. You have been asked to talk with him about quitting and to go through his discharge plan. His observations and current medicines are below.
| Observations this morning | Temperature 36.9 degrees C, heart rate 82 /min, blood pressure 134/84 mmHg, respiratory rate 18 /min, SpO2 95% on room air |
|---|---|
| Current inpatient medicines | Amoxicillin 1 g orally three times daily and doxycycline 100 mg orally twice daily (day 4 of 7); ramipril 5 mg daily (his usual); nicotine 21 mg/24 h patch daily since admission. No known drug allergies. |
| Investigations | Admission chest x-ray: right lower lobe consolidation. Day 3 CRP 34 mg/L (188 on admission). HbA1c 5.9%. eGFR 84. |
Your tasks are to:
- Take a focused history relevant to his smoking and to his discharge home.
- Counsel him about quitting smoking, including the support and treatment you would offer.
- Go through his discharge plan with him: his medicines, follow-up, and when to seek help.
- You do NOT need to examine the patient.
- You do NOT need to summarise your findings to the examiner or hand over to another doctor.
- You do not need to write the discharge summary or prescriptions in this station, but say what you would prescribe.
This is a 10-minute station, with 2 minutes of reading time.