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Welcome to the This Medical Life podcast. Our mission is to share stories about the triumphs and tragedies of diseases and illnesses from ancient times up until what we know today. It is about those scientific and medical minds who came before us and how, every single day, we stand on the shoulders of giants. This is a podcast about the stories of medicine.


Hosted by Dr. Travis Brown and Steve Davis, our target audience is General Practitioners, medical students, and other health professionals. We hope to educate, inspire and celebrate those who choose to care for others in their profession. From experience, we know that our audience extends beyond these fields and would like to welcome anyone to listen. The stories of those who came before us are nothing short of remarkable and we hope you enjoy them as much as we do.

Production by Tim Whiffen

Design by Tom Buzz

This Medical Life

Auscast Medical Channel is a podcast channel that provides a wide range of medical-related content. The podcasts feature interviews with experts in various medical fields, including doctors, nurses, and other healthcare professionals, as well as discussions on the latest medical research and treatment options. The channel covers a wide range of topics, including general health, mental health, and specific medical conditions. The podcasts are aimed at both healthcare professionals and the general public, and provide listeners with the latest information and insights on healthcare topics. Auscast Medical Channel is a great resource for staying informed about medical issues and trends, and for learning more about how to care for yourself and your loved ones.

Auscast Medical Channel is a podcast channel that provides a wide range of medical-related content. The podcasts feature interviews with experts in various medical fields, including doctors, nurses, and other healthcare professionals, as well as discussions on the latest medical research and treatment options. The channel covers a wide range of topics, including general health, mental health, and specific medical conditions. The podcasts are aimed at both healthcare professionals and the general public, and provide listeners with the latest information and insights on healthcare topics. Auscast Medical Channel is a great resource for staying informed about medical issues and trends, and for learning more about how to care for yourself and your loved ones.

Auscast Medical

Episode 92: Acute Otitis Media, Plus Glue Ear, Plus Sleep | Kids ENT

Ethics, codes of conduct, and challenging decisions are universal constants in medicine. Difficult situations and trying to do the right thing are not always obvious particularly when these decisions involve lots of emotions, family members, and have life and death implications. Ethics, and ethics committees, can help to provide a clear and consensus path for clinicians, patients, and family members. We discuss the role ethics and ethics committees have in modern medicine with our special guest.

This is the story of clinical ethics.

Useful links:

Free critical thinking course through UQ school of philosophy

Clinical Ethics Society of Australasia – Great organisation focusing on clinical ethics, with affordable membership and lots of access to resources. They run an excellent ‘ethics intensive’ and yearly symposium as well as other masterclasses throughout the year.

Australasian Association of Bioethics and Health Law – Major organisation for ethics and health law. Excellent conference each year.

Links to Dr Melanie Jansen’s poetry

Instragram: @drmelaniejansen_poetry

Dr Melanie Jansen’s debut poetry collection, All That Could Be Lost, is available online from 5 Islands Press and at independent bookstores.

Our Special Guest:

Dr Melanie Jansen who is a clinical ethicist and paediatric intensive care consultant

Listen:

This Medical Life podcast is available on all podcasting services and Spotify. Members of the RACGP are able to log the hours as CPD (Education) that they listen to the episodes under self record via Quick log. We invite you to help support us on our donation page.

Ethics, codes of conduct, and challenging decisions are universal constants in medicine. Difficult situations and trying to do the right thing are not always obvious particularly when these decisions involve lots of emotions, family members, and have life and death implications. Ethics, and ethics committees, can help to provide a clear and consensus path for clinicians, patients, and family members. We discuss the role ethics and ethics committees have in modern medicine with our special guest.
This is the story of clinical ethics.
Useful links:
<a href="https://hpi.uq.edu.au/study-online-philosophy-and-critical-thinking-course">Free critical thinking course through UQ school of philosophy</a>
<a href="https://www.clinicalethicssociety.org/cesa-news/save-the-date-28-oct-2026-so-you-want-to-start-a-clinical-ethics-service">Clinical Ethics Society of Australasia</a>&nbsp;&ndash; Great organisation focusing on clinical ethics, with affordable membership and lots of access to resources. They run an excellent &lsquo;ethics intensive&rsquo; and yearly symposium as well as other masterclasses throughout the year.
<a href="https://aabhl.org/about-us/">Australasian Association of Bioethics and Health Law</a>&nbsp;&ndash; Major organisation for ethics and health law. Excellent conference each year.
<a href="https://www.drmjansen.com/">Links to Dr Melanie Jansen&rsquo;s poetry</a>
Instragram:&nbsp;<a href="https://www.instagram.com/drmelaniejansen_poetry/">@drmelaniejansen_poetry</a>
Dr Melanie Jansen&rsquo;s debut poetry collection,&nbsp;All That Could Be Lost, is available online from&nbsp;<a href="https://www.5islandspress.com/category/all-products">5 Islands Press</a>&nbsp;and at independent bookstores.
Our Special Guest:
Dr Melanie Jansen who is a clinical ethicist and paediatric intensive care consultant
Listen:
This Medical Life podcast is available on all podcasting services and Spotify. Members of the RACGP are able to log the hours as&nbsp;<a href="https://thismedicallife.com.au/cpd-hours/" data-type="page" data-id="437">CPD (Education)</a>&nbsp;that they listen to the episodes under self record via Quick log.&nbsp;<a href="https://thismedicallife.com.au/buy/donation">We invite you to help support us on our donation page</a>.

Episode 103: Clinical ethics | Eternal conundrums

Lipoprotein (a) (Lp(a)) was discovered in 1963 by a Norwegian geneticist by the name of Kåre Berg who studied particles that carried cholesterol in the blood. He found some patients had an additional protein on the low-density lipoprotein. Studies found that patients with elevated Lp(a) had increased risks of cardiovascular disease. However, the levels were not affected by diet, environmental factors, or medications. The result is that this test was largely ignored for the last few decades.

Recent dyslipidaemia guidelines released by the United States and Europe have returned a focus back on to Lp(a). They recommend that patients should have Lp(a) tested once throughout their life to assess their cardiovascular disease risk. The result can help identify which patients are at a higher risk of cardiovascular morbidity and mortality and who will benefit from lifestyle modification and early intervention.

This resource is referenced during the discussion: https://www.lpaclinicalguidance.com/

This is the story of lipoprotein (a).

Our Special Guests:

Dr Michael Page is a chemical pathologist at Clinipath in Perth, senior lecturer at the UWA Medical School, and immediate past President of the AMA (WA).

Listen:

This Medical Life podcast is available on all podcasting services and Spotify. Members of the RACGP are able to log the hours as CPD (Education) that they listen to the episodes under self record via Quick log. We invite you to help support us on our donation page.

Lipoprotein (a) (Lp(a)) was discovered in 1963 by a Norwegian geneticist by the name of K&aring;re Berg who studied particles that carried cholesterol in the blood. He found some patients had an additional protein on the low-density lipoprotein. Studies found that patients with elevated Lp(a) had increased risks of cardiovascular disease. However, the levels were not affected by diet, environmental factors, or medications. The result is that this test was largely ignored for the last few decades.
Recent dyslipidaemia guidelines released by the United States and Europe have returned a focus back on to Lp(a). They recommend that patients should have Lp(a) tested once throughout their life to assess their cardiovascular disease risk. The result can help identify which patients are at a higher risk of cardiovascular morbidity and mortality and who will benefit from lifestyle modification and early intervention.
This resource is referenced during the discussion:&nbsp;<a href="https://www.lpaclinicalguidance.com/">https://www.lpaclinicalguidance.com/</a>
This is the story of lipoprotein (a).
Our Special Guests:
Dr Michael Page is a chemical pathologist at Clinipath in Perth, senior lecturer at the UWA Medical School, and immediate past President of the AMA (WA).
Listen:
This Medical Life podcast is available on all podcasting services and Spotify. Members of the RACGP are able to log the hours as&nbsp;<a href="https://thismedicallife.com.au/cpd-hours/" data-type="page" data-id="437">CPD (Education)</a>&nbsp;that they listen to the episodes under self record via Quick log.&nbsp;<a href="https://thismedicallife.com.au/buy/donation">We invite you to help support us on our donation page</a>.

Episode 102: Lipoprotein (a) | Genetic Cholesterol

Skin has always told stories. For thousands of years, those whose skin behaved differently — scaling, thickening, inflaming — were feared, isolated, and misunderstood. Psoriasis was long lumped together with leprosy, its sufferers cast out rather than cared for.

It would take centuries before medicine began to separate these conditions, and longer still before we understood what was really happening beneath the surface. Psoriasis is not an infection, not a curse, not a failure of hygiene. It is the immune system turning on itself, a complex, chronic inflammatory disease that affects not just skin but joints, confidence, and quality of life. It touches roughly 2-3% of the population, and for many it is a lifelong companion.

Today we have a clinical dermatologist and a dermatopathologist to help us understand what psoriasis looks like to the clinician, what it reveals under the microscope, and how our understanding of its immunological roots has transformed the way we treat it.

This is the story of psoriasis.

Our Special Guests:

Associate Professor Laura Scardamaglia, a Consultant Dermatologist, a Fellow of the Australasian College of Dermatology, and Clinical Associate Professor at the University of Melbourne.

Dr Grace Liu is an Anatomical Pathologist with Histopath in Sydney, Australia.

Listen:

This Medical Life podcast is available on all podcasting services and Spotify. Help support us on our donation page.

Skin has always told stories. For thousands of years, those whose skin behaved differently &mdash; scaling, thickening, inflaming &mdash; were feared, isolated, and misunderstood. Psoriasis was long lumped together with leprosy, its sufferers cast out rather than cared for.
It would take centuries before medicine began to separate these conditions, and longer still before we understood what was really happening beneath the surface. Psoriasis is not an infection, not a curse, not a failure of hygiene. It is the immune system turning on itself, a complex, chronic inflammatory disease that affects not just skin but joints, confidence, and quality of life. It touches roughly 2-3% of the population, and for many it is a lifelong companion.
Today we have a clinical dermatologist and a dermatopathologist to help us understand what psoriasis looks like to the clinician, what it reveals under the microscope, and how our understanding of its immunological roots has transformed the way we treat it.
This is the story of psoriasis.
Our Special Guests:
Associate Professor Laura Scardamaglia, a Consultant Dermatologist, a Fellow of the Australasian College of Dermatology, and Clinical Associate Professor at the University of Melbourne.
Dr Grace Liu is an Anatomical Pathologist with Histopath in Sydney, Australia.
Listen:
This Medical Life podcast is available on all podcasting services and Spotify.&nbsp;<a href="https://thismedicallife.com.au/buy/donation">Help support us on our donation page</a>.

Episode 92: Acute Otitis Media, Plus Glue Ear, Plus Sleep | Kids ENT

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