Our Presenter: Dr Siobhan Bourke, Sexual Health Physician
The problem:
Sexually Transmissible Infections (STIs) are on the rise in Australia and young people are one of the groups most affected.
Many common STIs show no or few symptoms and can go easily undetected. Furthermore, young people often face barriers to accessing screening and care. Therefore the onus is on clinicians in primary care (GPs and nurses) to be proactive in offering screening and management where appropriate.
Early recognition and treatment of STIs can prevent complications and long term morbidity, such as chronic pelvic pain and infertility.
The reflective webinar series aims to bring together multiple elements of the training program to deepen understanding of the core competencies required in working with adolescents and high risk young people.
We recommend that participants read the following articles prior to this session:
Pavlin NL, Parker R, Fairley CK, Gunn JM, Hocking J. Take the sex out of STI screening! Views of young women on implementing chlamydia screening in General Practice. BMC infectious diseases. 2008;8:62. doi:10.1186/1471-2334-8-62
Coombe J, Goller J, Vaisey A, et al. New best practice guidance for general practice to reduce chlamydia-associated reproductive complications in women. Australian journal of general practice. 2021;50(1-2):50-54. doi:10.31128/AJGP-04-20-5330
Dr Siobhan Bourke
Siobhan is a Sexual Health Physician with degrees in Public Health and Clinical Education. She is currently working at University of Melbourne in two roles: Senior lecturer for the Centre for Excellence in Rural Sexual Health (CERSH) and Director of the Sensitive Physical Examination Program in the Department of Medical Education. She works clinically at a Victorian Government funded Sexual and Reproductive Health Hub at CoHealth in Laverton. The hub sits in a bulking billing community health service with a multidisciplinary team.
Learning Outcomes:
- Recognise groups at higher risk of STIs and describe appropriate screening
- Describe management of common STIs and access guidance for rare but significant STIs
- Demonstrate best practice approaches to management of pelvic inflammatory disease
- Demonstrate best practice approaches to management of herpes simplex virus in teens
This activity is approved by RACGP as a CPD activity.
Statements of attendance are made available for all attendees following the webinar.
Please note: The didactic presentation will be recorded for sharing after the webinar. In respect of the privacy of participants and the confidentiality of patients, the interactive discussion will not be made available after the session.