Gonadotropin-Releasing Hormone–Agonist Triggering and a Freeze-All Approach: The Final Step in Eliminating Ovarian Hyperstimulation Syndrome?

Marcus Davenport et al. published in Obstetrical and Gynecological Survey.

Read article here.

Dragons’ Den competition leads to successful medical study program at SCS

Dragons' Den launch at SCS

A structured group study pilot program for Year 3 medical students at the School of Clinical Sciences at Monash Health (SCS) is the result of the recent Dragons’ Den competition, with 100 students in 33 groups already signed up and participating.

Medical students Hector Thomson, Lewis Fry and Marcus Davenport launched their “5 Key Points” program this month, using evidence-based methods to help students retain and recall curriculum content.

Dragons' Den winning team with
Associate Professor Sally Ayoub

“Our theory is that to make studying medicine more effective and efficient, you need divide, synthesise and teach,” said Hector.

“5 Key Points is a program where students form their own study groups with two to three friends.  They are then given a program outline dividing the curriculum over 14 weekly sessions.”

The students split the topics between themselves and study their allocated topics, meeting for two hours a week to teach the rest of the group the topics they have researched. At the end of each session, the group then further summarises each topic into 5 key points that they need to know.

“The students submit their 5 key points to our website and receive our 5 key points in return, which have been reviewed by consultants from Monash Health—providing a guide for the students and ensuring they are focusing on the essential issues.”

Lewis and Marcus said from their own experience, they identified the key challenge in Year 3 as the large volume of content and a lack of direction.

“There are over 250 conditions students must cover and it can be an extremely daunting task,” said Lewis.
Marcus, Lewis and Hector did Year 3 at SCS at Monash Medical Centre and formed their own study group.
“We started studying together and found it extremely efficient,” said Marcus.

While the program is still in the early stages of development, the three medical students are delighted with its progress so far.

“This year 5 Key Points is a pilot program at SCS but we hope to expand it to all Year 3 clinical sites in the future,” said Hector.

Hector, Marcus and Lewis thank Dr Claire Dendle who has mentored them throughout the process, as well as the Monash Health consultants who reviewed their material. 

“We are also very grateful for the support of Nicola Abel and Ciara Boyd who have been crucial in getting the program up and running.”


The 5 Key Points website is available at:  http://fivekeypoints.weebly.com

SCS medical students inspired at World Congress on Controversies in Obstetrics, Gynaecology & Infertility

Tristan McCaughey, Phoebe Simpson, Professor Gab Kovacs
and Jenna Lyttle

Six medical students were selected to attend the World Congress on Controversies in Obstetrics, Gynaecology & Infertility (COGI) in Melbourne last month on behalf of the School of Clinical Sciences at Monash Health (SCS).

Professor Zion Ben-Rafael, COGI Congress Founder and Co-chairman generously offered the Monash Department of Obstetrics and Gynaecology six complimentary student registrations.

Final year students Tristan McCaughey, Lachlan McNamara, Marcus Davenport, Phoebe Simpson, Claire McGannon and Jenna Lyttle were competitively selected to attend the conference.

COGI Faculty member and Monash University Professor Gab Kovacs said it is important for medical students to start interacting at international conferences early in their career, to get ideas and meet potential collaborators. 

"COGI is an opportunity for students to hear and meet high profile people speak about topics," said Professor Kovacs.  

"Our presenters included a number of world leaders in the field, such as Professor Jacques Donnez, who famously reported the world's first livebirth after cryopreserved ovarian tissue transplantation."

The conference is known as a forum for healthy debate about a range of controversial topics in the field of O&G.

"COGI shows medical students that there are many ways of doing things- that many topics are not black and white and even experts disagree," said Professor Kovacs.

Jenna Lyttle said she was very excited to attend the COGI conference, as it was a great opportunity to hear experts in the women's health field debate and discuss the current issues in obstetrics and gynaecology. 

"I have been interested in pursuing a career in O&G for some time, and the conference really helped to solidify this direction for me," said Jenna. 

"I met some influential clinicians and researchers, inspiring me to combine a medical career in both clinical and academic areas in the future." 

Lachlan McNamara said it was a very worthwhile couple of days which covering a breadth of controversial issues in the field of O&G. 

"The conference covered major modern day issues in fertility, obstetrics, surgical gynaecology and foetal maternal medicine, with commentary from world-leading researchers and clinicians."

The students would like to express their gratitude to SCS and Monash Health for giving them the opportunity to attend the Congress.

Professor Kovacs acknowledges and thanks Professor Zion Ben Rafael and Head, Department of Obstetrics and Gynaecology at Monash University Professor Euan Wallace for their support.