worried about getting a visa

[Daemos]

I haven't applied to Australia yet but I will be in March. I am just worried I will not be able to get a Visa if I do get accepted.

Now I might just be paranoid...but I am worried I might not pass the health portion. The only reasons are I have asthma and I underwent a total spleenectomy a year and a half ago due to an accident. I don't feel more suspectable to becoming sick. In fact I feel just as well as I did before I lost my spleen.

Since my spleenectomy i only got sick twice...once in winter (coldest month of the year) and that went away after a couple days of rest and neo citran. After that I got sick after being exposed to people with strep throat for a few days. antibiotics cleared it up in a few days. i never got the flu shot after. although i did get all my other immunizations

Am i just being paranoid? should I be concerned?

sorry for any typos posting off my phone =)

---

Members don't see this ad.

 

[redshifteffect]

Current guidelines for splenectomy patients are 2 years of prophylactic antibiotics, as well as immunisations for capsulated bacteria + fluvax. As long as your doctors are managing you according to Australian standards, I doubt you will have an issue.

 

[Daemos]

im currently not on any antibiotics should i be on any? i only go on them when im feeling sick.

im getting the flu vac next week. i have all my current vaccinations for other thing (bacteria)

tbh the speenectomy really made me want to go for medicine...when before i wasnt quite sure what i wanted to do...although med was an option i was seeing.

thanks for your help!

 

[redshifteffect]

Well according to the latest evidence you should be on low dose prophylactic antibiotics. There is some controversy over this, but most people are supporting the use of the antibiotics.

I"m guessing you're being managed by Canadian doctors.

I actually wrote up a nice case study last month about a Canadian patient we got at our hospital. He was in a Motorbike vs. Car and splenectomised at the age of 19 (in Canada of course). Wasn't put on any antibiotics, but was given some of his immunisations (but not all). Anyway he was back packing around Australia, got bitten by a dog, and presented to the ED about a day after. He then developed Pupura fulminans and we ended up amputating his hands and feet. It was a fascinating case. The ID team thought that if he had been on his prophylactic antibiotics we may have had more time.

 

[Daemos]

hmm ill be seeing my family doc on weds ill ask him. yes im canadian. what do the peophylatic antibiotics do? i mean i know they fight infection but why for 2 yrs, what is the purpose for them...what are some examples of prophylatic antibiotics?

how long ago did the patient have a spleenectomy?

 

[redshifteffect]

They prevent infections from taking place. As for why two years, the studies showed that that's the optimal time post splenectomy for the use of prophylactic antibiotics; any longer and you run the risk of increasing resistance.

Clindamycin at low dose would be an example; note this does not constitute medical advice.

 

[Daemos]

oh, I know it doesn't constitute as medical advice (although I'm assuming you need to put it down as a disclaimer)

I will talk to my Family Doctor and see what he feels is needed, I've started some reading, and it seems there is lots of contraversy surrounding prophylactic antiboitics. So basically 2 years of that and that's the max? then if I have an injury 4 years after the prophylactic antiboiotic medication regemine, I'm assuming it wouldn't help me at all then?

Wow we really went off topic, but this is quite interesting =D

 

[redshifteffect]

Ya there is controversy no doubt, but the Evidence Based guidelines do suggest that for 2 years it's the best way to go. I wouldn't be surprised if Canada was behind on the guidelines though.

That patient had his splenectomy a year before he presented to our hospital.

 

[Daemos]

I wonder if it's too late for me to go on the antibiotics now...based on my reasoning I don't think it would be...but what happens after the two years? you just stop? so if the same situation as you posted above happened, the prophylactic antibiotics would they of helped? Sorry for picking your brain for info, i'm not taking it as clinical advice, just trying to absorb more knowledge =)

Again I'll consult my F. doc about this issue. Although interestingly enough he's an IMG (non Canadian) but got in when Canada had doors wide open (long time ago lol)

which to go more off topic are you going to finish that post about Australia and then going back to Canada? I started reading...then it ended lol...but I'm sure you're quite busy.

 

[redshifteffect]

No it's not too late to get the antibiotics now. As long as you've gotten all your immunisations at the optimal time (some of them are 2-4 weeks post splenectomy). As for your doc, although he's an IMG according to Canada he's good enough to practise there, therefore he's a Canadian doctor.

After the two years you would not need the antibiotics (although this guideline only changed recently, as the old guidelines used to say that you'd be better off on lifelong antibiotics). Although I can't be 100% certain about if it would have helped that particular patient, based on what the ID physicians said, it probably would have helped. It certainly would not have hurt.

I started that post hoping people would help me finish it off, as the info is available on the net. If there's enough help I'd gladly continue, but I don't want to do it all myself.

 

[Daemos]

Ah, so after two years the body will more or less cope to life without a spleen? (that's what I am inffering from your post) there is so much information out on the internet, many of it can be conflicting and unfortunately I don't have access to all the latest documents and research unless if I pay for the journals or am part of a Medical Association =(

I got all my immunizations =) I had 3 shots 1 week after I got my spleenectomy.

In regards to the other post: I will see what I can find I read something about Ontario helping Canadian IMGs, I'll see if I can stumble upon it again, and post the link and try to summerize it.

 

[redshifteffect]

Ontario is too complicated at this stage, they just developed some other BS program that requires an extra 2 exams....I'd start with easy provinces like Newfoundland and Manitoba first.

 

[Daemos]

Ontario is too complicated at this stage, they just developed some other BS program that requires an extra 2 exams....I'd start with easy provinces like Newfoundland and Manitoba first.

wait requires an extra two exams?

I'm from Manitoba, and in fact...i'll be passing by the MMA, and I will be close to the College of Physicians and Surgeons of Manitoba, I will see if it's even possible for me to obtain some information.

*edit*

found some info on the Manitoba Government website, will read through it and update the other post hopefully later tonight if I get a chance to.

 

[redshifteffect]

http://www.cehpea.ca/

This new BS program that Ontario came up with. Now requires an extra couple of exams just to get "evaluated". The info is actually on the website. Every province except for Ontario, Quebec and BC make it really easy to understand how to get licensed. If you don't mind summarizing Manitoba I can help out with some more provinces.

This is what I mean by "not opening doors". Ontario has a shortage of physicians (some would say much more then any other Western locale) and instead of simplifying the procedure, they make things MORE complicated! LOL who the heck is running the province?

 

[Daemos]

I will summerize Manitoba, and see if I can get more info from the buildings them selves hopefully I'll have time tomorrow to get it, if not i'll do my best to do it next week...but we're in the middle of a winter storm watch =( so I don't know how much driving i'll be able to get done.

Just reading through the ontario thing...and it seems overly complicated...and who is running the provience? This guy http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dalton_McGuinty

 

[redshifteffect]

LOL...yeah I'm from Ontario I know "who" is running it, I just mean what is he thinking?

How can you make things MORE complicated then they already were? This is not going to help the physician crisis by any means.

One thing I like about the Australian government is that they actually plan ahead, and don't necessarily take short cuts. Sure they built new medical schools (pretty quickly) but they are also increasing intern positions, as well as training programs. In some cases (like GP) they did it extremely quickly. They saw there was a need for more GPs and don't mind spending the cash for the long term benefit of their citizens.

Canada just ads more layers of red tape to make it look like they are actually doing something, when in fact they are not.

 

[Daemos]

LOL...yeah I'm from Ontario I know "who" is running it, I just mean what is he thinking?

How can you make things MORE complicated then they already were? This is not going to help the physician crisis by any means.

One thing I like about the Australian government is that they actually plan ahead, and don't necessarily take short cuts. Sure they built new medical schools (pretty quickly) but they are also increasing intern positions, as well as training programs. In some cases (like GP) they did it extremely quickly. They saw there was a need for more GPs and don't mind spending the cash for the long term benefit of their citizens.

Canada just ads more layers of red tape to make it look like they are actually doing something, when in fact they are not.

oh snap! lol my bad. To be honest I have no idea. I agree there should be some standard...just because of personal experience...but there has to be a more efficient way to get it done.

From personal experience these IMGs they seem to be letting in, are quite bad...there is a clinic near me that's all walk in that only has IMGs. My F doc was booked solid, so I went in to the walk in with a problem in my leg...was told to get orthopedics...no offer of xrays, or any sort of inflammatory medications (which my leg was slightly inflamed at the ankle) didn't even CHECK and compare to my other leg. the entire appointment felt rushed and lasted 3 mins tops.

Went to the walk in clinic further away from my house, received way better treatment, got prescribed anti-inflammatory medication (which helped) also got told to get x-days done to see if I had stress fractured anything (as it only seemed to get irritated if I was moving, also got prescribed blood tests to test for any other conditions, and was told that he would be in contact with my family doctor, and all the info was forwarded to my family doctor. This was impressive, the other one was not...and it's not the first time this has happened with IMGs.

So I don't really understand what the Canadian government is doing to help this family doctor crisis...they make it harder for IMGs to get in, then when someone sees one of the IMGs they DO let in, the patient needs to see more than one doctor to get a problem addressed it seems inefficient at multiple points.