Dr Reshma Pargass

Anaesthesia

• Wide range of experience gained in general; vascular; obstetric; orthopaedic; ear, nose and throat; paediatric; gynaecological; neurosurgical; thoracic; ECT anaesthesia and pain management
• Regular supervision of junior and senior anaesthetic trainees.
• Responsibilities include after hours management of complex emergency cases, theatre allocations and staffing.
• Responsible for implementation, facilitation and teaching of a range of regional anaesthetic techniques as Regional Fellow at Royal Perth Hospital.

Pulmonary Physiology

• Primary duty involved acute and on-going management of patients requiring non-invasive ventilation
• Involved with diagnosis (sleep studies) and management of patients with obstructive sleep apnoea including CPAP therapy.
• Managed weekly Registrar sleep clinics and the reporting of sleep studies.
• In charge of the BiPAP service for the hospital
• Presented at weekly lectures to medical students and nursing staff

Intensive Care

• Initiation and continued management of critically ill patients including patients with multi-organ failure, ventilatory failure, cardiogenic shock, adult respiratory distress syndrome, acute renal failure requiring haemodialysis and a wide range of neurological disorders and post-operative cardiac surgery patients.
• Improved clinical skills in early recognition of change in condition of patients to enable timely intervention.

Clinical teaching

• March 2015 to present (St John of God Hospital, Subiaco): Responsible for sixth year medical students from UWA during their anaesthetic rotations.
• January 2009 to January 2015 (RPH): responsible for running Part 2 FANZCA practice vivas (medicine and anaesthesia)
• September 2007 Australian Society of Anaesthetists’ Annual Meeting: Instructor at the upper limb regional anaesthetic workshop. Taught fellow consultants and trainees how to perform infraclavicular and axillary nerve blocks.
• December 2006 to July 2007 (RPH): Clinical supervisor responsible for fifth and sixth year medical students during their anaesthetic rotations. Teaching focused on concepts of anaesthesia and peri-operative medicine. Methodologies included simulation based scenarios for the students to gain experience in basic airway management. I was responsible for theatre allocations, tutorials and case based assessment at the end of rotations.
• January 2007 to July 2007 (RPH): Co-ordinator and facilitator of weekly departmental continuing medical education meetings. Organisation of registrars’ academic weekly meetings.

Presentations

• (2006) Presented at combined Tasmanian ANZCA/ASA state scientific meeting
• (2005) Presented at ICU/Emergency state meeting (TAS)

Previously involved in the planning and conduct of local, national and international clinical trials in liaison with Professors Schug and Paech. Currently involved with Enigma II study (second major trial in the use of nitrous oxide in high risk cardiac patients), Peri-operative Ischemic Evaluation Study (POISE study) and GENIE study (dreaming during anaesthesia study).
Previously involved in setting up audits of clinical indicators within the Anaesthetic Department at Royal Perth Hospital. Audited peri-operative hypothermia in selected patients.

Unpublished research

• (2005) Cerebral arterial gas embolism following fall from a great height as a result of attempted suicide (case report) (basis of FANZCA formal project)
• (2004) Road traffic injuries: the other epidemic
• (2004) Stress amongst Anaesthetists
• (2000) Audit: Use of carbon dioxide cylinders in a UK general hospital
• (1995) Peak expiratory flow rates in East Indian school children aged five to seven in comparison with Caucasian standards