THE CURIOUS MINDS CLUB 
But chances are you know very little. This is especially true of the parasocial relationships we experience with lots of different people - not just those we've never met. You might have been in the same room as them, talked to them, and on more than one occasion....
Overly responsible for everyone else from a young age. Parentified even. Dependable to the point of invisibility. If you’re a Swifty, you know where this is headed, but for the rest of us: welcome to Eldest-daughter Syndrome and, strangely enough, to the story of...
Practitioners have been bringing their most challenging cases to me for mentoring & supervision for over a decade, that's hundreds, in fact, probably thousands, of cases, tempting me to say, therefore I've seen 'everything'. Except of course I haven't. And each...
![Ever Watch Yourself Back Like…[Generalist V Specialist]](https://rachelarthur.com.au/wp-content/uploads/2023/10/charlesdeluvio-hB4jXAFHu2w-unsplash-510x510.jpg)
ALL • THE • TIME Especially given I am now a relic, my original training not quite pre-industrial revolution but pre-specialisation obsession. So that once I started seeing paying patients I just saw, and have seen...everyone. And because our patients always drive...
After running a deeply rewarding Group Mentoring program for over a decade it is indeed time for change. I've witnessed first-hand the exceptional growth of thousands of practitioners, and in turn they have guaranteed and forged my own. It's provided me, & my...
Ever feel like the universe has been preparing you just for this moment? Me neither really…but in this one weird way – yes! So hear me out. Thyroid disease as a result of a viral infection was first described in 1902 by Dr Fritz De Quervain and of course he and his...
Just last week the sickest patient I've encountered this year (& for perhaps some time) asked me, if I ever see really sick people. This 60 something-year-old farmer has a great sense of humour, so I immediately thought he was joking but as soon as I looked up...
The debasing of BMI as a stand-alone assessment of weight is long overdue given its significant limitations and lack of meaningfulness with respect to overall health. This coincides with a bigger societal and cultural shift towards inclusivity which...
The builder responsible for my reno arrived one day with a frown. When I asked him what was wrong - he said he'd just had his second high PSA result and now the doctor wants him to see a specialist. It was apparent that he felt this was a real cause for concern. Talk...
Heck yeah. It's going to take a lot more than 1 push-back post to turn this ship around! Likewise, I was only getting started with my recent Update in Under 30 episode, 'What's Hiding Behind Histamine' 🤓😂 & part 2 has just been released where we...
Have you had a book that is so compelling & transporting you can't put it down? In the last year or so I've rewritten my own little book of sorts, on thyroid physiology and results interpretation and during that process I came across a paper that referred to...
I can barely bring myself to write the word given how overused it has been of late 🤐🙄😯😕🙃 But I gotta say something! If we have found ourselves currently in a place where every second (or indeed single!) patient has a 'histamine issue' then I am afraid that it is we,...
What level of Serum Ferritin represents 'empty'? As in complete depletion of iron stores? Is it any value below the minimum of the reference range? e.g. < 30 mcg/L Or does the bottom of the reference range allow for a buffer and 'empty' is substantially lower than...
Practitioner: I haven't yet done the MasterCourse II in Thyroid & Adrenal Diagnostics but I want to better understand the HPA of that patient we discussed with significant sleep disorders. Waking blood? Saliva? Urine? Which one? Rachel: Well, you've heard me say...
Rachel: And sometimes emails from practitioners provide me with both the question and their own answer to their question even! Cameron Barker's (Ex-student long-term learner & mentee) email arrives titled: Unexpected Source of Iodine in Placenta Caps?! A 32 yo...
Just as optimal integration of lab results into our patient work-ups makes 'the invisible visible' we thought we might make visible some of the everyday Q & A that we engage in with wonderful practitioners who are fast becoming Diagnostic Divas & Divos....
Just as optimal integration of lab results into our patient work-ups makes 'the invisible visible' we thought we might make visible some of the everyday Q & A that we engage in with wonderful practitioners who are fast becoming Diagnostic Divas & Divos....
There's a bit of a backstory - play along at home if you want - by ticking off the steps in this journey we have travelled together! 😂 14 years ago I was first asked to contribute to ACNEM’s thyroid training module 9 years ago I put together a little...
Just as optimal integration of lab results into our patient work-ups makes 'the invisible visible' we thought we might make visible some of the everyday Q & A that we engage in with wonderful practitioners who are fast becoming Diagnostic Divas & Divos....
When it comes to the recognition of Nickel as the number one metal allergen worldwide, affecting up to 30% of adults and with a particular predilection for women, it seems like Australian health professionals really do come from the 'land down under', with many of us...
Ever met a set of thyroid results you didn't like? Because you couldn't work them out? Because they defied your expectations, & therefore your understanding, of how they should look in this patient given their weight, nutrition, meds, diagnoses? Yeah - me too. In...
Did you know that your thyroid expresses more ACE 2 receptors than your lungs? So while there is nothing new about the potential for a virus (or indeed even a vaccine against a virus) to impact thyroid form and function, the particular predilection this recent virus...
If I wrote down these 2 elements on a MindMap: Thyroid dysfunction and Adiposity, how would you connect them? Would you reflexively draw an arrow from the former to the latter to flag that the thyroid underpins the weight management issues? My arrow would be the...