Introduction

You are the doctor doing a busy afternoon chest clinic. It is a general chest clinic with a mixture of follow ups and new patients. Your consultant is in the room next to yours, and you can ask his advice if necessary. There are some investigations whose results will be immediatey available (such as spirometry, chest X-ray or arterial blood gases), but others will not be available until the next time you see the patient (CT chest, blood tests, nuclear medicine investigations).

It is important that you assess each patient and and arrange appropriate investigations, make a managment plan and arrange follow up. Some patients will be more complex than others, but it is important that you prioritise appropriately, and avoid the clinic running late.