Medical student selection criteria and socio-demographic factors as predictors of ultimately working rurally after graduation.

Background: We have previously demonstrated that both coming from a rural background and spending a year-long clinical rotation in our Rural Clinical School (RCS) have independent and additive effects to increase the likelihood of medical students practicing rurally following graduation. The current study assesses the extent to which medical school selection criteria and/or the socio-demographic profile of medical students may further facilitate or hamper the selection of students ultimately destined for the rural medical workforce.

Methods: The study comprised 729 students, admitted from secondary school since 1999 and having graduated by 2011, whose actual workplace location in 2014 was classified as either urban or rural using the Australian Health Practitioner Regulation Agency database.

Longitudinal rural clerkships: increased likelihood of more remote rural medical practice following graduation.

Background: Extended rural clerkships clearly increase the likelihood of rural practice post-graduation. What has not been determined is whether such rural interventions increase the likelihood of graduates practicing in more remote, versus inner regional, locations.

Methods: The Australian Health Practitioner Regulation Agency database was used to identify the current workplace of every graduate of the Medical School of Western Australia, 1980 to 2011.

Medical student selection criteria as predictors of intended rural practice following graduation.

Background: Recruiting medical students from a rural background, together with offering them opportunities for prolonged immersion in rural clinical training environments, both lead to increased participation in the rural workforce after graduation. We have now assessed the extent to which medical students' intentions to practice rurally may also be predicted by either medical school selection criteria and/or student socio-demographic profiles.

Methods: The study cohort included 538 secondary school-leaver entrants to The University of Western Australia Medical School from 2006 to 2011.

Impact of the Rural Clinical School of Western Australia on work location of medical graduates.

Objective: To determine whether completing a year of the Rural Clinical School of Western Australia (RCSWA) program is associated with entering the rural medical workforce.

Design And Setting: Cohort study of graduates from the University of Western Australia who completed Year 5 of medical school between 2002 and 2009, comparing work location (identified from the Australian Health Practitioner Regulation Agency database in March-June 2013) between those who participated in the RCSWA (RCSWA graduates) and those who did not (controls).

Main Outcome Measure: Rural or urban work location of graduates.

The management of bipolar disorder in general practice.

General practitioners have a key role in managing patients with bipolar disorder, a condition which affects at least one in 200 Australians each year and is the sixth leading cause of disability in the population. Although diagnosis and treatment of the illness is complex, effective treatment can lead to good outcomes for many patients. GPs can contribute significantly to early recognition of bipolar disorder, avoiding the long delays in accurate diagnosis that have been reported.

Understanding the stresses and strains of being a doctor.

Stress in doctors is a product of the interaction between the demanding nature of their work and their often obsessive, conscientious and committed personalities. In the face of extremely demanding work, a subjective lack of control and insufficient rewards are powerful sources of stress in doctors. If demands continue to rise and adjustments are not made, then inevitably a "correction" will occur, which may take the form of "burnout" or physical and/or mental impairment.