General practitioners' experiences and understandings of diagnosing dementia: factors impacting on early diagnosis.

This article reports findings from three linked qualitative research projects that explored how Australian general practitioners (GPs) spoke about their experiences in diagnosing dementia and their views on early diagnosis and barriers towards early diagnosis. The authors conducted this research with the aim of elucidating the GP perspective and using this to better understand the process of diagnosing dementia and delays in diagnosing dementia. Twenty-four GPs based in Australia participated in the study (eleven females and thirteen males).

Rural placements in Tasmania: do experiential placements and background influence undergraduate health science student's attitudes toward rural practice?

Introduction: Each year growing numbers of undergraduate health science students, from a variety of disciplines, participate in a University of Tasmania Department of Rural Health supported rural placement program in Tasmania. This study aimed to investigate the influence rural placement and rural background had on students' intentions to live and work in a rural or remote location after graduation.

Methods: Between January 2005 and December 2006, 336 students participated in the placement program.