Global health education for medical undergraduates.

Context: The Rural Undergraduate Support and Coordination (RUSC) program has stimulated teaching in remote indigenous health, primary health care and international health for Australian students prior to their placements. Medical students have traditionally taken electives in the developing world, although these electives are of variable use to the communities hosting them and to the students. Calls for development of a curriculum in international or global health have resulted in some attempts to define a curriculum.

Vitamin D insufficiency in Aboriginal Australians.

Objective: To investigate the adequacy of vitamin D status in a South Australian Aboriginal population, and to examine the relationship between serum 25-hydroxyvitamin D (25-OHD) levels and biochemical variables of calcium and bone mineral homeostasis, as well as other factors which may influence vitamin D synthesis, storage and metabolism.

Design, Setting And Participants: A single-visit, observational study of 58 adults from two Aboriginal community-controlled health services in Adelaide and Yalata, South Australia. Participants were recruited between May 2008 and December 2009.

Distress levels and self-reported treatment rates for medicine, law, psychology and mechanical engineering tertiary students: cross-sectional study.

Objective: The aim of this research was to assess tertiary student distress levels with regards to (i) comparisons with normative population data, and (ii) the effects of discipline, year level, and student characteristics. Self-reported treatment rates and level of concern regarding perceived distress were also collected.

Method: Students from all six years of an undergraduate medical course were compared with samples from Psychology, Law and Mechanical Engineering courses at the University of Adelaide, Australia.

Rural student entry into a medical course: a South Australian rural high school perspective.

Introduction: Rural background is an acknowledged predictor of later rural medical practice. This study aimed to explore why only small numbers of high school students from rural South Australia seek entry to the University of Adelaide Medical School.

Method: Questionnaires were designed to explore the interest in, knowledge of and attitudes about studying medicine of rural high school students, their parents and their careers counsellors.

Education to improve cancer care in rural South Australia.

Introduction: Cancer management follows the overall trend of rural health disparities, with higher incidence rates of preventable cancers and lower survival rates in rural Australia. Cancer prevention and management has been identified as a priority area and Cancer Australia has funded a variety of innovations throughout Australia. The Rural Chemotherapy Mentoring Program (RCMP) forms part of this drive to improve access to chemotherapy for rural based cancer sufferers in South Australia (SA).

Rural clinician opinion on being a preceptor.

Introduction: This article reports the evaluation of the motivation and experiences of preceptors of health professional students in the Spencer Gulf Rural Health School (SGRHS) in South Australia. The aims for this evaluation were to establish: (1) What factors influenced the professional's decision to precept students? (2) Did preceptors report having adequate skills and preparation for preceptoring? (3) What were the variations in professional streams with regards to the factors and skills of the staff involved? (4) What were preceptors' overall perceptions of their role? Heeding the opinions of preceptors involved in such initiatives is an important part of ensuring the sustainability of the rural workforce initiatives such as SGRHS.

Methods: A preceptor questionnaire was developed from the literature in 2002 and pilot tested twice.

Development of 'rural week' for medical students: impact and quality report.

Introduction: The Rural Undergraduate Support and Coordination program funds medical schools to provide all medical students some time in rural Australia throughout their course. The University of Adelaide has developed a rural week program for both first and second year students to fulfill part of this objective.

Methods: First year students' rural week is an introduction to a range of rural health issues, Indigenous culture and rural lifestyle issues.

Malnutrition in older people--screening and management strategies.

Background: Malnutrition in older people is not only common, but frequently overlooked. It can result in multiple medical complications, hospitalisation and even death.

Objective: This article focusses on the consequences, pathophysiology, diagnosis and management of this clinical syndrome.

Health assessment of elderly patients.

Background: Comprehensive health assessment of the elderly in primary care will become a more important element of general practice as population aging proceeds and evidence of efficacy emerges.

Objective: This article describes approaches to provision of health assessment in primary care based on the best available evidence.

Discussion: Current best practice includes the use of structured health assessment protocols, an integrated multidisciplinary approach, targeting patient groups with intermediate levels of disability and handicap, in-home assessments and carefully structured follow up mechanisms.

Randomised controlled trial of health assessments for older Australian veterans and war widows.

Objective: To assess the effect of home-based health assessments for older Australians on health-related quality of life, hospital and nursing home admissions, and death.

Design: Randomised controlled trial of the effect of health assessments over 3 years.

Participants And Setting: 1569 community-living veterans and war widows receiving full benefits from the Department of Veterans' Affairs and aged 70 years or over were randomly selected in 1997 from 10 regions of New South Wales and Queensland and randomly allocated to receive either usual care (n = 627) or health assessments (n = 942).