The Factors for Success and Lack of Success in the Breast Cancer Patient Care Pathway: A Qualitative Study From the Health Care Staff Perspective.

Objective: To produce information about factors related to successful and unsuccessful breast cancer care pathways from the health care staff perspective.

Materials And Methods: An electronic qualitative survey was used to collect data simultaneously from hospitals located in four different countries, focusing on four professional groups: diagnostic radiographers; radiation therapists; breast cancer nurses; and biomedical laboratory scientists (n = 23). The hospitals participating in the study treat breast cancer patients and research permits were applied from all of them.

Breast cancer patients' experiences on their individual care pathway: A qualitative study.

Introduction: Radiographers must be aware of the needs and expectations of women to be able to involve them in the decision making on their own care pathway. The purpose of the study is to describe experiences of women with breast cancer in their individual care pathway.

Methods: Data was collected with qualitative open-ended online questionnaires via national breast cancer patient organizations in four countries.

Internship at the ends of the earth - a way to recruit physicians?

Context: The recruitment of sufficient health workers in rural and remote areas has been a constant challenge in many countries for decades. This article describes how medical internship (18 months of mandatory practical training, including 6 months in primary care, after graduation but before granted full license as a doctor) is used in Norway as one method of recruiting young doctors. Finnmark, the most northern and remote county, offers the most challenging medical practice and is also the area most dependent on interns as medical workforce, and later as licensed doctors.

Postgraduate training at the ends of the earth - a way to retain physicians?

Introduction: The recruitment and retention of health workers, crucial to health service delivery, is a major challenge in many rural and remote areas. Finnmark, the most remote and northern county in Norway, has faced recurrent shortages during the last 5 decades, especially of primary care physicians.

Methods: This article describes a postgraduate training model for family physicians and public health/community medicine physicians, based on group tutorial and in-service training in rural areas.

Effective physician retention strategies in Norway's northernmost county.

Problem: Retaining physicians in remote settings can be challenging owing to the heavy workload and harsh environmental conditions and to the lack of opportunities for professional development. In Norway, poor physician distribution between urban and rural areas has been persistent, particularly in the north, where in 1997 a total of 28% of the primary care physician positions were vacant.

Approach: Several corrective measures have been tried over the years.