Health literacy profiles of medical students in an Australian Doctor of Medicine programme: A cross-sectional study using the Health Literacy Questionnaire.

Issue Addressed: With the emerging focus on designing health-literate organisations and health care systems, it is essential to understand the health literacy profiles of the medical workforce including medical students, as medical professionals play a key role in within these systems. Medical professionals contribute to good patient health outcomes through enabling access to appropriate health care, provision of quality health information and collaborative shared decision-making, which are fundamental health literacy competencies. The aim of this study is to identify health literacy strengths and weaknesses of medical students enrolled in an Australian Doctor of Medicine programme.

Using a structured clinical coaching program to improve clinical skills training and assessment, as well as teachers' and students' satisfaction.

Introduction: The ability to deliver the traditional apprenticeship method of teaching clinical skills is becoming increasingly more difficult as a result of greater demands in health care delivery, increasing student numbers and changing medical curricula. Serious consequences globally include: students not covering all elements of clinical skills curricula; insufficient opportunity to practise clinical skills; and increasing reports of graduates' incompetence in some clinical skills.

Methods: A systematic Structured Clinical Coaching Program (SCCP) for a large cohort of Year 1 students was developed, providing explicit learning objectives for both students and paid generalist clinical tutors.

Temperature and direct effects on population health in Brisbane, 1986-1995.

To assess the impact of weather on human mortality, particularly among elderly people and people with diseases, the authors conducted an ecological study in Brisbane, Australia. Correlation and autoregressive integrated moving average (ARIMA) regression analyses assessed the relationship between weather and mortality in the general population and the elderly population (65 years of age and older) over the period 1986-1995. In the summer, both cardiovascular diseases and all-cause mortality in the elderly population had significant positive correlations with monthly temperatures.

Secular trends in mortality rates for diabetes in Australia, 1907-1998.

Aims: To characterise long-term mortality trends for diabetes in Australia during the 20th century, and to provide suggestions to health policy-makers.

Methods: A descriptive study was conducted using existing dataset. Deaths due to diabetes, as underlying cause of death, from 1907 to 1998 were tallied, according to the ICD-9.

Climate variability and transmission of Japanese encephalitis in eastern China.

A time-series analysis was conducted to study the impact of climate variability on the transmission of Japanese encephalitis in eastern China. Correlation and regression analyses were used to examine the relationship between monthly climatic variables and monthly incidence of Japanese encephalitis in Jieshou County, China over the period 1980-96. Spearman's correlation analysis showed that maximum and minimum temperatures and rainfall were all associated with the transmission of Japanese encephalitis in the county.

Climatic variables and transmission of malaria: a 12-year data analysis in Shuchen County, China.

Objective: The objective of this study was to explore the impact of climate variability on the transmission of malaria, a vector-borne disease, in a county of China and provide suggestions to similar regions for disease prevention.

Methods: A time-series analysis was conducted using data on monthly climatic variables and monthly incidence of malaria in Shuchen County, China, for the period 1980-1991.

Results: Spearman's correlation analysis showed that monthly mean maximum and minimum temperatures, two measures of monthly mean relative humidity, and monthly amount of precipitation were positively correlated with the monthly incidence of malaria in the county.

Hospital funding and services in Queensland.

The Queensland health sector has been characterised as unique. The population has traditionally relied on the public sector to provide necessary hospital and other health services across the vast distances that make up the state, although there is a strong non-government sector also. More recently, and over the last 5-6 years stability and drive at the management level in the public sector has supported reform and progress, consistent with the national agenda.

Climatic, reservoir and occupational variables and the transmission of haemorrhagic fever with renal syndrome in China.

Background: Being a zoonosis, the transmission of haemorrhagic fever with renal syndrome (HFRS) is influenced by climatic, reservoir and occupational factors. This paper has quantified the incidence and potential risk factors of HFRS in Yingshang County, a low-lying epidemic focus of the disease in China.

Methods: Correlation and regression analyses were conducted among climatic variables, the density of mice, autumn crop production and annual incidence of HFRS during the autumn-winter seasons in the County over the period 1980-1996.