A brief history of the Australasian Neuroscience Society.

The collective efforts of Australasian neuroscientists over the past 50 years to forge a binational presence are reviewed in this article. The events in the 1970s leading to the formation of an informal Australian Neurosciences Society are discussed in the context of the international emergence of neuroscience as an interdisciplinary science. Thereafter, the establishment in 1980 of the Australian Neuroscience Society, subsequently renamed as the Australasian Neuroscience Society (ANS), is described.

Predictors of Responsivity to Interdisciplinary Pain Management.

Objective: This study investigated for whom interdisciplinary pain management (IPM) is most effective. Identification of predictors of treatment responsivity would facilitate development of patient-treatment matching algorithms to optimize outcomes.

Design: Repeated measures prospective study of consecutive admissions to a two-week IPM program.

A brief history of medical education and training in Australia.

Medical education and training in Australia comprises four phases: basic education, prevocational training, vocational training and continuing professional development. Between the 1860s and 1960s, eight medical schools were established in Australia, admitting school leavers to courses comprised of preclinical, paraclinical and clinical phases. Between the 1970s and the 1990s, two innovative new schools were established and all schools made major reforms to student selection, curricula and teaching, learning and assessment methods.

Pro re nata medication for psychoses: an audit of practice in two metropolitan hospitals.

Objective: To examine the use of pro re nata (PRN) (as needed) medication in hospitalized patients with psychotic disorders.

Methods: Retrospective chart reviews were conducted at two large public psychiatry units situated in inner city general hospitals. Pro re nata medication prescription, administration and outcomes were examined during inpatient episodes of care for 184 consecutive admissions of patients diagnosed with a psychotic disorder.

Pro re nata medication for psychoses: the knowledge and beliefs of doctors and nurses.

Objective: To examine the knowledge and beliefs of doctors and nurses in inpatient psychiatric units about pro re nata (PRN) (as needed) medications for psychotic disorders.

Methods: Medical (n = 44) and nursing (n = 80) staff in two metropolitan public hospital units completed a structured questionnaire about their use of PRN psychotropic medications on one occasion during the four months from March-June 1999.

Results: Nurses selected more indications for PRN antipsychotics than doctors (3.

A rapid screen of the severity of mild traumatic brain injury.

This study investigated the sensitivity of information processing, recall and orientation tasks to the presence of mild Traumatic Brain Injury (mTBI). Fifty-six (40 male, 16 female) mTBI patients and 85 (57 male and 28 female) controls with orthopaedic injuries were tested within 24 hr of injury in the Department of Emergency Medicine. mTBI patients answered fewer orientation questions and recalled fewer words in delayed recall than orthopaedic patients.