Registrars as teachers: a qualitative study exploring the experiences of Australian general practice registrars in teaching roles.

Background: GP registrars (specialist vocational trainees in general practice) are interested in teaching, and there are considerable benefits to teaching during training. There are, however, significant barriers for registrars as teachers, including inadequate funding, time pressures, and limited teacher training. Current evidence does not include medical educator (ME) perspectives or compare teaching settings (e.

Exploring how a patient encounter tracking and learning tool is used within general practice training: a qualitative study.

Introduction In Australian general practitioner (GP) training, feedback and reflection on in-practice experience is central to developing GP registrars' (trainees') clinical competencies. Patient encounter tracking and learning tools (PETALs) that encompass an audit of consecutive patient consultations, feedback, and reflection are used to determine registrars' in-practice exposure and have been suggested as a tool for learning within a programmatic assessment framework. However, there is limited qualitative literature on the utility of PETALs in GP training.

Perceptions of the effectiveness of using patient encounter data as an education and reflection tool in general practice training.

Introduction Patient encounter tools provide feedback and potentially reflection on general practitioner (GP) registrars' in-practice learning and may contribute to the formative assessment of clinical competencies. However, little is known about the perceived utility of such tools. Aim To investigate the perceived utility of a patient encounter tool by GP registrars, their supervisors, and medical educators (MEs).

Educational models, participant experience and outcomes of a diploma course in practice management for Aboriginal Medical Services: a qualitative study.

Background: Practice managers and other administrative and management staff in Aboriginal Medical Services operate in a highly specialised cultural, social and administrative environment requiring a unique skill set. The TAFE NSW Diploma in Practice Management for Aboriginal Medical Services (DPMAMS) addresses the need for training in these skills. This study sought to explore DPMAMS graduates' experiences of having undertaken the diploma course, and the effects on their subsequent work practice and career.

Storytelling and the Humanbecoming Family Model.

The authors in this article will present storytelling through the lens of the humanbecoming family model. From this perspective, storytelling can be viewed as the following: (a) family storytelling as a mode of fostering personal and family becoming, (b) family storytelling as a confirming of family beliefs and values, and (c) family storytelling as a way of addressing issues of grief and loss. Selected literature is presented to highlight the essences, paradoxes, and processes of the humanbecoming family model.

Product Integration of Established Crash Sensors for Safety Applications in Lightweight Vehicles.

The functionality of products increases when more sensors are used. This trend also affects future automobiles and becomes even more relevant in connected and autonomous applications. Concerning automotive lightweight design, carbon fibre-reinforced polymers (CFRP) are suitable materials.

Cross-sectional survey of rehabilitation service availability for stroke and hip fracture in Australian public hospitals.

Objective: To describe the rehabilitation services available for people with stroke and hip fracture across New South Wales/Australian Capital Territory metropolitan and rural/regional public hospitals in Australia.

Design: A cross-sectional study design was used.

Setting: New South Wales/Australian Capital Territory public hospital providing rehabilitation services for stroke and hip fracture.

Study protocol: content and perceived educational utility of different modalities of clinical teaching visit (CTV) workplace-based assessments within Australian general practice vocational training: a cross-sectional study.

Introduction: Clinical teaching visits (CTVs) are formative workplace-based assessments that involve a senior general practitioner (GP) observing a clinical practice session of a general practice registrar (specialist vocational GP trainee). These visits constitute a key part of Australian GP training. Despite being mandatory and resource-intensive, there is a paucity of evidence regarding the content and educational utility of CTVs.

Parasite Presence Induces Gene Expression Changes in an Ant Host Related to Immunity and Longevity.

Most species are either parasites or exploited by parasites, making parasite-host interactions a driver of evolution. Parasites with complex life cycles often evolve strategies to facilitate transmission to the definitive host by manipulating their intermediate host. Such manipulations could explain phenotypic changes in the ant , the intermediate host of the cestode .

A general practice workplace-based assessment instrument: Content and construct validity.

Relatively few general practice (GP) workplace-based assessment instruments have been psychometrically evaluated. This study aims to establish the content validity and internal consistency of the General Practice Registrar Competency Assessment Grid (GPR-CAG). The GPR-CAG was constructed as a formative assessment instrument for Australian GP registrars (trainees).

Medical training in private and public.

Background: Globally, the need for medical student training to be undertaken in the private sector is likely to increase. In Australia, it has increased by 250 per cent in the last decade. Effective clinical education is highly dependent on the attitudes and willingness to participate of both patients and medical staff.

Sensor Systems for FRP Lightweight Structures: Automotive Features Based on Serial Sensor Products.

To achieve resource efficiency and an increased performance, as well as a higher safety and more features for vehicles, lightweight composites are a central sphere of activity for automotive innovations. This becomes particularly striking if the focus is not only a reduced vehicle weight but also an efficient overall concept. In addition to compatible material technologies and component design, new electronic solutions are of interest.

"Thank You for Giving Me a Voice!" A Longitudinal Evaluation of Patients' Experience of Partnering With Students in an Australian Medical School.

Background: We evaluated the patient-partner experience in a longitudinal program called Integrated Population Medicine in the Sydney Medical School to assess its acceptability. The program exposed senior medical students to the lived experience of chronic disease.

Methods: We surveyed 267 people with chronic conditions recruited as patient-partners by the 2012 student cohort in a mixed-methods longitudinal cohort study.

Early rehabilitation after hospital admission for road trauma using an in-reach multidisciplinary team: a randomised controlled trial.

Objective: To investigate the impact of an in-reach rehabilitation team for patients admitted after road trauma.

Design: Randomised control trial of usual care versus early involvement of in-reach rehabilitation team. Telephone follow-up was conducted by a blind assessor at three months for those with minor/moderate injuries and six months for serious/severe injuries.

Rehabilitation and education are underutilized for mild stroke and TIA sufferers.

Purpose: Transient ischemic attack (TIA) and mild stroke represent a large proportion of cerebrovascular events, at high risk of being followed by recurrent, serious events. The importance of early education addressing risk management, secondary prevention and lifestyle modifications is the centerpiece of further stroke prevention. However, delivering education and rehabilitation to this population can be complex and challenging.

An initial loading-dose vitamin D versus placebo after hip fracture surgery: randomized trial.

Background: Improving vitamin D (25-OHD) status may be an important modifiable factor that could reduce disability severity, fall-rates and mortality associated after hip fracture surgery. Providing a loading-dose post-surgery may overcome limitations in adherence to daily supplementation.

Method: In this randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled trial, 218 adults, aged 65-years or older, requiring hip fracture surgery were assigned to receive a single loading-dose of cholecalciferol (250,000 IU vitamin-D3, the REVITAHIP - Replenishment of Vitamin D in Hip Fracture strategy) or placebo, both receiving daily vitamin-D(800 IU) and calcium (500 mg) for 26-weeks.

Palliative care and spiritual well-being in lung cancer patients and family caregivers.

Background: Spiritual well-being is an important dimension of quality of life (QOL) and is a core component of quality oncology and palliative care. In this analysis, we aimed to describe spiritual well-being outcomes in a National Cancer Institute (NCI)-supported Program Project that tested the effectiveness of an interdisciplinary palliative care intervention in lung cancer patients and their family caregivers (FCGs).

Methods: Patients undergoing treatments for NSCLC and their FCGs were enrolled in a prospective, quasi-experimental study.

Effect of Skin-to-Skin Holding on Stress in Mothers of Late-Preterm Infants: A Randomized Controlled Trial.

Purpose: To examine the effect of skin-to-skin care (SSC) on stress perception between mothers who provided SSC to their late-preterm born infants and mothers who provided blanket holding.

Design And Methods: This was a longitudinal 2-group randomized controlled trial of 40 infant-mother dyads recruited from a level 3 neonatal intensive care unit in the upper Midwest.

Outcome Measure: Maternal stress was measured using the Parental Stressor: Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (PSS: NICU) scale pre- and post-SSC intervention.

Contemporary Pain Management in Elderly Patients After Hip Fracture Surgery: Cross-sectional Analyses at Baseline of a Randomized Controlled Trial.

Background: Adequate pain management following hip fracture surgery reduces length of stay, reduces incidence of delirium, promotes recovery, and improves mobility. Previous research suggests that hip fracture pain is undertreated in some patient subgroups, and that hypovitaminosis D can further aggravate pain which could hinder active rehabilitation. We provide a cross-sectional analysis of the baseline characteristics of participants in the REVITAHIP study with the aim of documenting pain intensity and its associations after hip fracture and to explore the characteristics of people who report higher levels of pain.

Improving Palliative Cancer Care.

Over a decade ago, the Institute of Medicine (IOM) presented Ensuring Quality Cancer Care in the United States, with recommendations for change (IOM, 1999). However, barriers to integrating palliative care (PC) to achieve high-quality care in cancer still remain. As novel therapeutic agents evolve, patients are living longer, and advanced cancer is now considered a chronic illness.

Cancer rehabilitation: a barometer for survival?

Purpose: This pilot study was conducted to describe the clinical features and functional outcomes of patients attending inpatient rehabilitation for cancer-related deconditioning and neurological deficits and to explore factors associated with improved survival.

Methods: Using a retrospective audit, demographic characteristics, discharge outcomes, survival time, and functional status as measured by Functional Independence Measure (FIM) were recorded for 73 patients. Clinical status was estimated by Karnofsky Performance Status Scale (KPS).

An initial loading-dose vitamin D versus placebo after hip fracture surgery: baseline characteristics of a randomized controlled trial (REVITAHIP).

Background: Hypovitaminosis D is particularly common among older people with a proximal femoral (hip) fracture. There are currently no agreed strategies for vitamin D replenishment after hip fracture surgery. The REVITAHIP Study is a multisite, double-blinded randomized-controlled trial investigating the effects of an oral vitamin D loading dose on gait velocity after hip fracture surgery.

An explanatory model of peer education within a complex medicines information exchange setting.

Studies of the effectiveness and value of peer education abound, yet there is little theoretical understanding of what lay educators actually do to help their peers. Although different theories have been proposed to explain components of peer education, a more complete explanatory model has not been established empirically that encompasses the many aspects of peer education and how these may operate together. The Australian Seniors Quality Use of Medicines Peer Education Program was developed, in conjunction with community partners, to improve understanding and management of medicines among older people - an Australian and international priority.

Outcomes of motor vehicle crashes with fracture: a pilot study of early rehabilitation interventions.

Aim: To determine the effects of early rehabilitation interventions on the physical, psychological and vocational outcomes of patients presenting to the Emergency Department with fracture resulting from a motor vehicle crash.

Method: Prospective non-randomized cohort controlled trial. Seventy-six subjects were enrolled and formed 2 groups.