Utility of learning plans in general practice vocational training: a mixed-methods national study of registrar, supervisor, and educator perspectives.

Background: Learning plans are a compulsory component of the training and assessment requirements of general practice (GP) registrars in Australia. There is a small but growing number of studies reporting that learning plans are not well accepted or utilised in general practice training. There is a lack of research examining this apparent contradiction.

Supporting near-peer teaching in general practice: a national survey.

Background: Training bodies see teaching by junior doctors and vocational trainees in general practice (family medicine) as integral to a doctor's role. While there is a body of literature on teacher training programs, and on peer and near-peer teaching in hospitals and universities, there has been little examination of near-peer teaching in general practice. Near-peer teaching is teaching to those close to oneself but not at the same level in the training continuum.

Stakeholders' views of shared learning models in general practice: a national survey.

Background: The number of learners requiring general practice placements creates supervisory capacity constraints. This research examined how a shared learning model may affect training capacity.

Methods: The number of learners requiring general practice placements creates supervisory capacity constraints.

'Learners as teachers' in general practice: stakeholders' views of the benefits and issues.

Objectives: To explore stakeholders' perceptions of learners teaching (near-peer teaching) in general practice in order to inform training policy.

Design: Qualitative semi-structured interviews were conducted with 29 general practice stakeholders. Interviews continued until data saturation was reached.

Vertically integrated shared learning models in general practice: a qualitative study.

Background: The numbers of learners seeking placements in general practice is rapidly increasing as an ageing workforce impacts on General Practitioner availability. The traditional master apprentice model that involves one-to-one teaching is therefore leading to supervision capacity constraints. Vertically integrated (VI) models may provide a solution.

Shared learning in general practice--facilitators and barriers.

Background: Capacity for teaching in general practice clinics is limited. Shared learning sessions are one form of vertically integrated teaching that may ameliorate capacity constraints.

Methods: This study sought to understand the perceptions of general practitioner supervisors, learners and practice staff of the facilitators of shared learning in general practice clinics.

Pulmonary embolism in an adolescent soccer player: a case report.

Pulmonary emboli are potentially life threatening and are rare in the young, healthy, athletic population. We describe the presentation of pulmonary emboli in an otherwise healthy athlete; this has not been reported previously in the literature. A 16-yr-old male soccer player with no apparent risk factors presented in distress with bilateral pulmonary emboli.

Anorexia nervosa and brain tumor in a 14-year-old girl.

A 14-year-old girl with anorexia nervosa (AN) was found to have an intracranial neoplasm. Atypical psychological symptoms prompted further evaluation, including electroencephalogram and neuroimaging, which revealed a sellar and suprasellar mass. This patient had an eating disorder and a brain tumor, which appear to be two unrelated conditions.

Otitis media in young Aboriginal children from remote communities in Northern and Central Australia: a cross-sectional survey.

Background: Middle ear disease (otitis media) is common and frequently severe in Australian Aboriginal children. There have not been any recent large-scale surveys using clear definitions and a standardised middle ear assessment. The aim of the study was to determine the prevalence of middle ear disease (otitis media) in a high-risk population of young Aboriginal children from remote communities in Northern and Central Australia.

Local complications after limb-salvage surgery for pediatric bone tumours: a pictorial essay.

The prognosis for patients with bone sarcoma treated with LSS has improved considerably over the past 2 decades, but this has also lead to an increase in the number of complications requiring treatment. Imaging plays an important role, not only in assessing the primary tumour, but also in identifying postsurgical complications. Plain radiography demonstrates the majority of the complications associated with LSS and remains the mainstay of follow-up imaging.

A multihospital survey of radiation exposure and image quality in pediatric fluoroscopy.

Background: Traditionally, pediatric radiologists have been advocates of fluoroscopy systems that provide diagnostic images at the lowest possible radiation dose to the pediatric patient. Manufacturers of fluoroscopic equipment vary as to their claims of "low radiation" exposures.

Objectives: To obtain comparative data on radiation exposure and image quality from four pediatric hospitals, across variants of fluoroscopic equipment (such as pulsed versus continuous fluoroscopy).

Optimization of a fluoroscope to reduce radiation exposure in pediatric imaging.

Background: A new children's hospital provided the impetus to investigate radiation dose and image quality in a fluoroscope that was specially engineered for pediatric fluoroscopy. Radiation protection management recommends radiation exposures that are as low as reasonably achievable, while still maintaining diagnostic image quality.

Objectives: To obtain comparative phantom imaging data on radiation exposure and image quality from a newly installed fluoroscope before and after optimization for pediatric imaging.

Significance of peritoneal fluid as an isolated finding on abdominal computed tomographic scans in pediatric trauma patients.

Background: Peritoneal fluid on abdominal computed tomographic (CT) scan in the absence of solid-organ injury suggests a bowel injury. We sought to determine the significance of peritoneal fluid as the sole finding on abdominal CT scans obtained to evaluate injured pediatric patients.

Methods: We performed a retrospective review of abdominal CT scans obtained during the initial survey of blunt trauma patients less than 19 years old during a 5-year period (1991-1995).

Sonographic diagnosis of systemic venous gas in a patient with pneumatosis intestinalis.

The detection of systemic venous gas due to pneumatosis intestinalis in patients with portal hypertension has not been described. Since sonography is commonly used to investigate conditions associated with pneumatosis intestinalis, it is important to recognize their sonographic appearance and clinical implications.

A limited, low-dose computed tomography protocol to examine the sacroiliac joints.

Limited, low-dose, three-scan computed tomography (CT) was shown to be as accurate as a complete CT series in examining the sacroiliac joints and is suggested as an effective alternative to plain radiography as the primary means to detect sacroiliitis. The advantages include the brevity of the examination, a 2-fold to 4-fold reduction in radiation exposure relative to conventional radiography and a 20-fold to 30-fold reduction relative to a full CT series. The technique was developed from studies of anatomic specimens in which the articular surfaces were covered with a film of barium to show clearly the synovial surfaces and allow the choice of the most appropriate levels of section.

Benign biliary cystadenoma.

Biliary cystadenomas and cystadenocarcinomas are rare. They arise in the liver or, less frequently, from the bile ducts. The characteristic appearance of these lesions in computed tomography and ultrasonography scans, as observed in a 26-year-old woman, is described.

Benign histiocytic fibroma of rib with CT correlation.

Benign fibrous histiocytoma is a benign tumor with fibroblastic and histiocytic differentiation, most commonly found in soft tissues and less frequently in adult bones. It is identical histologically to non-ossifying fibromas of childhood but differs in its clinical and radiological features. We here report a 26-year-old woman with benign histiocytic fibroma in a rare location, a rib, with computed tomographic correlation.