The rural medicine rotation: Increasing rural recruitment through quality undergraduate rural experiences

TITLE: The Rural Medicine Rotation: Increasing Rural Recruitment through Quality Undergraduate Rural Experiences Eley Diann, University of Queensland, School of Medicine, Rural Clinical Division, Toowoomba 4350, Queensland Australia Baker Peter, University of Queensland, School of Medicine Rural, Clinical Division, Toowoomba 4350, Queensland Australia Chater Bruce, University of Queensland, Chair, Clinical School Management Committee, School of Medicine Rural Clinical Division, Queensland Australia CONTEXT: While rural background and rural exposure during medical training increases the likelihood of rural recruitment (Wilkinson, 2003), the quality and content of that exposure is the key to altering undergraduatesâ?? perceptions of rural practice. The Rural Clinical Division at University of Queensland (UQ) runs the Rural Medicine Rotation (RMR) within the School of Medicine. The RMR is one of five eight week clinical rotations in Year three and is compulsory for all students. The RMR provides the opportunity to learn from a wide range of health professionals and clinical exposure is not restricted to general practice but also includes remote area nursing, Indigenous health care, allied health professionals and medical specialists. Week 1 involves preparation for their rural placement with workshops and seminars and Week 8 consolidates their placement and includes case and project presentations and a summative assessment. Weeks 2-7 are spent living and working as part of the health team in different rural communities. SETTING: Rural communities in and around Queensland including locations such as Arnham Land, Thursday Island, Mt. Isa and Alice Springs METHOD: All aspects of the RMR are evaluated with surveys using both qualitative and quantitative free response questions, completed by all students at the end of the Week 8. RESULTS: Overall the RMR is evaluated highly and narratives offered by students show that the RMR provides a positive rural experience. The overall impact of the RMR for students in 2004 ranked 3.45 on a scale of 1 to 4 (1 = lowest and 4 = highest), and is exemplified by the following quote; â??I enjoyed my placement so much I am now considering rural medicine something I definitely had not considered beforeâ??. OUTCOME: The positive impact of the RMR on studentâ??s perceptions of rural medicine is encouraging and can help achieve the overall aim of increasing recruitment of the rural workforce in Australia.

Estruturação e gestão da secretaria especial de saúde indígena : caminhos, atores e institucionalidade

Mestrado (dissertação)—Universidade de Brasília, Faculdade de Ciências da Saúde, Programa de Pós-Graduação em Saúde Coletiva, 2016.

Considering Aboriginal palliative care models: the challenges for mainstream services

This review discusses palliative care and end-of-life models of care for Aboriginal people in the Australian state New South Wales, and considers Aboriginal palliative care needs by reflecting on recent literature and lessons derived from Aboriginal consultation. Aboriginal people in Australia account for a very small proportion of the population, have poorer health outcomes and their culture demonstrates a clear resistance to accessing mainstream health services which are viewed as powerful, isolating and not relevant to their culture, way of life, family and belief systems. Aboriginal people regard their land as spiritual and their culture dictates that an Aboriginal person needs to know their origins, emphasising the value placed on kin and also demonstrating a strong desire to remain within their own country. Currently Aboriginal people tend to not access palliative care services in mainstream facilities; and there is very little data on Aboriginal admissions to palliative care centres. Over the last two decades only two models of palliative care focusing on and developed in Aboriginal communities have been implemented. The seminal contribution to Aboriginal Palliative Care was in the form of a resource kit developed to support palliative care providers to examine their practice for cultural appropriateness for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islanders. The "living model" coming from this project is adaptive and flexible, enabling implementation in different Aboriginal country as a participative process with community input. The Australian government"s National Indigenous Palliative Care Needs Study similarly indicated that Australian empirical research on Aboriginal palliative care service provision is in its infancy, and comprehensive data on the rates of Aboriginal access to palliative care services did not exist. What literature does exist is drawn together in an argument for the development and need for culturally specific Aboriginal palliative care models, which are culturally appropriate, locally accessible and delivered in collaboration and partnership with Aboriginal controlled health services. This is essential because Aboriginal people are a minority cultural group who are disconnected from mainstream health service delivery, and have a sense of cultural isolation when accessing mainstream services. It is preferable that palliative care is delivered in a collaboration between Aboriginal Controlled Health Service and mainstream palliative care services to ensure a dignified end of life for the Aboriginal person. These collaborations and partnerships are fundamental to ensure that a critical mass of Aboriginal clinicians are trained and experienced in end of life care and palliation. Developing palliative care programs within Aboriginal communities and training Aboriginal Health Workers, promoted and developed in partnership with the Aboriginal community, are important strategies to enhance palliative care service provision. Further partnerships should be championed in this collaborative process, acknowledging a need for palliative care models that fit with Aboriginal peoples" community values, beliefs, cultural/ spiritual rituals, heritage and place.

Health, Death, and Indigenous Australians in the Coronial system

This paper details research conducted in Queensland during the first year of operation of the new Coroners Act 2003. Information was gathered from all completed investigations between December 2003 and December 2004 across five categories of death: accidental, suicide, natural, medical and homicide. It was found that 25 percent of the total number of Indigenous deaths recorded in 2004 were reported to, and investigated by, the Coroner, in comparison to 9.4 percent of non-Indigenous deaths. Moreover, Indigenous people were found to be over-represented in each category of death, except in death in a medical setting, where they were absent.

The National Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Women's Health Strategy on Talkin with Tiga Bayles, 98.9 AM National Indigenous Radio Service (NIRS), Wednesday 21 July 2010. (9.00 - 10.00am).

Radio Program. Talkin with Tiga Bayles, 98.9 AM National Indigenous Radio Service (NIRS), 9.00-10.00am, Wednesday 21 July 2010. (1 hour program).----- Bronwyn Fredericks discssed the National Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Women’s Health Strategy was launched at the Australian Women’s Health Network (AWHN) National Conference in Hobart on the 19 May 2010. Within this radio interview the background of the Strategy is discussed, funding, who did the consultations and the writing. In the interview Bronwyn Fredericks outlines the process of the Strategy’s development and its uses for the future.----- It is important to note that this Strategy does not replace other national or State and Territory documents which identify priorities and needs. The aim is to supplement existing work.

Collaborative voices: Ongoing reflections on cultural competency and the health care of Australian Indigenous people

The issue of cultural competency in health care continues to be a priority in Australia for health and human services professionals. Cultural competence in caring for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples is of increasing interest, and is a priority in closing the gap in health disparities between Indigenous and non-Indigenous Australians. Through a collaborative conversation, the authors draw on a case study, personal experience and the literature to highlight some of the issues associated with employing culturally appropriate, culturally safe and culturally competent approaches when caring for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples. The intent of this article is to encourage discussion on the topic of cultural competency, and to challenge health professionals and academics to think and act on racism, colonialism, historical circumstances and the political, social, economic, and geographical realms in which we live and work, and which all impact on cultural competency.

Revitalizing health for all : international Indigenous representative group. Learning from the experience of comprehensive primary health care in Aboriginal Australia — A commentary on three projects

This paper presents a regional commentary (hereafter ‘the commentary’) on the three Australian projects of the Teasdale-Corti Global Health Research Partnership Program. The three Australian projects are: Victorian Aboriginal Health Service Ltd (VAHS), Melbourne, Victoria—Forty Years of Comprehensive Primary Health Care; Central Australian Aboriginal Congress Inc. (Congress), Alice Springs, Northern Territory—Ingkintja, Male Health Program; and Urapuntja Health Service (UHS), Utopia, Northern Territory—Outstation Health Care. It highlights common themes and lessons in respect to the Revitalising Health for All project in the context of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander health in Australia.