Volume 201 Issue 7

Primary care is increasingly recognised for its role in a patient’s health trajectory and in wider community-level health

Astika Kappagoda

Let’s implement what we know and avoid deaths from hip fracture

Richard I Lindley MD, FRCP(Edin), FRACP

The Healthy Kids Check is a good idea which needs further review and development

Frank Oberklaid MD, FRACP, DCH

The latest on corticosteroids, bariatric surgery, antifungals and how to stay awake

Steve McDonald · Tari Turner

n/a

Further improvement will be due to population health efforts

Nicola J Reavley PhD · Anthony F Jorm PhD, DSc

Asylum seekers are not receiving acceptable standards of medical care. Should doctors boycott the system?

John-Paul Sanggaran MB BS, MHMed, BHSc · Grant M Ferguson BSc(Hons), MB BS · Bridget G Haire PhD, MBioethics

The National Pain Strategy is driving improvements in pain management, but greater impetus is needed

Michael J Cousins MD, DSc, FFPMANZCA · Lesley Brydon BPharm

Research consistently finds there is no association between abortion and risk of breast cancer

Kelly-Anne Phillips · Fiona J Bruinsma · Roger L Milne

The recent TGA warning that NSAIDs can cause harm in fluid-depleted kids should also apply to adults at risk

Ronald P Batagol

Dietary changes that follow economic development will increase the risks of non-communicable disease among the poor

Rohan Jayasuriya

In reply: Attention to non-communicable diseases is only one part of improving health equity

David B Hipgrave · Krishna P Hort

DXA body composition estimation is being inappropriately used in weight loss and exercise programs

Nicholas A Pocock · Weiwen Chen

Practice doesn’t necessarily make perfect on multiple mini interview performance

Malathi Raghavan · Bruce D Martin

A lack of demonstrable harms means HIV professionals should be allowed to practise

Sean R Atkinson

Ceasing use of medication is at least as complicated as initiating treatment in older people

Emily Reeve BPharm(Hons), PhD · Sepehr Shakib MB BS(Hons), FRACP, PhD · Ivanka Hendrix BPharm, PhD · Michael S Roberts PhD, DSc, FACP · Michael D Wiese BPharm, MClinPharm, PhD

The scale of polypharmacy-related harm is underappreciated

Ian A Scott FRACP, MHA, MEd · Kristen Anderson BPharm · Christopher R Freeman BPharm, PhD, BCACP · Danielle A Stowasser PhD, BPharm, PGDipClinHospPharm

Mandatory detention is a form of child abuse and paediatricians strongly disagree with offshore processing

Elizabeth J M Corbett BA, LLB(Hons), GDipLegalP · Hasantha Gunasekera MIPH(Hons), FRACP, PhD · Alanna Maycock MA, BSc, DipHE · David Isaacs MD, FRACP, FRCPCH

A first step towards understanding how Australia’s notifiable conduct law is working

Marie M Bismark MB ChB, LLB, MBHL · Matthew J Spittal PhD, MBio · Tessa M Plueckhahn BA(Hons), JD · David M Studdert LLB, ScD, MPH

The check appears to be making a difference in child health management

Rae Thomas PhD · Jennifer A Doust BM BS, PhD, FRACGP · Kartik Vasan · Bianca Rajapakse · Leanne McGregor PhD · Evan Ackermann MB BS, FRACGP · Christopher B Del Mar MD, FRACGP, FAFPHM

A promising model of collaboration between orthopaedic teams and geriatricians

Justin Zeltzer BCom(Econometrics), LLB · Rebecca J Mitchell MA(Psych), MOHS, PhD · Barbara Toson BStatEc · Ian A Harris MB BS, MMed(ClinEpi), PhD · Laura Ahmad MD, PhD, FRACP · Jacqui Close MD, FRCP, FRACP

This effective form of contraception has less uptake among the more disadvantaged

Philip Goldstone MB BS(Hons) · Yachna H Mehta MB BS · Kevin McGeechan MBiostat, PhD · Katherine Francis BE(Electrical), MB BS · Kirsten I Black MB BS, FRANZCOG, PhD

Online mental health programs have the potential to reduce absenteeism

Anna Mackenzie MPH · Samuel Harvey MRCPsych, FRANZCP, PhD · Louise Mewton BA(Hons), PhD · Gavin Andrews MD, FRANZCP

Clinical findings and a homozygous mutation in the CYP27B1 gene demonstrate a rare form of vitamin D deficiency

Nobuaki Ito MD, PhD · Alexia S Peña MD, PhD, FRACP · Shiree Perano MD · Gerald J Atkins PhD · David M Findlay PhD · Jennifer J Couper MB ChB, MD, FRACP

Specialist training in the first two postgraduate years must be made available in both large and small rural hospitals

John B Best AO, MD BS, PhD, DSc(Hon)

A Kenyan baby brings understanding of the effect of HIV diagnosis and global health’s responsibility

Heather Kitt BSc, MB BCh BAO

People keep telling me I look so skinny

Sarah Certa

David Hill was born in Melbourne on 15 July 1944. When he was 9 years old, his family moved to Mt Gambier, South Australia, where his father was a general practitioner and his mother was the first social worker. As a child, David always intended to be a doctor. From the age of 11, David attended boarding school at Prince Alfred College in Adelaide, where he was a prefect. David studied medicine at the University of Adelaide, living at St Mark's College. After graduating in 1969, he was a resident medical officer at the Queen Elizabeth Hospital. He completed a further residency year at the Adelaide Children's Hospital, where he subsequently worked as a paediatric registrar. In 1976, he moved to Dunedin, New Zealand, where he was Senior Paediatric Registrar at Dunedin Hospital and a lecturer with the Department of Paediatrics at the University of Otago. On returning to Adelaide in 1977, he was Senior Visiting Paediatrician at the Adelaide Children's Hospital, Flinders Medical Centre and Regency Park Centre for Young Disabled. Concurrently, he conducted a private practice in North Adelaide. He also worked as a consultant paediatrician in Mt Gambier from 1987 to 1994. From 1995 to 2002, he was Director of Paediatrics at Toowoomba Hospital and a visiting specialist to surrounding clinics and hospitals. He returned to Mt Gambier to practise as a consultant paediatrician as well as being a visiting paediatrician to the Millicent and District Hospital from 2002 to 2008. David had a very active interest in most sports, especially cricket, and was an excellent swimmer — this interest would later be reflected when he served as Honorary Medical Officer to the South Australian Amateur Swimming Association. He was a mascot of Port Adelaide Football Club as a young boy and retained this allegiance for the rest of his life. He was a much-loved paediatrician because of his gentle and knowledgeable approach. David retired in 2008 but his health suffered. However, he never lost his patience and dry humour. David died from metastatic cancer on 3 July 2014, and is survived by June, his wife of over 40 years, and children Amanda, Amy, Angus and Alistair.

Ian Darnton-Hill

Despite the high media profile of street drugs, medical marijuana and the ice “epidemic”, addiction medicine is a specialty in desperate need of new recruits with a strong streak of altruism

Cate Swannell

AMSA has released a strong statement about renewable energy targets and the health of Australia in the light of the federal government’s decision to end support for renewable energy power stations. Despite a review finding that the current renewable energy targets (RET) scheme was not only effective but capable of delivering a 26% share of electricity to Australians by 2020, the government has opted to end funding. AMSA President, Jessica Dean, says the RET was crucial to promoting a healthier and cleaner Australia. “The use of non-renewable energy, such as coal, has direct impacts on the health and wellbeing of communities and is detrimental to at least three of our National Health Priority Areas: cancer control, cardiovascular health and asthma”, Ms Dean says. “Coal-fired power generation results in air pollution that contributes to the development and exacerbation of lung diseases, ischaemic heart disease and stroke, which are leading causes of death in Australia. “AMSA is also disappointed that the review failed to adequately address the health benefits of the RET, despite a submission made by us.” Furthermore, combustion of fossil fuels also contributes to climate change, which will amplify a broad range of health issues currently faced in Australia. “Climate change is recognised by health professionals as one of the greatest threats to health. To protect Australians from the most severe health risks, our government must take strong action to mitigate climate change”, Ms Dean says. “Whilst the Australian government continues to scale back action on climate change, the World Health Organization is currently holding a conference specifically addressing the health impacts of climate change in Geneva.”

Cate Swannell

This calendar will be updated each month. If you have an event you would like to add, please include relevant details in an email to cswannell@mja.com.au

Cate Swannell