Volume 201 Issue 9

Making our hospitals and communities safer

Christine Gee

Tackling the diabetes epidemic

Stephen Colagiuri MB BS, FRACP

Surgery for obesity complicated by severe comorbidity should be accessible to all

Michael Edye MB BS, FRACS, FACS · Michael L Talbot MB ChB, FRACS

MedicineInsight aims to increase understanding of prescribing behaviour

Lynn M Weekes

n/a

Public health advocates coordinate programs to reduce salt intake and prevent iodine deficiency

Jacqui Webster PhD · Mary-Anne Land MPH · Anthea Christoforou MIPH · Creswell J Eastman AM, MD, FRACP, FAFPHM · Michael Zimmerman · Norman R C Campbell MD · Bruce C Neal PhD, FAHA, FRCP

Implementing recommendations of the parliamentary inquiry and international codes of practice on employment of IMGs

Carlos Zubaran MD, MHM, PhD · Susan Douglas MD, FACRRM, GradDipHE

Major education reform requires a narrative, time, investment and communication

Kevin D Forsyth MD, PhD, FRACP

The benefits and challenges of shared decision making

Debora Picone

The benefits and challenges of shared decision making

Michele Levinson

In reply: The benefits and challenges of shared decision making

Tammy C Hoffmann · Christopher B Del Mar

An effective code of practice must require medical treatment by specialist practitioners in the condition being treated

Graham Vesey

In reply: It is in the interest of all to limit the risks of this unregulated industry

Bernard E Tuch · Dominic Wall

Training for non-anaesthetists who care for sedated patients

Joanna R Sutherland · Ellen Rawstron · Christopher Ball

The contribution of bloodstream infections to deaths in Australia may be underestimated

Christopher S Heather · Hong Foo · Iain B Gosbell

So far, so good — a strategy for improving outcomes, which could itself be improved

Kenneth M Hillman MD, FRCA, FCICM · Jack Chen MB BS, PhD, MBA · Daryl Jones MD, FRACP, FCICM,

Does screening reduce the risk of developing colorectal cancer?

Annika Steffen MSc(Epid), PhD · Marianne F Weber BA(Hons), PhD · David M Roder BDS, MPH, DDSc(Epid) · Emily Banks MB BS, PhD, FAFPHM

MET calls are disruptive and inconvenient but cause no major harm to patients

The Concord Medical Emergency Team (MET) Incidents Study Investigators

Surfing carries a small risk of eye trauma, which is sometimes severe

Juliette Howden MB BS, MMed, BMedSci · Jenny Danks MB BS, FRANZCO · Peter McCluskey MB BS, FRANZCO · Mark Gillett FACEM, FRACGP, MClinEd · Raf Ghabrial MB BS, FRANZCO

The negative impact of workplace aggression on clinician wellbeing could harm patient care

Danny Hills BN, MN(Hons), PhD · Catherine M Joyce BA(Hons), MPsych, PhD

Lithium has profound effects on thyroid physiology

Santhi Chalasani MB BS(Hons) · Katherine A Benson MB BS(Hons), FRACP

Skin reviews, sun protection advice and caution in patients with previous SCC are recommended

Chin Fen Neoh BPharm, MPharm(ClinPharm), PhD · Gregory I Snell MB BS, FRACP, MD · Bronwyn Levvey RN, BEdStu, GradDipClinEpi · Tom Kotsimbos MD, FRACP · Orla Morrissey MB BCh, FRACP, PhD · Monica A Slavin MB BS, FRACP, MD · Kay Stewart BPharm, PhD · David C M Kong BPharm, MPharm, PhD

Skin lesions turn out to be pseudoxanthoma elasticum

Zhenying Zhang · Xiaoming Liu

Withholding and withdrawing life-sustaining treatment in a patient’s best interests: Australian judicial deliberations

Lindy Willmott LLB(Hons), LLM, PhD · Ben White LLB, DPhil · Malcolm K Smith LLB(Hons), LLM, PhD · Dominic J C Wilkinson MB BS, DPhil, FRACP

Too many licensing authorities, not enough accountability or power to enforce standards

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

How much should past performance contribute to picking winners in grant competitions?

Paul M Pilowsky BM BS, PhD, FAHA

Patients and families are not the only ones who need support after adverse iatrogenic events

Cameron I Knott MB BS(Hons), FRACP, FCICM

A generous, groundbreaking epidemiologist with a global view

Cate Swannell

PAT ANDERSON, chair of the Lowitja Institute, Australia's National Institute for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Health Research, provides generous praise to the authors of this work for their valuable contribution to research and practice of empowerment in Aboriginal health (http://www.lowitja.org.au/promoting-aboriginal-health-family-wellbeing-empowerment-approach). When you read this text you will find that the praise is well deserved. However, it would have been handy if it had also ...

Dameyon Bonson

It is tempting, human beings that we are, to settle for the broad brushstrokes of history. In neglectful ignorance we can easily forget individual sacrifices made in our name and allow the past to become a distant stranger. To do so in relation to our medical forebears who served, and of whom many were wounded and died in World War I, would demean them and ...

Brendan J Nelson

Dr Michael Crampton, GP of the Year, has taken an active role in clinical computerisation, integrated care, vaccination safety and medical education, as well as continuing to care for families he's known for 30 years

Cate Swannell

Dr Michael Crampton (page C1) wasn’t the only general practitioner from Sydney’s west honoured at the recent Royal Australian College of General Practitioners’ annual conference in Adelaide. General Practice of the Year was awarded to the Riverstone Family Medical Practice in the north-west of the city. The award recognised the contribution of the practice and its staff, led by practice principal Dr Michelle Crockett, to improving patient care, and their participation in programs such as eHealth and Health Pathways that improve the quality and accessibility of services. Dr Crockett also works as a clinical head for Western Sydney Health Pathways, a joint project between WentWest and the Western Sydney Local Health District to improve patient care and management across the region. “This is a wonderful recognition of the hard work and dedication of the team at Riverstone Family Medical Practice”, Dr Crockett says. Also honoured was Aboriginal Medical Services Western Sydney, which won the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Team award for their innovative program for managing chronic disease. GP Supervisor of the Year was awarded to Dr Linda Mann (profiled in MJA Careers 2014; 200: C4), from Sydney’s inner west. Dr Sarah Beck was named the GP Registrar of the Year, Dr Sam Gubiac was awarded the Rural Registrar of the Year, and Michelle Seckingham was given the Student Bursary award. Four academic awards were also given at the conference. The most prestigious, the Rose-Hunt Award, is given to a College Fellow or Member who “has rendered outstanding service in the promotion of the objects of the College, either by individual patient care, organisation, education, research or any other means”. This year it was awarded to Professor Michael Kidd, executive dean of the Faculty of Medicine, Nursing and Health Sciences at Flinders University in Adelaide. Professor Kidd is a GP and President of the World Organization of Family Doctors (WONCA). The Brian Williams Award, given to “medical practitioners whose guidance and support enables rural GPs to safely dedicate themselves to their patients, their families and their communities”, went to Dr Barbara Jones, a GP in Townsville, Queensland. The Alan Chancellor Award, presented each year to “the GP or GP registrar considered to be the best first time presenter of a research paper at the RACGP annual conference”, was given to Dr Pam Douglas, who focuses on babies in their first year and their mothers. The Peter Mudge Medal, awarded to a presenter at the conference who has “advanced the discipline of general practice and the goals of the College and whose original research has the most potential to significantly influence daily general practice”, was given to Dr Alan Leeb from the Illawarra Medical Centre in New South Wales.

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