General Practise

INTRODUCTION: Improving dietary patterns using medical nutrition therapy delivered via telehealth could make an effective contribution to reducing cardiovascular disease burden in rural Australia. However, it is important that medical nutrition therapy programmes are developed in collaboration with rural stakeholders, to increase feasibility for the rural context and the likelihood of successful implementation. The aim of this study was to evaluate the preliminary feasibility outcomes of integration (implementation), practicality, acceptability, demand, and preliminary effectiveness at the 3-month timepoint of the Healthy Rural Hearts randomised control trial...

BACKGROUND: Overuse of medical care is a pervasive problem. Studies using hypothetical scenarios suggest that physicians' risk literacy influences medical decisions; real-world correlations, however, are lacking. We sought to determine the association between physicians' risk literacy and their real-world prescriptions of potentially hazardous drugs, accounting for conflicts of interest and perceptions of benefit-harm ratios in low-value prescribing scenarios. SETTING AND SAMPLE: Cross-sectional study-conducted online between June and October 2023 via field panels of Sermo (Hamburg, Germany)-with a convenience sample of 304 English general practitioners (GPs)...

BACKGROUND: International and local policy frameworks on disability promote inclusive higher education practices for students with disabilities (SWD). However, the actual application of these frameworks concerning students with physical disabilities (SWPD) in any School of Health Care Sciences (SHCS) is uncertain in South African universities. OBJECTIVES: This study aimed to explore the perceptions of academic and admission staff on the inclusion of SWPD in SHCS at a South African university...

In Germany, physicians qualify for emergency medicine by combining a specialty medical training-e.g. internal medicine-with advanced training in emergency medicine according to the statutes of the State Chambers of Physicians largely based upon the Guideline Regulations on Specialty Training of the German Medical Association. Internal medicine and their associated subspecialities represent an important column of emergency medicine. For the internal medicine aspects of emergency medicine, this curriculum presents an overview of knowledge, skills (competence levels I-III) as well as behaviours and attitudes allowing for the best treatment of patients...

BACKGROUND: The American Society of Anaesthesiologists Physical Status classification is deployed by the anaesthesiologists worldwide to classify operative surgical patients. Many studies have found moderate degree of interrater variability among anaesthesiologists. The general objective of the study was to find out interrater variability among Nepalese anesthesiologists using this classification system in Nepal. The specific objectives of the study were to find out the correctness of assignment and inter-rater variability among anaesthesiologists based on their experience...

BACKGROUND: The COVID-19 pandemic increased the mental health burden in the general population, enhancing the demands placed on mental healthcare professionals. METHODS: This study aimed to assess the burdens and resources of clinical psychologists that emerged since the beginning of the pandemic. N = 172 Austrian clinical psychologists participated in a cross-sectional online survey between April and May 2022. The burdens and the sources of support that emerged during the pandemic were analyzed using qualitative content analysis...

OBJECTIVES: This study aimed to present the demographic and professional characteristics of Polish mental and sexual health specialists (MSHS) and their experience in clinical work with transgender and gender diverse (TGD) people. METHODS: This cross-sectional study was conducted using the LimeSurvey platform. A total of 239 MSHS with a diverse professional background, at different stages of their careers, with experience of working with TGD patients, completed the survey...

BACKGROUND: The evidence underpinning caries management for children has progressed dramatically over the past 20 years. Anecdotally, this is not reflected in the teaching provided to undergraduate dental students, with the ongoing teaching of outdated methods within some dental schools. AIM: To capture the current undergraduate teaching provision and clinical treatment experience requirement relative to caries management in paediatric dentistry in UK dental schools...

BACKGROUND: Paediatric lower urinary tract symptoms (LUTS) are common experiences among school-aged children, with prevalence rates reaching as high as 20%. Paediatricians are often first-line stakeholders in providing treatment for these bothersome symptoms, yet there is no formal resource to support them with the treatment of LUTS. Evaluating paediatricians' experiences is an important step in informing health promotion efforts to improve health outcomes in children. This study aims to explore paediatricians' knowledge, beliefs, practice patterns, and perceived barriers and facilitators in providing LUTS care...

In the generalized context of general practitioner shortages and transitions towards team-based primary care, we investigated how the different practising models relate to general practitioners' labour supply. More precisely, we analysed the association between practice models-solo, groups of general practitioners, and multiprofessional groups-and their reported labour supply and level of satisfaction with work-life balance. We used a French cross-sectional survey from 2018 that surveyed a representative national sample of 3,032 self-employed general practitioners about their working conditions...

BACKGROUND: Selective non-operative management (SNOM) of penetrating abdominal trauma (PAT) is routinely practised in our trauma centre. This study aims to report the outcomes of patients who have failed SNOM. METHODS: Patients presenting with PAT from 1 May 2015 - 31 January 2018 were reviewed. They were categorised into immediate laparotomy and delayed operative management (DOM) groups. Outcomes compared were postoperative complications, length of hospital stay and mortality...

INTRODUCTION: Professional burnout is a syndrome of emotional exhaustion, depersonalisation and low sense of personal achievement related to the workplace. Orthopaedic surgeons train and practise in highly demanding environments. Understanding up-to-date trends in burnout, particularly following the COVID-19 pandemic, is vital. For this reason, we carried out a systematic review on this topic. METHODS: A scoping literature review of two databases was conducted. Two authors independently screened articles and conflicts were resolved by panel discussion...

CONTEXT: The shortage of general practitioners (GPs) is a growing concern in Europe, especially in France. This problem is likely to continue until the end of the 2020s. OBJECTIVES: To study the GPs' perceptions of access to care in medically underserved areas (i.e. with low physician density), its consequences on their working conditions, and how they cope with the resulting difficulties. METHODS: Semi-structured individual interviews were conducted between May and August 2021 of 29 GPs practising in areas of southeastern France with a low physician density or at risk of a doctor shortage...

BACKGROUND: Evidence-Based Practice (EBP) is reported to ease effective and adequate decision making for all works of life including health professionals. Investigating the level of implementation of EBP among physiotherapists helps to identify barriers and propose solutions for its extensive implementation. Despite available data on EBP elsewhere, it remains limited or non-existent in Cameroon. This study was designed to establish the current state of EBP among physiotherapists in Cameroon, by assessing knowledge, practice, and barriers to its implementation...

OBJECTIVE: To establish prevalence and associations of provision of nursing home visits (NHV) and home visits (HV) by early-career specialist GPs. Of particular interest were associations of rurality with performing NHVs and HVs. METHODS: A cross-sectional study. DESIGN: A questionnaire-based study. SETTING: Australian general practice. PARTICIPANTS: Early-career specialist GPs, practising in Australia, who attained Fellowship between January 2016 and July 2018, inclusive, having completed GP training in NSW, the ACT, Eastern Victoria or Tasmania...

BACKGROUND: Throughout the COVID-19 pandemic, older Canadians were the most at risk of severe physical harm, including death, and their return to post-COVID life was expected to be especially anxiety-provoking. A study was conducted to obtain nationally representative evidence of older Canadians' self-perceived anxiety levels and their strategies to manage or mitigate it as public health restrictions were lifting. MATERIALS AND METHODS: This study had a cross-sectional descriptive design...

BACKGROUND: Recently, all medical universities in Sweden jointly developed a framework for Entrustable Professional Activities (EPAs) for work-based training and assessment. This framework is now being introduced nationally in the new 6-year undergraduate medical programme that directly lead to a licence to practise. When EPAs are introduced, it is of central importance to gain clinical supervisors' acceptance to apply the framework in their supervision of students. The aim of this study was therefore to investigate how clinical supervisors, not familiar with EPAs, experience clinical supervision using the framework for EPAs...

BACKGROUND: Pharmacists are an increasing part of the primary care health care team in Scotland. Recruitment to this expanding sector has largely come from community pharmacy. However, it is unknown if these pharmacists have specific needs to perform their role within the primary care team. AIM: To explore the perceived challenges and enablers of community pharmacists transitioning into primary care pharmacist roles. METHOD: Eight pharmacists (5 female, 3 male, median age 32) across Scotland's largest regional health board who previously practised in community pharmacy participated in a recorded, semi-structured interview via Microsoft Teams® to explore their challenges and enablers of transition into primary care...

PURPOSE: To examine the current falls prevention knowledge, beliefs and practices of physiotherapists providing clinical care to people with breast cancer. METHODS: A cross-sectional online survey of currently registered, practising Australian physiotherapists was conducted. The survey was developed and reported using the Checklist for Reporting Results of Internet E-Surveys (CHERRIES) checklist, with data analysed descriptively or using bivariate tests. Free-text responses to open-ended questions were classified into key themes for analysis...

Dr WG Grace was a general practitioner in Bristol, in the late nineteenth century, but is better remembered as 'the father of cricket'. He showed early promise as a skilled cricket player and was already playing for Gloucester County, by the age of fifteen. However, coming from a well-established medical family, his father wanted him to become a doctor. He trained in Bristol and after qualifying he set up his own practice in the same environs. By this time, he was a superb cricketer with a glittering county and England career, combined with his clinical duties...