There is consistent evidence that the likelihood of working in rural practice is approximately twice greater among doctors with a rural background. There is a smaller body of evidence in support of the other rural factors studied, and the strength of association is similar to that for rural background.

Undergraduate rural training, postgraduate training and medical school entry criteria favouring rural students, all are associated with an increased likelihood of being a rural GP. Longer rural postgraduate training is more strongly associated with rural practice. These findings argue for continuation of rural undergraduate training opportunities and rural entry schemes, and an expansion in postgraduate training opportunities for GPs.

Objective: To determine the factors associated with general practitioners' current practice location, with particular emphasis on rural location. Design: Observational, retrospective, case–control study using a self‐administered questionnaire. Setting: Australian general practices in December 2000. Participants: 2414 Australian‐trained rural and urban GPs. Main outcome measure: Current urban or rural practice location. Results: For Australia as a whole, rural GPs were more likely to be male (odds ratio [OR], 1.42; 95% CI, 1.17–1.73), Australian‐born (OR, 1.95; 95% CI, 1.55–2.45), and to report attending a rural primary school for “some” (OR, 2.21; 95% CI, 1.69–2.89) or “all” (OR, 2.79; 95% CI, 1.94–4.00) of their primary schooling. Rural GPs' partners or spouses were also more likely to report “some” (OR, 2.75; 95% CI, 2.07–3.66) or “all” (OR, 2.86; 95% CI, 2.02–4.05) rural primary schooling. A rural background in both GP and partner produced the highest likelihood of rural practice (OR, 6.28; 95% CI, 4.26–9.25). For individual jurisdictions, a trend towards more rural GPs being men was only significant in Tasmania. In all jurisdictions except Tasmania and the Northern Territory, rural GPs were more likely to be Australian‐born. Conclusions: GPs' and their partners' rural background (residence and primary and secondary schooling) influences choice of practice location, with partners' background appearing to exert more influence.

Objective To determine the association between rural background on practice location of general practitioners (GPs) (rural or urban). Design Comparison of data from two postal surveys. Subjects 268 rural and 236 urban GPs practising in South Australia. Main outcome measures Association between practice location (rural or urban) and demographic characteristics, training, qualifications, and rural background. Results Rural GPs were younger than urban GPs (mean age 47 versus 50 years, P< 0.01) and more likely to be male (81% versus 67%, P= 0.001), to be Australian‐born (72% versus 61%, P= 0.01), to have a partner (95% versus 85%, P=0.001), and to have children (94% versus 85%, P=0.001). Similar proportions of rural and urban GPs were trained in Australia and were Fellows of the Royal Australian College of General Practitioners, but more rural GPs were vocationally registered (94% versus 84%, P=0.001). Rural GPs were more likely to have grown up in the country (37% versus 27%, P=0.02), to have received primary (33% versus 19%, P= 0.001) and secondary (25% versus 13%, P= 0.001) education there, and to have a partner who grew up in the country (49% versus 24%, P= 0.001). In multivariate analysis, only primary education in the country (odds ratio [OR], 2.43; 95% Cl, 1.09‐5.56) and partner of rural background (OR, 3.14; 95% Cl, 1.96‐5.10) were independently associated with rural practice. Conclusion Our findings support the policy of promoting entry to medical school of students with a rural background and provide an argument for policies that address the needs of partners and maintain quality primary and secondary education in the country.

Despite a profusion of recommendations regarding the quality of web sites and guidelines related to ethical issues surrounding health-related sites, there is little guidance for the design and evaluation of sites relating to loss and grief. This article, which addresses these deficiencies, results from a community consultation process of designing and evaluating a web site--GriefLink--for bereaved consumers and for the professionals who help them. It presents the literature review that informed the project, the recommendations for design and content, the lessons learned through the process itself, and the difficulties of evaluating the benefits of a grief-related web site. Some ethical and legal dilemmas in developing grief-related web sites are discussed and issues of design, content, process, evaluation, and general features are addressed, which may also be applied to other communication forms for loss and grief matters, such as the print media.

BackgroundProblem-based curricula have provoked controversy amongst educators and students regarding outcome in medical graduates, supporting the need for longitudinal evaluation of curriculum change. As part of a longitudinal evaluation program at the University of Adelaide, a mixed method approach was used to compare the graduate outcomes of two curriculum cohorts: traditional lecture-based ‘old’ and problem-based ‘new’ learning.MethodsGraduates were asked to self-assess preparedness for hospital practice and consent to a comparative analysis of their work-place based assessments from their intern year. Comparative data were extracted from 692 work-place based assessments for 124 doctors who graduated from the University of Adelaide Medical School between 2003 and 2006.ResultsSelf-assessment: Overall, graduates of the lecture-based curriculum rated the medical program significantly higher than graduates of the problem-based curriculum. However, there was no significant difference between the two curriculum cohorts with respect to their preparedness in 13 clinical skills. There were however, two areas where the cohorts rated their preparedness in the 13 broad practitioner competencies as significantly different: problem-based graduates rated themselves as better prepared in their ‘awareness of legal and ethical issues’ and the lecture-based graduates rated themselves better prepared in their ‘understanding of disease processes’.Work-place based assessment: There were no significant differences between the two curriculum cohorts for ‘Appropriate Level of Competence’ and ‘Overall Appraisal’. Of the 14 work-place based assessment skills assessed for competence, no significant difference was found between the cohorts.ConclusionsThe differences in the perceived preparedness for hospital practice of two curriculum cohorts do not reflect the work-place based assessments of their competence as interns. No significant difference was found between the two cohorts in relation to their knowledge and clinical skills. However results suggest a trend in ‘communication with peers and colleagues in other disciplines’ (χ2 (3, N = 596) =13.10, p = 0.056) that requires further exploration. In addition we have learned that student confidence in a new curriculum may impact on their self-perception of preparedness, while not affecting their actual competence.

Rural GPs are more likely to fulfil the RAMUS rural background criterion, supporting the existence of the RAMUS scheme.

Institution wide comparisons of students who leave university before completing their degree and students who complete their studies, have identified 'wrong course selection' and a lack of vocational focus as common reasons for non-completion. It is not fully understood, though, whether these trends are constant across different disciplines and programs and whether all relevant contributing factors, in particular career intentions, have been considered. This study was undertaken to explore reasons for student non-completion in more detail in one program. Students enrolled in an undergraduate health sciences degree completed a questionnaire at enrolment and another 12 months later, regarding their reasons for enrolment, career intentions and expectations for/experiences of learning. Students who did not re-enrol after the first year were invited to complete a separate exit questionnaire regarding their reasons for not re-enrolling. Many students who did not re-enrol after the first year of study transferred to another degree that was more aligned with their career intentions. In this context rather than a 'wrong' selection, noncompletion of the initial undergraduate degree formed part of a career plan.