The Consumers' Health Forum of Australia and the National Health and Medical Research Council has recently developed a Model Framework for Consumer and Community Participation in Health and Medical Research in order to better align health and medical research with community need, and improve the impact of research. Model frameworks may have little impact on what goes on in practice unless relevant organisations actively make use of them. Philanthropic and government bodies have reported involving consumers in more meaningful or collaborative ways of late. This paper describes how a large charity organisation, which funds a significant proportion of Australian cancer research, operationalised the model framework using a unique approach demonstrating that it is both possible and reasonable for research to be considerate of public values.
oncerns are increasing in Australia and internationally that the supply of medical oncologists (MOs) is insufficient to meet the rising demand. 1-5 The only study of the medical and haematological oncology workforce in Australia was published in 2001. 6 This study found that there were 180 MOs in active practice in Australia (0.9 per 100 000 population), and an estimated shortfall of at least 40 medical and haematological oncologists. The best estimate of the number of MOs in Australia in 2009 was 311, based on the membership of the Medical Oncology Group of Australia (MOGA), the peak representative body for MOs in Australia. This equates to 1.4 MOs per 100 000 population. Despite the increase since 2001, this figure is still well below comparable international figures, such as the 3.5 MOs per 100 000 population reported in the United States in 2005. 7 In response to consumer concerns about the medical oncology workforce shortage, the Australian Medical Oncologist Workforce Study was initiated by MOGA in 2009. The purpose of this cross-sectional study was to evaluate the current and future capacity of the MO workforce by estimating the supply, demand and shortfall of MOs in Australia in 2009 and 2014. Methods Study population 2009 and 84 to 156 in 2014. The chemotherapy utilisation rate was 19%. Conclusions: The current shortage of MOs is expected to persist in the future. National strategies are needed to increase the capacity of the medical oncology workforce and the chemotherapy utilisation rate.
Our Australian population-based estimates are valuable when communicating average MBC risks to patients and planning clinical services and trials. Women with node-negative disease have a low risk of developing MBC, consistent with outcomes of adjuvant clinical trials. Regional disease at diagnosis remains an important prognostic factor.
Good communication between patients and physicians is essential. Within this context, a web site such as Australian Cancer Trials may be an important tool to encourage discussion about clinical trial participation.
Objective: To compare the cancer knowledge and skills of interns in 2001 who graduated from graduate medical program (GMP) courses with those from non‐GMP courses, and to compare the cancer knowledge and skills of interns in 2001 with those who completed a similar survey in 1990.
Design: Questionnaire survey of recently graduated interns in a random sample of Australian and New Zealand hospitals. The questionnaire was designed to allow direct comparison with the 1990 survey, and was guided by the Australian Cancer Society's Ideal Oncology Curriculum for Medical Schools.
Results: 443 interns completed the survey (response rate, 62%; 42 were excluded, leaving 401 surveys for analysis: 118 from GMP courses and 283 from non‐GMP courses). Interns from GMP courses felt more competent than those from non‐GMP courses at discussing death (P = 0.02), breaking bad news (P = 0.04) and advising on smoking cessation (P = 0.02), but less competent at preparing a patient for a hazardous procedure (P = 0.02). More GMP interns would refer a breast cancer patient to a multidisciplinary clinic (83% versus 70%; P = 0.03). Knowledge about cancer risks and prognosis was significantly less in GMP interns, but GMP interns rated their clinical skills, such as taking a Pap smear, higher than non‐GMP interns. The GMP and non‐GMP groups did not differ in their exposure to cancer patients, but compared with 1990 interns recent graduates had less exposure to patients with cancer.
Conclusions: GMP curricula appear to have successfully introduced new course material and new methods of teaching, but have not always succeeded in producing doctors with better knowledge about cancer. Recent graduates have less exposure to cancer patients than those who trained 10 years ago.
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