Practical recommendations for planning and running live online education workshops for the rural health workforce.

AIM: This commentary presents practical and evidenced based guidelines for the development and delivery of real-time online training workshops aimed at rural health professionals. CONTEXT: Online learning is increasingly being used as an avenue for delivering education, particularly to rural and remote sites where barriers persist in upskilling health workers. Further, online learning has become essential during the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic. In response to the Australian 2020 COVID-19 social distancing requirements, our team rapidly transformed face-to-face educational workshops into an online format, to deliver over 20 workshops to more than 150 multidisciplinary staff across our large rural district. APPROACH: There are no published guidelines regarding the conversion of face-to-face education programs into an online format within health care. We conducted a review of the literature regarding the implementation of online education programs. Three broad categories of evidence were identified: participant qualities, content development and content deliverance. CONCLUSION: We present a set of practical and evidenced based recommendations, which will enhance live online workshops for a rural health workforce. These recommendations are derived both from published literature and our experience delivering our workshops. We argue that rural health professionals and organisations need relevant, up-to-date practical guidelines and more institutional support and training focused on creating and implementing live online educational programs in rural Australia.

"A banana a day keeps wound failure away": comparing the utility of fruit, pig, and synthetic skins for suturing practice.

OBJECTIVES: To investigate how suturing orange and banana peels, pig skin, and synthetic skin compares with the experience of suturing human skin. DESIGN: Interventional study of simple interrupted, vertical mattress, and subcuticular suturing on the four test materials. PARTICIPANTS, SETTING: Fifteen consultants and six trainees in surgical and emergency medicine specialties at a New South Wales regional teaching hospital. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: The primary outcome was completion of simple interrupted, vertical mattress, and subcutaneous sutures. Secondary outcomes (assessed in a questionnaire) were similarity of suturing each material to suturing human skin, suitability of each material for practising each suture type, and similarity of each material to human anatomic skin types. RESULTS: All 21 participants completed simple interrupted sutures in bananas and pig and synthetic skins, and 15 in orange skin (P = 0.002). All 21 participants completed vertical mattress sutures in pig and synthetic skins, 18 in bananas, and six in oranges (P < 0.001). The numbers of completed subcuticular sutures were lower for the two fruits (orange, zero; banana, two) than for pig and synthetic skins (each, 21; P < 0.001). Banana peel was rated as somewhat similar to human skin and recommended for practising simple interrupted and vertical mattress suturing. CONCLUSIONS: Bananas are not only useful as healthy snacks between theatre cases, but also for practising and improving simple and vertical mattress suturing skills. However, less portable and nourishing materials are required for subcuticular suturing practice, such as pig skin or synthetic skin.

Understanding the professional satisfaction of hospital trainees in Australia.

CONTEXT: Ensuring that specialty trainees are professionally satisfied is not only important from the point of view of trainee well-being, but is also critical if health systems are to retain doctors. Despite this, little systematic research in specialist trainees has identified policy-amenable factors correlated with professional satisfaction. This study examined factors associated with trainee professional satisfaction in a national Australian cohort. METHODS: This study used 2008-2015 data from the Medicine in Australia: Balancing Employment and Life (MABEL) survey, a national study of doctor demographics, characteristics and professional and personal satisfaction. Our study examined specialist trainees using a repeat cross-sectional method pooling first responses across all waves. A multivariate logistic regression analysis was used to assess correlates with professional satisfaction. RESULTS: The three factors most strongly correlated with professional satisfaction were feeling well supported and supervised by consultants (odds ratio [OR] 2.59, 95% confidence interval [CI] 2.42-2.77), having sufficient study time (OR 1.54, 95% CI 1.40-1.70) and self-rated health status (OR 1.65, 95% CI 1.53-1.80). Those working >56 hours per week were significantly less professionally satisfied (OR 0.76, 95% CI 0.70-0.84) compared with those working the median work hours (45-50 hours per week). Those earning in the lower quintiles, those earlier in their training and those who had studied at overseas universities were also significantly less likely to be satisfied. CONCLUSIONS: Our study suggests that good clinical supervision and support, appropriate working hours and supported study time directly impact trainee satisfaction, potentially affecting the quality of clinical care delivered by trainees. Furthermore, the needs of junior trainees, overseas graduates and those working >56 hours per week should be given particular consideration when developing well-being and training programmes.

Asthmatic children from lower-income families are less likely to own an individualised asthma action plan.

AIM: This study aimed to explore the relationship between indicators of socio-economic status (SES) and prescription of a paediatric individualised asthma action plan (IAAP), as well as compliance with that plan. METHODS: Between May and September 2017, parents/carers of children aged 2-16 years who presented with acute respiratory symptoms and a prior diagnosis of asthma to the emergency department at one regional and one metropolitan hospital in NSW, Australia, were invited to participate in a questionnaire-based study. RESULTS: A total of 175 eligible participants were identified, of which 113 completed the questionnaire. Eighty-seven children had been prescribed an IAAP (77%). Forty-nine parents/carers reported non-compliance with that plan (56.3%). Children from low- to middle-income families were significantly less likely to have a plan (P = 0.001). Being an only child was associated with greater IAAP compliance (P = 0.007) and better asthma control (P = 0.035). No significant relationship between other indicators of SES and rates of plan ownership or compliance was demonstrated. CONCLUSION: Although relatively high in our study sample, IAAP ownership rates remain well below published guidelines. Given the income-based disparity in plan ownership, physicians must routinely prescribe plans to all asthmatics. Strategies to ensure IAAP ownership and promote their use, especially in the public health sector, would be valuable. Repeating a similar study with a larger sample size will allow more robust conclusions to be drawn regarding the impact of parental SES on compliance.

Attracting junior doctors to rural centres: A national study of work-life conditions and satisfaction.

OBJECTIVE: Junior doctors, in their first four years of medical work, are an important part of the health care team. Attracting and retaining these doctors to rural areas underpins the development of the future rural workforce. This is the first national-scale study about satisfaction of junior doctors, based on their work location, to inform recruitment and retention. DESIGN: Repeat cross-sectional data 2008 and 2015, pooled for analysis. SETTING: Medicine in Australia: Balancing Employment and Life survey. PARTICIPANTS: First responses of 4581 pre-vocational doctors working as interns up to their fourth postgraduate year. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: Differences between metropolitan and rural respondents in satisfaction and positivity on two inventories. RESULTS: Overall work satisfaction was approximately 85% amongst rural and metropolitan junior doctors, but controlling for other factors rural junior doctors had significantly higher overall satisfaction. Rural junior doctors were significantly more satisfied with their work-life balance, ability to obtain desired leave and leave at short notice, personal study time and access to leisure interests compared with metropolitan junior doctors. Metropolitan junior doctors were more satisfied with the network of doctors supporting them and the opportunities for family. CONCLUSION: While both metropolitan and rural junior doctors are generally satisfied, many professional and personal aspects of satisfaction differ considerably by work location. In order to attract early career doctors, the benefits of rural work should be emphasised and perceived weaknesses mitigated.

Barriers to the use of paediatric clinical practice guidelines in rural and regional New South Wales Australia.

OBJECTIVE: To identify barriers to compliance with paediatric clinical practice guidelines (CPGs) in emergency departments in rural and regional New South Wales (NSW), Australia, and to propose strategies to increase their use. DESIGN: Cross-sectional survey. SETTING: Ten emergency departments in rural and regional NSW. PARTICIPANTS: Fifty medical officers. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: Use of clinical practice guidelines and perceived barriers to their usage. RESULTS: Only 22% of medical officers reported that they used the CPGs frequently when managing sick children. Major barriers to the use of CPGs were a lack of awareness of their existence, a lack of training in their use and poor access to the guidelines in printed or electronic format. CONCLUSION: In order to increase compliance with the paediatric CPGs, medical officers in rural and regional NSW require further training and education. The CPGs need to be readily available in either printed or electronic format.

Advantages and Pitfalls in Fluid Biomarkers for Diagnosis of Alzheimer's Disease.

Alzheimer's disease (AD) is a commonly occurring neurodegenerative disease in the advanced-age population, with a doubling of prevalence for each 5 years of age above 60 years. In the past two decades, there has been a sustained effort to find suitable biomarkers that may not only aide with the diagnosis of AD early in the disease process but also predict the onset of the disease in asymptomatic individuals. Current diagnostic evidence is supportive of some biomarker candidates isolated from cerebrospinal fluid (CSF), including amyloid beta peptide (Aß), total tau (t-tau), and phosphorylated tau (p-tau) as being involved in the pathophysiology of AD. However, there are a few biomarkers that have been shown to be helpful, such as proteomic, inflammatory, oral, ocular and olfactory in the early detection of AD, especially in the individuals with mild cognitive impairment (MCI). To date, biomarkers are collected through invasive techniques, especially CSF from lumbar puncture; however, non-invasive (radio imaging) methods are used in practice to diagnose AD. In order to reduce invasive testing on the patients, present literature has highlighted the potential importance of biomarkers in blood to assist with diagnosing AD.

Pericardial Effusion Associated with Diazoxide Treatment for Congenital Hyperinsulinism.

BACKGROUND: Diazoxide is widely used to manage congenital hyperinsulinism and is generally well tolerated. Pericardial effusion is not a recognized side effect of diazoxide, apart from 2 single case reports. CASE DESCRIPTION: Three patients with congenital hyperinsulinism developed pericardial effusion at the ages of 7 weeks, 8 months, and 17 years. The duration of diazoxide treatment (10-15 mg/kg/day) was 6.5 weeks, 5 months, and 17 years, respectively. There was no evidence of fluid overload or significant other cardiac anomaly. The 7-week-old patient presented with signs of cardiac failure, was treated with diuretics, and the effusion resolved after cessation of diazoxide. The 8-month-old patient required emergency subxiphoid drainage of the effusion due to hemodynamic compromise. The pericardial fluid had high numbers of polymorphonuclear cells, but did not grow any organisms, and histology showed non-specific chronic reactive changes; the effusion did not recur after cessation of diazoxide. The 17-year-old patient presented with atrial fibrillation, was treated with beta blockade and colchicine, and continues on diazoxide with monitoring of the effusion by ultrasound. CONCLUSION: Patients on long-term diazoxide treatment may be at risk of pericardial effusion, the timing and significance of which is unpredictable. The duration of diazoxide treatment before presentation of pericardial effusion varied in our patients from weeks to years. We advise serial echocardiography 1-2 months after commencement of diazoxide and annually thereafter.

Variation in Gentamicin Dosing and Monitoring in Pediatric Units across New South Wales.

INTRODUCTION: Gentamicin is an aminoglycoside antibiotic with broad-spectrum bactericidal activity and is widely used in pediatric units to treat infection with susceptible organisms. This study aimed to describe the dosage regimen for gentamicin and approach to its therapeutic drug monitoring (TDM) among the pediatric units within the state of New South Wales (NSW). METHODS: A questionnaire was sent electronically to representatives of 40 pediatric units in NSW, requesting details of each unit's gentamicin dosing and TDM policy. RESULTS: A total of 35 units responded to the survey. The majority (63%) of the units used a dose of 7.5 mg/kg of gentamicin in patients with normal renal function. More than half of the units (54%) did not have a local gentamicin dosing protocol and relied on other sources for dosing regimens. Dosing responses varied from a dose of 6 mg/kg once daily for patients more than 10 years of age to 7 mg/kg once daily on day 1, followed by 5 mg/kg once daily for patients over 10 years of age. For TDM of gentamicin, 63% of units indicated use of trough levels and 23% units used the Hartford Nomogram. CONCLUSIONS: A significant variation exists in clinical practice among pediatric units in NSW on gentamicin dosing and TDM guidelines. There is an urgent need for collaboration among nursing, medical, and pharmacy experts to achieve consensus to develop and adopt statewide uniform guidelines on gentamicin dosing and TDM.

Gastroduodenal intussusception due to Peutz-Jeghers syndrome in infancy.

A case of Peutz-Jeghers Syndrome (PJS) presenting in infancy with gastric-outlet obstruction is described. PJS may become symptomatic at any age and should be suspected when there are obstructive symptoms or gastrointestinal blood loss in a baby with a positive family history. Contrast studies and endoscopy are useful in diagnosis and surveillance. Treatment requires a combination of endoscopy and laparotomy/laparoscopy. Because of the reported cancer risk, we recommend surveillance from the age of diagnosis.