Volume four, Issue 3

How do you feel when battling to re-orient metrocentric health and education systems or attempting to get a fair share of resources for rural communities? Frustrated yes, but alone, never! Read this perspective from South America to encourage you in your work, wherever you are.

So....your rural health professionals have discovered they have an educational need for which no existing program exists. This article describes an Australian response to this problem in the area of obstetric ultrasound.

The barrage of information assaulting us from all directions is enormous. However most of it has very little to do with day to day living. Pain is a different matter. All of us self-treat in a variety of ways. This study compares rural communities in Canada and the US. Health providers in both countries could improve patient education and help patients when dealing with perhaps a most common ailment.

Is virtual health care the way forward for rural communities? This question often polarises communities, policy makers and health professionals alike. This article outlines an interesting experiment in south-east Australia. What do you think?

Participating in a pioneering rural educational program can be exciting, challenging, and motivating. It can also create significant anxiety. This frank exploratory study provides useful insights to rural curriculum innovators.

Effective emergency services are a high priority in our rural communities. They rely on the different professions and local and regional organisations all working together. What happens when they are threatened? This article presents a positive case-report arising out of just this scenario.

What priorities do practising rural doctors place on the initiatives in place to improve recruitment and retention? This evidence from Australia informs this crucial international policy debate.

This paper from Ireland attempts to evaluate patient satisfaction with general practice out of hours cooperatives in a rural district. It also investigates the impact of rurality on patient satisfaction. Health planners, rural practitioners and researchers from other European countries could learn reading this interesting study.

The population across the developed world is rapidly ageing, especially in rural areas, so strategies to address medicines and the elderly are particularly relevant. This Australian study assessed the impact of a GP and pharmacist medication review on health outcomes such as medication-related hospital admissions in ambulant elderly, and on quality of life. There may be something here for elderly people in your area.

Living with chronic pain appears to be a common experience for a rural indigenous population in Australia. Read this article to find out why, and what may be done about it.

Are you tired of 'best practice guidelines' being produced that rely on technology and resources unavailable in your rural community? This clinical review provides evidence-based guidance on the treatment of 'tennis elbow' that is entirely appropriate for rural clinicians.

Rural health research is on the agenda in many countries. In Canada, where almost one-third of the population live in rural, remote or northern regions, rural health research opportunities have been surveyed. This article gives an overview of the results, including the strengths of Canada's universities in building capacity - and the gaps that still exist. Does this echo the situation in your part of the world?

How do internationally promoted models of care, not necessarily designed by or for rural, remote or indigenous communities, translate to our specific contexts? A recent conference tried to address this issue in relation to community based rehabilitation. Would their conclusions be similar to yours?

This Letter to the Editor reports on a consensus reached in a small workshop held at the WONCA Santiago 2003 conference. The worshop looked at some key issues concerning teamwork in a rural setting. The Letter shares some important views on a subject which requires multiple answers across the different health systems.

Have a read of this book review and then hopefully the book itself if you want to be challenged, provoked and stimulated. It will certainly take you out of the everyday norm .....