Volume five, Issue 4

Two international journals, Education for Health and Rural and Remote Health, have joined forces to publish a joint edition focusing on rural and remote health education initiatives. Ten peer-reviewed articles have been chosen from a large pool of submissions. The articles can be found at either Rural and Remote Health or Education for Health and will be published in hard copy by Education for Health. Together, they provide an international snapshot of innovation in this field.

If collaboration can be achieved by two high profile journals, just imagine what could be achieved if more organisations decided to join forces! An editorial by Art Kaufman, written especially for this joint edition, explores such opportunities. Many thanks to the staff and reviewers from both journals who have worked so selflessly to see this work come to fruition. Enjoy the articles and keep up your own good work!

The ten articles plus two editorials that make up this joint issue are listed below:

Editorials

The Network: Towards Unity for Health, building a 'Star Alliance' among kindred organizations

Special issue in collaboration with 'Education for Health': on this joint issue

Project Reports

Seeing, thinking and acting against Malaria: a new approach to health worker training for community empowerment in rural Gambia

The rural physician associate program: new directions in eduction for competency

Combined research and clinical learning make rural summer studentship program a successful model

Educational and health services innovation to improve care for rural Hispanic communities in the USA

Evaluation of a required statewide interdisciplinary rural health education program: student attitudes, career intents and perceived quality

Implementing the CanMEDS^TM physician roles in rural specialist education: the multi-speciality community training network

Original Research

Advances in rural medical education in three countries: Canada, The United States and Australia

Student-developed problem-based learning cases: preparing for rural healthcare practice

Review Article

The impact of medical students on rural general practitioner perceptors

Short Communication

The education part of telehealth

Early postgraduate, or junior doctors, are still required to practise in rural and remote communities, and they continue to face numerous issues and difficulties. This Australian study explores the barriers to compentent and confident practice that junior doctors face in rural and remote locations.

Melanoma is considered one of the most malignant cancers. Its appearance is related to various factors, including recurrent sunburn. During the summer holidays approximately 14 million tourists from northern European countries visit Greece. This Greek study aimed to discover the extent of local and other European visitors' awareness of the harmful effects of sun exposure.

There is much evidence supporting rural undergraduate education experiences as a longterm workforce strategy. But does this mean that any rural intervention will work? This article from Tasmania throws up some interesting questions.

Is your rural health service struggling? Read this article to hear practical wisdom from selected rural health services in South Africa that have overcome diffculties to be recognised success stories.

Can IT effectively overcome the isolation of students undertaking rural placements? This preliminary evidence from Australia helps answer the question.

Will increased access to broadband internet help rural health professionals? This research from New Zealand shows there are more issues to be addressed before this potential can be fulfilled.

How can epidemiology data derived from one part of the world be used in another rural region? This article provides a useful method in relation to heart failure in rural Australia.

Increasing attention is given today to Indigenous knowledge, especially when related to health and medicine. This serves various purposes, including research and education. The integration of Indigenous medical knowledge into the curricula of educational institutions is also an important implication of such research. The authors of this article investigated Indigenous traditional medicine, given together with Western medicine to cancer patients in Pakistan. This excellent article could help researchers and rural practitioners who work in a rural setting and want a better understanding of patterns of usage of certain therapeutic modalities.

Do you want to know how to support the families of rural health professionals? This article from Australia provides useful data to inform your support strategies.

Do we limit the effective particiation in continuing professional development by not valuing 'informal' approaches? This study of rural midwives from Ausralian informs this debate.

What factors would you include to determine the quality of your rural or remote health care? Whose views would you seek? This research from Australia provides a valuable contribution to the debate.

Any debate about whether procedural services undertaken by rural generalists should be supported requires timely evidence. This Australian article provides just that, from the perspectives of rural doctors, regional specialists, patients, family members and medical administrators.

How can theory underpin our efforts at recruitment and retention of rural health professionals. Read this article to learn of a new conceptual model from southern Australia.

It is the first of two articles that focus on issues that require consideration when undertaking rural health research. Read this article for an exploration of the planning of rural research.

It is the second of two articles that focus on issues that require consideration when undertaking rural health research. Read this article for an exploration of the conduct of rural research.

This report details a large-scale screening project for diabetic retinopathy in rural southern India. Could this approach be adapted for use in your community?

Rural practice requires high level emergency skills. How can you ensure these are present throughout a country? This article shows how international co-operation has improved neonatal resuscitation skills in rural South Africa.

Teamwork is important in rural practice. It therefore makes intuitive sense that learning in teams would be good preparation for rural practice. This article from Australia provides insight into the issues you may face in developing such a program.

This interesting project report moves the RRH readers and both researchers and practitioners to Central Asian Republic of Kyrgyzstan, a geographically remote and mountainous rural region that is struggling for economic recovery and the maintenance of basic standards of public health. It offers an excellent example on building capacity through the introduction of a new public health curriculum that aims to improve the Kyrgyz students' skills and knowledge in this remote region. The readers could find some of the implemented ideas and proposals interesting and test them in suitable places.

"The rural world and its population have their own characteristics, different from the urban world, which contribute to creating a unique framework for physician-patient communication and relationship." So begins this unique Personal View from Spain - recommended reading for every rural doctor.

How best to prepare young doctors for general practice? This Letter from Greece has some useful suggestions.