Medical students are practising invasive techniques on themselves and fellow students, a new study shows. But aside from obvious safety concerns, is there anything wrong with self-practice?
The humanitarian crisis in the Middle East is getting worse by the day. A survey of aid workers provides a glimpse into life on the ground, and clues to why the humanitarian sector is ailing.
Highly engaged doctors do much better on a wide range of important measures, from clinical performance, financial management and safety indicators to patient experience and overall quality standards.
In Australia, estimates suggest undesired harmful effects from medication or other intervention such as surgery occur in around 17% of hospital admissions. But blaming the doctors won’t help.
Instead of scouring the developing world for healthcare staff, we should be doing more to help doctors and nurses arriving here as refugees to join in.
Honorary Enterprise Professor, School of Population and Global Health, and Department of General Practice and Primary Care, The University of Melbourne