Teaching and learning in the hospital ward
Chrystal Jaye, Tony Egan, Kelby Smith-Han, Mark Thompson-Fawcett

Today’s medical students are increasingly capable of learning independently but they do need guidance and support from clinical staff. Providing guidance and support can be a challenge in a busy working environment where the provision of patient care is the main priority. Clinical settings offer the best opportunities for teaching and learning but students need to be proactive in taking advantage of these, while clinicians need to encourage students to make the most of them.

The training, experience, and confidence of junior doctors in performing pleural procedures
Conroy A Wong, Olivia Lee, Yvonne Kennedy, Helen Kenealy, Christopher Hood, Pathmanathan Sivakumaran, Y C Gary Lee

Pleural procedures are invasive procedures that involve puncturing the chest wall to access the pleural space between the ribs and the lungs for both diagnostic and therapeutic reasons. We surveyed 493 junior doctors working in 3 major hospitals in Auckland in 2002 to assess their training, experience, and confidence in performing these procedures. Training in pleural procedures was limited and our results suggest the need for better training programmes and supervision of junior doctors

Human papillomavirus knowledge and awareness among undergraduates in healthcare training in New Zealand
Carol Chelimo, Trecia A Wouldes

This research shows that there is only average awareness of the HPV vaccine and its relationship to cervical cancer in students studying to be healthcare professionals. This age group is also a group that would be at greater risk for contracting humanpapillomavirus through sexual contact. Yet, there was very little understanding that HPV or humanpapillomavirus was a sexually transmitted disease. Those students who had known someone with cervical cancer had better knowledge of the vaccine and HPV. Further education around HPV as a sexually transmitted disease may be needed for a better understanding of this disease and the importance of being immunised against HPV.

Customised molecular diagnosis of primary immune deficiency disorders in New Zealand: an efficient strategy for a small developed country
Rohan Ameratunga, See-Tarn Woon

Primary immune deficiency disorders are inherited conditions. They cause problems with infections, cancer, allergies, and autoimmunity. Most conditions can be effectively treated if recognised. Gene testing plays a critical role in confirming the diagnosis. New Zealand has unique service, where any gene known to cause these conditions can be tested. As a direct result of this service, several patients have undergone life-saving bone marrow transplants. This service was established by LabPlus in 2004 with the assistance of the immune deficiency foundation of New Zealand (IDFNZ).

Outcome and prognostic factors on 57 cases of infective endocarditis in a single centre
Chi Wing Wong, Graeme Porter, Jonathan Tisch, Calum Young

Endocarditis is a serious illness with high morbidity and death rate despite of medical treatment. Our 5-year data from Tauranga Hospital showed that less than half of patients were free from recurrent infection, surgery, or death. Staphylococcus aureus bacteria were associated with higher chance of complications, surgery, and mortality. Hence, micro-organisms involved is an important prognostic factor.

Utilisation of inpatient cardiology services including by Māori: a study of hospital discharges for patients enrolled with Partnership Health practices for the 2 years ending June 2007
Laurence Malcolm, Ross Barnett

This paper has examined hospital utilization by ethnicity especially by Māori for cardiology services. Previous work has showed that Māori were underutilising these services. One explanation is the poor quality of ethnicity data recording. The reasonably accurate ethnicity data now held by Christchurch PHO Partnership Health general practices was linked to hospital admissions for the 2 years ending in mid 2997. Analysis showed Māori had a nearly 50% higher rate of admission for cardiology conditions. Much more focussed action is needed at the general practice level if these results are to be improved.