This study approaches bioethics as discourse inside broad cultural changes and also in its growing impacts on the constitution of the healthcare professional's identity. Two theses, based on Giddens' theoretical framework, are presented. The first is that bioethics potentially is an abstract system that is capable of producing reflection and of organizing the experience and the subjective ident...

This commentary reviews the content of the lead papers through the lens of primary healthcare renewal (PHCR). Although PHCR has been on the national agenda for decades, only since the turn of the century has real progress been made with emerging new practice models based on inter-professional team care. While much is expected, relatively little is known of the function and effectiveness of such...

Background and Introduction: Emigration of healthcare workers from developing countries is on the rise and there is an urgent need for policies that increase access to and continuity of healthcare. In this commentary, we highlight some of the negative impacts of emigration on maternal and child health and discuss whether team-based healthcare delivery could possibly mitigate the shortfall of ma...

In this paper we discuss our approach for integrating electronic patient records into health professional education. Electronic patient record (EPR) use is increasing globally. The EPR is considered the cornerstone of the modernization and streamlining of healthcare worldwide. However, despite the importance of the EPR, health professional education in much of the world provides health professi...

Introduction: The current literature supports the inclusion ofinter-professional education in healthcare education. Changes inthe structure and nature of the integrated medical education andhealthcare system provide some opportunities for interprofessionaleducation among various professions. This study is an attemptto determine the perceptions of students and faculty membersabout interprofessio...

Although Marianna Fotaki’s Editorial is helpful and challenging by looking at both the professional and institutional requirements for reinstalling compassion in order to aim for good quality healthcare, the causes that hinder this development remain unexamined. In this commentary, 3 causes are discussed; the boundary between the moral and the political; Neoliberalism; and the underdevelopment ...

CONTEXT The University of Adelaide and the University of South Australia established the Spencer Gulf Rural Health School (SGRHS) as a joint venture to facilitate rural health professional education and research. Annually a cohort of medical students from the University of Adelaide volunteer and are placed in various SGRHS 'learning centres' throughout rural South Australia for the 5th year of ...

The promotion of patient dignity is an important aspect of healthcare provision. However, there is evidence to suggest that patient dignity is not being promoted as expected and a number of attributing factors have been suggested in the literature. This article proposes that healthcare educators should incorporate the subject of dignity in its own right within the curriculum. Attempts in teachi...

BACKGROUND Clinical experience has traditionally been highly valued in medical education and clinical healthcare. On account of its multi-faceted nature, clinical experience is mostly difficult to articulate, and is mainly expressed in clinical situations as professional approaches. Due to retirement, hospitals in Scandinavia will soon face a substantial decrease in the number of senior special...

Background. The purpose of this study was to develop a greater understanding of healthcare issues in rural Kansas communities. Methods. Ten focus groups were conducted with rural community leaders. Results. Community strengths included quality of life, community involvement, healthcare facilities, agency collaboration, and commitment to healthcare worker recruitment. Weaknesses were language ba...