The requirement to respect autonomy - The Royal New Zealand ...

RESEARCH GEMSCommunication skills acquired bymedical students during GP runsUsing both quantitative and qualitativemethods, this study explored what medicalstudents at the University of Otagofelt they were learning about the doctor–patient relationship, compared to whatfaculty and clinicians felt they wereteaching. Teaching of relationship skillson hospital wards was highly variable,rarely explicit, and seemed to be primarilydependent on role-modelling. Thetension between service commitmentsand student teaching in hospital-basedattachments seemed to contribute to aninsufficient focus on students learningabout communication and relationshipskills. In contrast, general practice runsincluded explicit teaching with feedbackthat reinforced skills taught in the preclinicalcurriculum.Egnew T, Wilson H. Faculty and medicalstudents’ perceptions of teaching and learningabout the doctor–patient relationship. PatientEduc Couns. 2010;79(2):199–206.Corresponding author: Tom EgnewEmail: tom.egnew@multicare.orgWorkers with occupational overusesyndrome engage in battleThis paper explores the dominantmetaphor, ‘battling’, in the narratives ofNZ workers with occupational overusesyndrome. Battles were fought overdiagnoses, over occupational health andsafety in the workplace, and over entitlementsto therapy and income compensation.However, participants were alsobattling to maintain their identities ashard workers, while resisting and challengingnormalising technologies of selfand morally charged negative identitiesoffered them by employers, state fundedaccident and injury insurance agencies,and the medical profession. Inherent intheir narratives is a critique of the neoliberalcapitalist political economy thatallows workers’ bodies to be exploited(and sacrificed) for employers’ profits.Jaye C, Fitzgerald R. The lived politicaleconomy of occupational overuse syndromeamong New Zealand workers. Sociol HealthIllness 2010; 32 (7);1–16 doi: 10.1111/j.1467-9566.2010.01259.Corresponding author: Crystal JayeEmail: chrystal.jaye@otago.ac.nzHealth policy and communitypharmacy: implications forthe primary care sectorHealth care reform is ongoing and thispaper exposes the challenges that reformis exerting on community pharmacy.Ramifications for key stakeholderswithin the wider primary care sector arealso argued. To successfully implementpolicy, community pharmacists mustchange the way they think and act andmust engage vigorously with the sector.There are expected benefits for the wholeprimary care sector and there is a need forDistrict Health Boards (DHBs), PrimaryHealth Organisations (PHOs), PHAR-MAC, general practitioners and primarycare nurses to be aware of the challengescommunity pharmacy faces in order toachieve population health outcomes.Scahill S, Harrison J, Carswell P, Shaw J.Health care policy and community pharmacy:implications for the New Zealand primary caresector. N Z Med J. 2010;123(1317): 41–51.Corresponding author: Shane ScahillEmail: s.scahill@auckland.ac.nzMeasuring cannabis useCannabis use and misuse are serious publichealth concerns worldwide. Decreasingcannabis initiation age (