All education, clinical and research staff and students are invited to take part in the Journal Club.

It is held on the second Wednesday of each month, either in Bendigo, Gippsland, and Mildura in person or by tele/videoconference link.

This month’s article is: Crocombe LA, Stewart JF, Brennan DS, Slade GD and Spencer AJ  2012 ‘Is poor access to dental care why people outside capital cities have poor oral health?’ Australian Dental Journal 57: 477-485

Facilitator: Matthew McGrail

When:         11 September 2013

Time:          12 noon- 1pm

Where:        Meeting Room 3 (Level 2), School of Rural Health, 26 Mercy St Bendigo or by videoconference (IP 130.194.213.113) or teleconference (9903 5988) from other sites.

Please let Cathy Ward know if you are able to participate in this journal club.

The Centre for Research Excellence (CRE) was well represented at the 2013 Primary Health Care Research Conference held mid-July in Sydney, with one of the CRE Fellows rewarded for her presentation.

There were eight presentations made by members of the CRE, including School of Rural Health staff members Matthew McGrail, Bernadette Ward, Deb Russell, and Lisa Lavey.  Links to the PHCRIS presentations, webcast and abstracts are now available.

Dr Susan Thomas, a CRE Postdoctoral Fellow from the Alice Springs node was awarded the AJPH Prize for Best Paper/Symposium at the PHC Research Conference, based on the CRE work on ‘Access to core primary health care services in rural and remote Australia.’ Other CRE authors on this paper included Professor John Wakerman and Emeritus Professor John Humphreys.

John and Matthew McGrail have been invited by Federal Health Minister Tanya Plibersek to join a newly established Rural Classification Technical Working Group to progress one of the key recommendations from the Review of Australian Government Health Workforce Programs (the Mason Review).

The group’s task is to examine a modified rural classification that would overcome anomalies, and to consider the modified Monash University School of Rural Health model as one way forward. The full report can be accessed online.

In other CRE news, a week-long research writing workshop was held in Broken Hill.  Five early care researchers and two CIs from the CRE (John Humphreys and David Lyle) provided one-on-one supervision and mentorship and participated in the important research activity being undertaken by Broken Hill University Department of Rural Health researchers.

The CRE continues to use social media as a means of increasing its profile and has an active twitter page. If you would like to keep up-to-date, please follow the CRE on twitter: @crerrphc

To link it so that it goes to the CRE page, you should link by using: http://twitter.com/CRERRPHC.

Academic Conference Attendance and Funding Guidelines Summary are available and applications can be made at any point during the year but must be least one month prior to the conference.  Normally only one conference grant will be made per person each year and the School Conference Fund will only contribute up to a maximum of half the cost.

A brief report must be submitted within one month of attendance outlining the benefits of the conference.

Michelle Machado was recently funded by the School’s conference support fund and Gippsland Medical School to attend the International Association of Medical Science Educators (IAMSE) in Scotland.

Michelle presented a poster on ‘The learning of anatomy by medical students from different backgrounds in a graduate entry course.’

She also took advantage of a day tour to the anatomy facility at the University of Dundee to observe new techniques of cadaveric preservation. The university is the first of its kind in the UK to use the “Thiel method’ of preservation to achieve tissue fixation which aids in high quality dissections.

Michelle’s participation at the conference has enabled her to acquire the tools and resources needed to become a better medical educator. She plans on attending the 2014 IAMSE conference in Nashville, USA where she has been invited to tour the surgical skills facilities.

Rebecca Kippen

Dr Rebecca Kippen, an ARC Future Fellow with the School of Population Health at the University of Melbourne, has joined the Office of Research for a six-month visit.

Rebecca is a demographer and during her visit will be working with the researchers within the Office of Research on joint projects and publications.

If you would like to learn more about Research Professional please contact Helen Chambers Helen.chambers@monash.edu or Cathy Ward cathy.ward@monash.edu who can help you set up specific searches or alerts for your particular area.

The following provides information about funding opportunities over the next three months.

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The research resources on the SRH Intranet have been updated.

Did you know that you can find links to the Australian Code for the Responsible Conduct of Research, Monash and Faculty research offices, the ERA 2010 Ranked Journal List, ROPES and Research Professional?

There is also now a dedicated page for Higher Degrees students and early career researchers. The aim is to have these pages as a resource for staff within the School so please contact Cathy Ward to provide feedback or suggestions on how to make these pages even more useful.

A special session focusing on decision making in dementia is being held by the Journal Club this month.

With facilitator Marita Chisholm, the session on Wednesday 14 August will consider the article: ‘Everyday decision-making in dementia: findings from a longitudinal interview study of people with dementia and family carers.’

This paper addresses the issue of decision-making capacity for people with dementia and carers who assist with day to day activities. Working with people who have dementia or any other cognitive impairment raises the issue of informed consent, which in turn raises the issue of decision-making capacity.  Choice and control over decisions is important for the person with dementia.

It should prove an interesting session and education, clinical, research staff and students are invited to take part.

It is in Meeting Room 3 (Level 2), School of Rural Health, 26 Mercy St Bendigo or by videoconference (IP 130.194.213.113) or teleconference (9903 5988) from other sites. It will run from 12 noon for an hour.

Please inform Deb Russell if you are able to attend, deborah.russell@monash.edu or 5440 9046.

Writing an evidence summary requires particular skills. Staff of the School of Rural Health have an opportunity to attend a one-day workshop designed to teach academics how to write and publish evidence summaries.

When: Thursday 5 September 2013, 10am – 4pm
Where: Room M4 Building 13C, Monash University’s Clayton campus

Jointly sponsored by MUDRIH and the School of Nursing and Midwifery, the workshop will be facilitated by the Chronic Disease Management Node, an affiliated centre of the Joanna Briggs Institute.

The course is free, but there are limited places. Download the flyer for full details. To register, email practicedevelopment-sonm@monash.edu.

The next Journal Club will be held on Wednesday 10 July.

The article for discussion is to be announced, so keep an eye out for an email explaining what it will be.

Those who wish to do so can join in person or by tele/videoconference link.

The Journal Club will be in Meeting Room 3 (Level 2), School of Rural Health, 26 Mercy St Bendigo or by videoconference (IP 130.194.213.113) or teleconference (9903 5988) from other sites. The Journal Club runs from 12 noon for one hour and this month’s facilitator is Fiona McCook.

Please let Deb Russell know if you are able to attend, deborah.russell@monash.edu or 5440 9046.