Interested in medical workforce/education research?

Thursday, December 19th, 2019 | Rory | No Comments

Interested in medical workforce/education research?

 

A team of supervisors from Auckland and Otago Universities is currently looking for Masters and/or PhD students to work with the MSOD project.

Introduction

About half of doctors make career decisions in the early postgraduate years, rather than during medical school. But we are aware from the international literature and our own research on Otago and UoA MBChB graduates that there are multiple factors that influence decision making starting with who is selected to become a medical student. Currently there is a mismatch between what doctors might decide as a career and the health workforce needs of Aotearoa New Zealand.

The Medical Schools Outcomes Database (MSOD) is a national longitudinal project collecting information on intended career choices and locations.  Medical students are surveyed at entry to and exit from medical school and graduates are surveyed 1, 3, 5 and 8 years after graduation.  Included in the surveys, are 24 questions that ask about influences on career choices – respondents are asked to rate these in importance.

Aim

To better understand what factors influence the career decisions recently graduated doctors make. (using the database).

If you might be interested I can provide further information and contacts.  garry.nixon@otago.ac.nz

Research networks in Aotearoa

Monday, April 15th, 2019 | Rory | No Comments

Editorial from the latest edition of the NZMJ from two members of the Rural post-graduate programme; Marc and Sampsa.

Gutenstein M, Kiuru S. Building collaborative research networks across rural and provincial Aotearoa. New Zealand Medical Journal. 2019;132(1493):3.

“Rural and provincial research faces many of the same obstacles that clinical teams face, with fragmented and dispersed rural hospitals lacking a formal research network. Research networking is essential for disseminating and sharing knowledge, meeting local population health needs and promoting appropriate non-urban health policies.”

“Greater involvement of rural and provincial providers in health research will increase visibility of these journeys, build collaborative academic, educational and clinical networks, and allow research data to be translated back into clinical practice for all.”

Effects of M.Bovis

Wednesday, February 20th, 2019 | Rory | No Comments

Effects of Mycoplasma bovis expected to linger in farming sector, even if disease is eradicated

Interesting and important new research currently underway by a team that includes Fiona Doolan-Noble, a research fellow in the Rural Section, University of Otago. They are examining the psychological effects of the M.bovis ‘outbreak’

“There’s certainly a stigma around it and there probably always will be a stigma … It’s the same with any exotic disease or infectious disease, people are worried and concerned generally because they don’t have information that they need to know,”