How researchers are investigating the rise of bowel cancer in young adults
Bowel cancer rates are rising in young people, and researchers are working tirelessly to find out why, writes Dr Lisa Mielke.
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Confusing for doctors, inequitable for patients: why Australia’s medicinal cannabis system needs urgent reform
In 2024 alone, Australia’s medicines regulator, the Therapeutic Goods Administration (TGA), authorised at least 979,000 prescription applications for medicinal cannabis through its specialised access pathways.
Health services research as a frontline service
Health services research must become a frontline service in Australian health care, to provide prompt solutions to pressing system-wide problems. Chief among these is inadequate access to care, where Australia ranks ninth out of ten countries in a recent report.
A missing link in paediatric equity: healthcare Gold Card for children in care
A Gold Card for children in care would represent a step toward the kind of coordinated, child-centred healthcare we all strive for, writes Dr Suzanne Packer, AO FRACP.
Social media for doctors: your posts should reflect your judgement, not your stream of consciousness
Social media feels personal, but posting without filter can have professional perils, writes Dr Maria Li.
Are chemicals to blame for cancer in young people? Here’s what the evidence says
Cancer is traditionally known as a disease affecting mostly older people.
Freebirth movement appeals to women traumatised by maternity, says doula; system must improve
Two years after the NSW Select Committee on Birth Trauma, prominent doulas say the freebirth movement is acting in a cult-like manner toward women afraid of the medical system. While doulas and midwives alike say that women should have the right to choose their preferred birth, the maternity system is not doing enough to support them to do so.
The law is now clearer about clinicians’ discretion to tell our patients’ relatives about their genetic risk
New guidance from Australia’s national privacy regulator clarifies clinicians’ discretion to contact a patient’s at-risk relatives directly about serious genetic risk.
Change in language helping to drive reform in child mental health
Children’s mental health is no longer a taboo topic. We’ve moved past questioning whether children can experience mental health challenges to focusing on how best to support them. It’s increasingly recognised that fluctuations in emotion, behaviour and functioning are a normal part of child development, and that promoting mental health is as important as responding to mental illness. This article explores the emerging shift in how we conceptualise and discuss children’s mental health.
