A psychologist colleague recently described a session with a new patient. When she asked why the person had been referred to her, the patient replied: “My GP said you were such a lovely person.” I’m sure she is. But it raises a clinical question: is “lovely” really a sufficient basis for referral, given the range and complexity of presentations seen in general practice?
If you work in an emergency department, giving “tetanus shots” is routine. Dirty laceration, dog bite, gardening injury — we clean the wound, assess tetanus risk, check the record (or try to), and administer a booster when it is due.
A healthy, safe and engaged healthcare workforce is fundamental to a high performing and sustainable health system that delivers high quality patient care.
The number of Australians using medicinal cannabis has surged over the past five years. Around 700,000 Australians have used cannabis for their health in the past year.
Australia’s public hospitals are the backbone of our health system — the places Australians turn to in moments of crisis, vulnerability, and profound need. Yet the findings of the Australian Medical Association’s 2026 Public Hospital Report Card make one thing abundantly clear: our public hospitals remain under severe and sustained strain. Despite the extraordinary efforts of doctors, nurses, and other health workers, the system is struggling to keep pace with rising demand, and patients are feeling the consequences.
Researchers are uncovering important patterns in post-stroke cognitive impairment which suggest that factors outside stroke location contribute to the specific combination of deficits expressed in individuals.
As Australia marks 90 years of nationally coordinated, high quality health and medical research funding, the National Health and Medical Research Council (NHMRC) is celebrating nine significant decades of discovery through to impact. Here, NHMRC reflects on how research has changed over time, and why research needs to continue to evolve in order to face current and emerging challenges impacting all Australians.
A new nationally endorsed template aims to simplify and streamline Participant Information and Consent Forms for researchers and participants.
In times of strain, the quiet work of care — for patients, colleagues, and ourselves — becomes both more difficult and more essential.
