February 17, 2006
Insensitive Senators
Abortion pill on sale in months - Top stories - Breaking News 24/7 - NEWS.com.au - big story in Australia at the moment is that Federal Parliament has voted to end the health minister's veto on the use of RU-486, the so called "abortion pill" here. Now this is a complex issue with many arguments on both sides that I don't what to get into here. What I did find disturbing though, was this picture from the front of the news.com.au website. 
Now I respect the right of these politicians to hold views supportive of RU-486 and abortion, but to be drinking champagne and sporting huge grins over the issue is just off. Even if you support a woman's right to abortion surely you must realise it is not a subject to be joyful over. How insensitive and digusting.
September 20, 2005
Kangaroo surfing
My dad emailed me these photos this morning, taken at a beach about an hour's drive south of here. I've never seen anything like this happen before...
May 10, 2005
National Significance
I got an email today from the National Library of Australia asking my permission to include this site in PANDORA, which is Australia's national web archive.
PANDORA, Australia's Web Archive, was set up by the Library in 1996 to enable the archiving and provision of long-term access to online Australian publications. Since then we have been identifying online publications and archiving those that we consider have national
significance.
Never would have thought that this blog would be of 'national significance' but I'm pretty pleased about it anyway. This means that this humble blog will now be preserved for perpetuity. One can only imagine what future generations might make of it. Anyway take a look at the Pandora site - it's got a wealth of interesting material on there to browse, although it will be much enhanced when they get a search engine feature added. The link to my entry on the site is here, in case you don't believe me, and Jenni, you may be interested to know that your blog is being archived too :-)
April 07, 2005
Aboriginal health
Today I am heading up to East Perth for a day long seminar in Aboriginal health, a compulsory part of GP education. Not that I don't think Aboriginal health is a valid topic, but the thought of spending a whole day there from 8:45-5pm and then driving home down the freeway in peak hour traffic and arriving probably at 6:30 doesn't do much for me. To add extra disincentive to this, last week they sent me out a letter containing the pre-reading and course preparation they expect us to do. This is neatly broken up into a range of tasks, (including such things as "journal assisted reflection"?!?) and how much of our time they expected us to spend on each, adding up to a grand total of 110 minutes! - what the? Obviously these people have no idea of the time constraints of a full-time GP, and certainly not one who is on-call for the hospital, has a young family, and other commitments such as church etc. Besides, if I did all that preparation, when would I find the time to blog? In the words of Michael Caton, "Tell 'em they're dreaming!"
But anyway I did eventualy devote 15 minutes of my time tonight to reading a summary article that was amongst the material they provided. It did serve to highlight the obvious inequities involved in indigenous health, and the much higher rates of almost all diseases, and lower life expectancy amongst Aboriginal people. Whilst acknowledging that these sorrowful statistics are a major problem due to multiple social, historical, cultural and biological factors, the article did little in the way of suggesting ways to address the problem.
One section did strike me as being particularly surprising, and an interesting counter to some of the commonly held stereotypes against Aboriginal people. Check this out :
"Indigenous people are less likely to be current regular drinkers than the general population (33 per cent versus 45 per cent), and are more likely to no longer drink alcohol (22 per cent versus 9 per cent) or to have been lifetime abstainers (19 per cent of males and 34 per cent of females."
~ Gray & Saggers, June 2005
The fact that indigenous people (the authors consistently use a capital "I" for indigenous - is that correct? I wouldn't have thought so) have higher rates of alcohol related health problems reflects the fact that those who do drink, consume it at higher, more harmful levels. But the stereotype of all aboriginals as being heavy drinkers is patently untrue from those stats. The authors do go on to suggests some theories as to the historical origins of alcohol related problems amongst indigenous people, some of which sound valid, but others sound a bit too much like a conspiracy theory of an evil plan for European subjugation for my comfort.
I see the occaisional Aboriginal patient (1-2 per week) but it's certainly not a big part of my practice, and whilst I accept that it is a serious problem requiring more national attention, thought, and resources, for me personally this seminar looks like it's going to be a bit of overkill. I don't know what the answers are on a system wide basis, but on an individual one to one basis it doesn't seem all that hard - I treat them with respect as individual people, and also respecting their culture (just as I would with any ethnic group) - generally I find indigenous people to be quite easy-going, pleasant, and appreciative. One of my fondest memories from medical school was a trip out to the eastern goldfields as part of a research project we were doing, spending a few days in an aboriginal community - it was great. Much more educational than any day long seminar in the city could ever be.
February 15, 2005
Flamin tourists
Just got this email from a mate, which I thought was pretty funny. Warning : non-Australians may not be quite so amused so read on at your own risk...
These questions about Australia were posted on an Australian Tourism
Website and obviously the answers came from fellow Aussies just
trying to help:
1. Q: Does it ever get windy in Australia? I have never seen it rain
on TV, so how do the plants grow? (UK)
A: We import all plants fully grown and then we just sit around
watching them die.
2. Q: Will I be able to see kangaroos in the street? (USA)
A: Depends how much you've been drinking.
3. Q: I want to walk from Perth to Sydney - can I follow the
railroad tracks? (Sweden)
A: Sure, it's only three thousand miles, take lots of water...
4. Q: Are there any ATMs (cash machines) in Australia? Can you send
me a list of them in Brisbane, Cairns, Townsville and Hervey Bay (UK)
A: What did your last slave die of?
5. Q: Can you give me some information about hippo racing in
Australia? (USA)
A: A-fri-ca is the big triangle shaped continent south of Europe.
Aus-tra-lia is that big island in the middle of the Pacific which
does not... oh forget it. Sure, the hippo racing is every Tuesday night
in Kings Cross. Come naked.
6. Q: Which direction is North in Australia? (USA)
A: Face south and then turn 90 degrees. Contact us when you get here
and we'll send the rest of the directions.
7. Q: Can I bring cutlery into Australia? (UK)
A: Why? Just use your fingers like we do.
8. Q: Can you send me the Vienna Boys' Choir schedule? (USA)
A: Aus-tri-a is that quaint little country bordering Ger-man-y,
which is...oh forget it. Sure, the Vienna Boys Choir plays every Tuesday
night in Kings Cross, straight after the hippo races. Come naked.
9. Q: Do you have perfume in Australia? (France)
A: No, WE don't stink.
10. Q: I have developed a new product that is the fountain of youth.
Can you tell me where I can sell it in Australia? (USA)
A: Anywhere significant numbers of Americans gather.
11. Q: Can I wear high heels in Australia? (UK)
A: You are a British politician, right?
12. Q: Can you tell me the regions in Tasmania where the female
population is smaller than the male population? (Italy)
A: Yes, gay nightclubs.
13. Q: Do you celebrate Christmas in Australia? (France)
A: Only at Christmas.
14. Q: Are there killer bees in Australia? (Germany)
A: Not yet, but for you, we'll import them.
15. Q: Are there supermarkets in Sydney and is milk available all
year round? (Germany)
A: No, we are a peaceful civilisation of vegan hunter gatherers.
Milk is illegal.
16. Q: Please send a list of all doctors in Australia who can
dispense rattlesnake serum. (USA)
A: Rattlesnakes live in A-me-ri-ca which is where YOU come from. All
Australian snakes are perfectly harmless, can be safely handled and
make good pets.
17. Q: I have a question about a famous animal in Australia, but I
forget its name. It's a kind of bear and lives in trees.(USA)
A: It's called a Drop Bear. They are so called because they drop out
of gum trees and eat the brains of anyone walking underneath them. You can
scare them off by spraying yourself with human urine before you go out
walking.
18. Q: I was in Australia in 1969 on R+R, and I want to contact the
girl I dated while I was staying in Kings Cross. Can you help? (USA)
A: Yes, and you will still have to pay her by the hour.
19. Q: Will I be able to speak English most places I go? (USA)
A: Yes, but you'll have to learn it first.
July 06, 2004
History Education
Was talking to someone recently about how poorly history is taught in Australian schools (at least it was when I went through) There is an over-emphasis on Australian history, focussing too much on stories with little ongoing significance (eg explorers like Burke & Wills and others, the Eureka stockade) while important international history (ancient history, British and American history, 20th century history - world wars, cold war etc) was barely touched. This article from The Australian discusses a book called the history wars. I thought this was one of the most telling sections :Our students are telling us what that history should look like. During the past 10 years there has been a significant growth in students studying world history at Australian universities, in particular 20th-century world history. This matches the extraordinary growth in student interest in international relations in political science departments. For example, at my university, the University of Wollongong, we have had an 80 per cent increase in first-year student numbers in those subjects dealing with 20th-century history and world history. During the same period there has been a decline of about 25 per cent in first-year Australian history numbers. At the same time, in NSW at least, ancient history is booming in schools and universities. Students want to study history that fires their imaginations and enables them to look outside the narrow world of the here and now. This may help explain why, for many of them -- in fact, far too many -- Australian history is a giant turn-off. In conversation with many of these students the word "boring" often crops up.
Perhaps the current students will drive changes in the way history is taught so that future generations will get a more rounded education.
