We hope that the new production process will improve the Bulletin's timeliness, enable authors to reach a wider audience, give messages in the Bulletin greater penetration, and link readers to the broad public health literature.We look forward to receiving your comments about any of these new features.
Problem-based learning (PBL) has been implemented within numerous undergraduate health curricula but less so in workforce training. Public health practice requires many of the skills that PBL aims to develop such as teamwork, selfdirected learning and the integration of multiple sources of information within problem solving. This paper summarises the historical development of PBL and the educational principles underpinning it. It hypothesises that the public health workforce would benefit from some exposure to this type of learning and highlights some of the practical issues for its implementation. Lyndal J. Trevena School of Public Health, The University of Sydney. Email: lyndalt@health.usyd.edu.au The distinguishing feature of PBL is that it begins with a problem and is followed by a student-centred enquiry process. There are no specific readings or lectures before students are presented with the problem. However, students bring previously acquired knowledge from a range of sources to what is usually a group of approximately eight randomly assigned learners and a tutor-facilitator. Students work collaboratively to define the problem, formulate enquiry plans and identify external sources for solving the problem. They also work together to analyse information and apply it. In medical education the problem often has a simulated or virtual patient, and uses a video or sometimes computer images of patient signs, symptoms, pathology and radiology results to mimic professional practice. The PBL process usually occurs over several tutorials within a week, allowing time for information to be gathered from external sources and brought back to the group process. Educational principles underpinning PBL Barrows defined four broad goals for PBL:3 (1) Motivational learning (2) Developing effective clinical reasoning (3) Developing self-learning skills (4) Structuring knowledge in clinical contexts. These goals were subsequently expanded by Schmidt,4 who defined seven steps to the PBL process (Box 1). Many variations to, and newer versions of, PBL have been developed since Barrows’work in the 1970s and Schmidt’s in the 1980s, but most educators would probably agree that the principles above are the foundation on which PBL is built. Box 1. Seven steps in problem-based learning.
There are many types of influenza viruses, which cause illness in a variety of birds and mammals.New strains are constantly evolving, causing seasonal influenza epidemics in humans.This article provides information about influenza and influenza viruses, and the three influenza pandemics of the twentieth century.Pandemic influenza is differentiated from avian influenza, which is a viral disease that primarily infects birds.The current outbreak of avian influenza H5N1 in poultry flocks across the world is unprecedented in its spread.Human infection with avian influenza is rare and for most strains the symptoms are usually mild.A notable exception is HN51, where almost 60 per cent of the currently recorded 251 human cases have died.While the risk of a pandemic occurring in the current circumstances is unknown, there is a high level of concern worldwide.
It has been estimated that there are 208,364 Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people living in New South Wales. This represents 2.9 per cent of the overall population in New South Wales.
In 1976, Malcolm Knowles, known for his research on adult education and learning, predicted that the library would become, “the most rapidly expanding educational institution of all in [the United States],”1 regarding working with nontraditional students. His prediction has not come to fruition. In fact, there was little published regarding librarians supporting adult students from the mid-1980s until 2000, when librarian Dorothy S. Ingram published “The Andragogical Librarian,” and 2010, with the publication of researcher Nicole Cooke’s article, “Becoming an Andragogical Librarian: Using Library Instruction to Combat Library Anxiety and Empower Adult Learners,” published in 2010. The literature consulted includes research focused on adult education in academia, library anxiety, and library literacy for nontraditional students, spanning from the mid-1970s through the present day. Nontraditional students at Providence College range in age from their twenties through eighties; therefore we did not include research that exclusively looks at library instruction for students who are age fifty-five and older returning to higher education. Providence College’s School for Continuing Education works with students who meet in a traditional classroom or blended online and classroom settings, and the library currently works exclusively with face-to-face classes, so research that focuses on online students or distance students was not included in the literature scan. We also excluded research that focuses on outreach to graduate students as they have different needs and experiences than students seeking bachelor’s degrees.
the Communicable Diseases Branch at the NSW Department of Health noticed an increase in the number of cases of cryptosporidiosis reported across NSW.This article describes how this outbreak of cryptosporidiosis was investigated and analysed.Cryptosporidiosis is caused by the protozoan parasite Cryptosporidium and the symptoms include watery diarrhoea, abdominal cramping, loss of appetite, fever, vomiting and nausea. 1 The incubation period for cryptosporidiosis is one to 12 days.Treatment is supportive only; however, most healthy people tend to recover within two to 26 days. 2An infected person will excrete infectious oocysts for several weeks after their symptoms resolve. 2 Cryptosporidiosis is spread by the faecal-oral route.Transmission can be person-to-person, animal-to-person, waterborne and, in rare cases, foodborne 1 .Cryptosporidium oocysts are small (4-6mm) and can survive under adverse environmental conditions, including chlorination. 1,2 Outbreaks of cryptosporidiosis are usually associated with contaminated drinking water supplies and swimming pools. 1 To control Cryptosporidium in public swimming pools it is recommended that pools are 'superchlorinated' or 'shock-dosed' at least fortnightly. 3
To review the epidemiological evidence for the association between passive smoking and lung cancer. Primary studies and meta‐analyses examining the relationship between passive smoking and lung cancer were identified through a computerised literature search of Medline and Embase, secondary references, and experts in the field of passive smoking. Primary studies meeting the inclusion criteria were meta‐analysed. From 1981 to the end of 1999 there have been 76 primary epidemiological studies of passive smoking and lung cancer, and 20 meta‐analyses. There were 43 primary studies that met the inclusion criteria for this meta‐analysis; more studies than previous assessments. The pooled relative risk (RR) for never‐smoking women exposed to environmental tobacco smoke (ETS) from spouses, compared with unexposed never‐smoking women was 1.29 (95% Cl 1.17–1.43). Sequential cumulative meta‐analysed results for each year from 1981 were calculated: since 1992 the RR has been greater than 1.25. For Western industrialised countries the RR for never‐smoking women exposed to ETS compared with unexposed never‐smoking women, was 1.21 (95% Cl 1.10–1.33). Previously published international spousal meta‐analyses have all produced statistically significant RRs greater than 1.17. The abundance of evidence in this paper, and the consistency of findings across domestic and workplace primary studies, dosimetric extrapolations and meta‐analyses, clearly indicates that non‐smokers exposed to ETS are at increased risk of lung cancer. The recommended public health policy is for a total ban on smoking in enclosed public places and work sites.
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