Doctor supply in Australia: rural - urban imbalances and regulated supply

2009 ◽  
Vol 15 (1) ◽  
pp. 3 ◽  
Author(s):  
Abhaya Kamalakanthan ◽  
Sukhan Jackson
Keyword(s):  
Community Pharmacy ◽  
General Practitioners ◽  
Rural Areas ◽  
Policy Making ◽  
Physician Assistants ◽  
Foreign Born ◽  
Economic Perspective ◽  
Poor Access ◽  
Urban And Rural Areas ◽  
Foreign Doctors

We review the debate on the supply of doctors in Australia from an economic perspective. We focus on the supply between urban and rural areas and on Australia’s reliance on foreign-born overseas-trained doctors. Documented evidence shows that doctors are concentrated in cities and rural Australians have relatively poor access; and there is heavy reliance on the recruitment of foreign doctors. We suggest that besides training more local doctors, policy-making should include innovations to resolve the supply imbalance such as physician assistants and community pharmacy care in areas where access to general practitioners is often limited.

Primary Care and Physician Extenders in Affluent Countries

1977 ◽  
Vol 7 (4) ◽  
pp. 545-555 ◽  
Author(s):  
Milton I. Roemer
Keyword(s):  
Primary Care ◽  
Nurse Practitioners ◽  
Rural Areas ◽  
Primary Care Physicians ◽  
Physician Assistants ◽  
The United States ◽  
Industrialized Countries ◽  
Major Response ◽  
Urban And Rural Areas ◽  
Physician Extenders

The worldwide growth of specialization in medicine has led to a perceived shortage of primary care. A major response in the United States has been the training of physician extenders (both physician assistants and nurse practitioners). Other industrialized countries have rejected this approach, in favor of strengthening general medical practice through continuing education, provision of ancillary personnel, use of health centers, and by other methods. Developing countries use doctor-substitutes as a reasonable adjustment to their lack of economic resources. All countries use ancillary personnel for selected procedures, such as midwifery, which involve only limited judgment and decision making. The American strategy on use of doctor-substitutes for primary care, however, follows from unwillingness to train greater numbers of primary care physicians and to require them to serve in places of need. This results in an inequitable concentration of doctor-substitutes on service to the poor in both urban and rural areas.

scholarly journals PHARMACISTS’ DISTRIBUTION IN NIGERIA; IMPLICATION IN THE PROVISION OF SAFE MEDICINES AND PHARMACEUTICAL CARE

2017 ◽  
Vol 9 (10) ◽  
pp. 49 ◽  
Author(s):  
Oseni, Yejide Olukemi ◽  
Yejide Olukemi Oseni
Keyword(s):  
Community Pharmacy ◽  
Rural Community ◽  
Rural Areas ◽  
Distribution System ◽  
Drug Distribution ◽  
Community Pharmacists ◽  
Community Pharmacies ◽  
Negative Effects ◽  
Political Will ◽  
Poor Access

Objective: The aim of the study was to appraise the distribution of pharmacists in the six (6) zones of Nigeria; determine the number of community pharmacies per population in each zone and in selected States; and assess the implication of pharmacists’ distribution in the provision of safe medicines and pharmaceutical care.Methods: Data analysis of pharmacists and community pharmacies in 6 zones of Nigeria was done using 2013 register and interviews conducted for pharmacists on the issue were analysed.Results: About fifty six percent (56.2%) of all registered pharmacists works in the community pharmacies. Distribution of community pharmacists shows Southwest (SW) 41.7%, Northcentral (NC) 20.6%, Southsouth (SS) 15.5%, Southeast (SE) 12.9%, Northwest (NW) 6.7% and Northeast (NE) 2.5%. In SW zone where pharmacists are highly concentrated, rural / urban distribution of community pharmacies revealed urban 89.9% and rural 10.1%, and a community pharmacy serviced 36,836 of the population. Inequitable distribution is due to low turn-out of graduate pharmacists, dearth of pharmacists abroad, poor remuneration, poor political will to employ pharmacists at the PHC level and poor amenities in the rural areas. This has led to irrational use of medicines, non-professionals in practice, chaotic drug distribution system, poor access to safe medicines and negative effects on health indicators.Conclusion:  Improvement in country economy, increase number of faculties of pharmacy and improved facilities in the existing ones to increase turn-out of graduate pharmacists coupled with incentives for establishment of rural community pharmacy will increase access to safe medicines and care in Nigeria.

scholarly journals Financial Literacy, Health Engagement and Residents’ Health: Evidence from China

2021 ◽  
Vol 18 (8) ◽  
pp. 4202
Author(s):  
Qilong Zheng ◽  
Zhen Peng ◽  
Shun Ding
Keyword(s):  
Rural Areas ◽  
Financial Literacy ◽  
Health Expenditure ◽  
Positive Impact ◽  
Urban Residents ◽  
Economic Perspective ◽  
Long Term Effects ◽  
Urban And Rural Areas ◽  
The Impact

This study took residents’ health level as the research object, adopted the perspective of financial literacy, and used the 2014–2018 China Family Panel Studies data to analyze the impact of financial literacy on the residents’ health. The study found that financial literacy could have a significant positive impact on the residents’ health, with long-term effects. Furthermore, it promoted the residents’ health engagement and improved their health through the intermediary effects of income and health expenditure. In addition, the impact of financial literacy on the residents’ health was heterogeneous between urban and rural areas. Compared with the case for rural residents, the improvement of financial literacy significantly improved the health of the urban residents. The outcomes of this research were the exploration of means to improve residents’ health from a new economic perspective, promote residents’ health engagement, and improve residents’ health.

scholarly journals Socio-spatial disparities in access to emergency health care—A Scandinavian case study

PLoS ONE ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 16 (12) ◽  
pp. e0261319
Author(s):  
Jacob Hassler ◽  
Vania Ceccato
Keyword(s):  
Health Care ◽  
Rural Areas ◽  
Geographical Information ◽  
Demographic Groups ◽  
Emergency Health Care ◽  
Spatial Disparities ◽  
Poor Access ◽  
Timely Access ◽  
Urban And Rural Areas

Having timely access to emergency health care (EHC) depends largely on where you live. In this Scandinavian case study, we investigate how accessibility to EHC varies spatially in order to reveal potential socio-spatial disparities in access. Distinct measures of EHC accessibility were calculated for southern Sweden in a network analysis using a Geographical Information System (GIS) based on data from 2018. An ANOVA test was carried out to investigate how accessibility vary for different measures between urban and rural areas, and negative binominal regression modelling was then carried out to assess potential disparities in accessibility between socioeconomic and demographic groups. Areas with high shares of older adults show poor access to EHC, especially those in the most remote, rural areas. However, rurality alone does not preclude poor access to EHC. Education, income and proximity to ambulance stations were also associated with EHC accessibility, but not always in expected ways. Despite indications of a well-functioning EHC, with most areas served within one hour, socio-spatial disparities in access to EHC were detected both between places and population groups.

General Practice in Australia

1972 ◽  
Vol 2 (2) ◽  
pp. 273-284
Author(s):  
J. G. P. Ryan
Keyword(s):  
General Practice ◽  
General Practitioner ◽  
General Practitioners ◽  
Rural Areas ◽  
Community Health Centers ◽  
Work Load ◽  
Medical Community ◽  
Personal View ◽  
Royal Australian College ◽  
Urban And Rural Areas

A personal view of the state of general practice in Australia and likely trends in the future is presented in this article. The effects of falling recruitment and increasing community demand for service have not yet produced serious effects in this country. A comparison of the effects on urban and rural areas is made. The general practitioner must relinquish some of his traditional roles, especially in surgery and anesthesia, and adopt new ones. To cope with an increasing work load more use must be made by general practitioners of associated health personnel. Community health centers should be developed in Australia and they may be the key to the viability of general practice. The National Health Service as it applies to general practice is discussed especially in relation to the recent introduction of the most common fee concept. The Royal Australian College of General Practitioners is active in preparing a vocational training program. Excerpts from the preliminary report of the Australian Medical Association Study Group on Medical Planning are given. Future medical manpower should be adequate to maintain present standards if recruitment to general practice can be maintained at a satisfactory level. The general practitioner must redefine his role in the medical community. Departments of general practice or community medicine should be established in all universities.

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