Consultation and clinical assessment of the genitourinary system for advanced clinical practitioners

Assessment of symptoms affecting the genitourinary system is in high demand as they can significantly impact on quality of life. Nurses with advanced skills in communication, consultation and specialist knowledge play a key role in improving the experience for patients presenting with genitourinary symptoms.

The Emotional Heart of Environmental Virtues

Arguments for environmental virtues ought to include more attention to the emotional characteristics and skills that help constitute such virtues. By now a number of virtues have been suggested as necessary or useful for living sustainably. While these virtues are often persuasively justified and their cognitive and behavioral qualities carefully delineated, their emotional qualities are seldom investigated in any depth. Yet environmental virtues, like all virtues, depend on particular ways of emotionally engaging with oneself and the world, ways of engaging that in turn require advanced skills in working with emotions. Accordingly, arguments for environmental virtues will be more useful if they can help people understand the emotional aspects involved in developing and sustaining the virtues being advocated.

Integrative Medicine in General Practice in Australia: A Mixed-Methods Study Exploring Education Pathways and Training Needs

Background Globally, a substantial proportion of general practitioners (GPs) incorporate integrative medicine (IM) into their clinical practice. Objective This study aimed to map the IM education and training pathways and needs of a cohort of Australian GPs who are members of the Royal Australian College of General Practitioners’ IM Specific Interest Network, which is a group of GPs with interest in IM. Methods We conducted a mixed-methods study comprising of an online, cross-sectional survey supplemented with in-depth semi-structured interviews. Data from the survey and interviews were initially analysed separately and then combined. Results Eighty-three (83) of 505 eligible GPs/GPs in training (16.4%) participated in the survey, and 15 GPs were interviewed. Results from the two datasets either converged or were complementary. Almost half (47%) of survey respondents had undertaken formal undergraduate or postgraduate IM education, a short course (63%), informal education (71%) or self-education (54%), in at least one of 20 IM modalities listed. Interviewees affirmed there was no single education pathway in IM. Survey respondents who identified as practicing IM were significantly more likely to have IM education, positive attitudes towards IM, particularly natural products, and higher self-rated IM knowledge and competencies. However, knowledge gaps were identified in professional skills domains of population health and context, and organisational and legal dimensions of applied IM practice. Interviewees also highlighted a range of professional and systemic barriers to the practice of IM, education, and training. There was broad support for recognition of IM as a sub-specialty through formalised post-graduate training and accreditation. Most survey respondents (62%) expressed interest in post-fellowship recognition of GPs with advanced skills in IM. Conclusion Our findings demonstrate that it is important to define best practice in IM for GPs in Australia and provide a standardised pathway towards recognition of advanced skills in IM.

Learning and Performing with Drum Kit Technologies (Advanced)

The activities in this chapter are designed for undergraduates in their third year of drum kit studies who have developed advanced skills on the acoustic drum kit. This activity introduces students to the features and musical affordances of drum kit technologies. Students learn how to use percussion controllers and electronic drum triggers, in conjunction with music software they have experience of, to perform pieces of music in solo performance settings on hybrid, and fully electronic, drum kits. The three-stage approach includes: 1) exploring the built-in features of the percussion controller and associated music software, 2) using the controller in a familiar context, for example, to extend the possibilities of an acoustic drum kit in a hybrid setup, and, 3) creating a performance using only the technology (i.e., removing the familiar acoustic drum kit).