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Overall morbidity and mortality rates are higher among Aboriginal people than in the general Australian population. It is unclear, however, whether this is because of general poor health or a minority with very high levels of disease within a reasonably healthy Aboriginal community. At Cherbourg Community, almost all health care is given by the hospital. All visits to the casualty/outpatient departments at the hospital have been recorded since 1993. These data have been analysed to find the patterns of visiting by person, by diagnosis and by year. Over the 5 years with complete data, most people made less than five visits per year (low visit group) to the hospital ambulatory clinic, but at the other extreme, approximately 14% of people made 50% of the visits (high visit group). People who made many visits in 1 year made approximately three times as many visits as the low visit group in other years. When the high and low visit groups were compared, the high visit group was more likely to be female and to come for problems related to infection, but were less likely to come with injuries or accidents. The age distribution was similar in both groups. If the number of visits to a health service is an indicator of health, then most Aboriginal people at Cherbourg have reasonable health, but a sizeable minority have health problems that extend over several years. This group skews the overall statistics of Aboriginal health and should be targeted for extra attention. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A general model is proposed relating the social and nutritional factors involved in school performance of children from poor socio-economic backgrounds. The model has been tested in a group of 263 primary school children who came from mainly lower-class families in Malaysia. School performance was assessed by the mark in a national school examination; the factors considered were race, sex, type of school attended, nutritional status and score in the Goodenough-Harris Draw-a-Man test, and also the family size income and education of parents. Multiple linear regression and extended median test were used in the analysis. There were strong associations between poor school performance on the one hand and nutritional and socio-economic conditions on the other. However, detailed analysis showed that, for most sub-groups, nutritional status was not a direct causal factor in school performance. Both nutrition and school achievement reflected home circumstances, particularly family income. There were however significant differences among children of different races. Many of the pathways on the general model have been shown to be irrelevant in this group of children; those pathways which remain are likely to be causal. The Goodenough-Harris test showed highly significant differences between children of different ethnic groups. The general model seems justified as a framework for investigating school performance. It has been shown that simple correlation between factors is riel a good guide to cause-and-effect relationships. Each deprived group is likely to have its own significant pathways, so that each group should be analysed rather than applying generalisations derived from other populations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A letter to the editor is presented in response to the article regarding disease mongering where most children in the rural area have school and/or behavioural problems.

A letter to the editor is presented in response to the article "Are Patients Willing Participants in the New Wave of Community-Based Medical Education in Regional and Rural Australia?," by J. N. Hudson and colleagues, published in the 2010 issue.

A letter to the editor is presented in response to an article related to chronic cough in children by H. L. Petsky and colleagues published in a previous issue of the journal.

A letter to the editor is presented on abdominal examination and Carnett's sign.

The article presents questions and answers related to pediatrics including the feasibility to take pediatric growth charts (PGC) during emergency, the usefulnessof doing pediatric growth measurements in general practitioners clinics, and the usefulness of PGC data in acute illness situations.

A letter to the editor is presented in response to the article "Diagnosis and Management of Iron Deficiency Anaemia: A Clinical Update," by S. S. Pasricha and colleagues which appeared in the 2010 issue of the periodical.

Discusses the need to consider the needs and perceived role of medical students in an alternative form of medical education. Statistical analyses used by researchers which failed to factor in individual student's role and needs; New Path methods introduced as an alternative to traditional methods of learning.