Irish journal of medical science
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In 2013, the Department of Health released their policy paper on hospital financing entitled Money Follows the Patient. A fundamental building block for the proposed financing model is patient level costing. ⋯ The benefits of patient level costing need to be promoted and a commitment to investment in overcoming the challenges is required.
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Cervical cancer recurrence in episiotomy scars after vaginal deliveries is a rather rare event. ⋯ Clinicians should be aware about the importance of carefully examining not only the cervix at the time of labor, but also the episiotomy scar in women following a pregnancy complicated by cervical cancer.
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Methods of teaching and assessment in medical schools have transformed over the recent past. Accreditation of medical schools through national licensing bodies and removal of bias at examinations is the norm. This review is intended to inform senior doctors who are peripherally involved in training at speciality or general professional level. ⋯ Examining the performance of examiners as well as that of students is a necessary part of good examination practice. The World Federation for Medical Education with the World Health Organisation has developed nine standards with two categories of basic and quality for the accreditation of medical education.
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The management of breast cancer has evolved in the last 40 years to now encompass not only treating the cancer in the most effective way, but also to detect and treat cancers before they can pose a risk to patients. This evolution in therapy and diagnostics has moved away from treating patients with the maximum amount of therapy they can tolerate towards a new paradigm where patents receive the minimum treatment to be most efficacious.
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As all tertiary paediatric hospitals are based in the capital of Dublin, it is therefore necessary for general surgeons in centres outside of Dublin to undertake routine elective and emergency paediatric surgery to provide children with care close to home. The aim of this study is to assess the volume and type of procedures this entails. ⋯ The range of procedures in general paediatric surgery is small with only five procedures representing the majority of all elective and emergency procedures performed. This suggests that a period of specialist paediatric surgery training would enable more general surgeons to provide this vital service.