• Theme of the month
• CEU Editor Focus
• New CEU's on eCPD
• Ethic Article of Month
• Industry News
• Articles of Interest
• Upcoming Conferences
• Conference Feedback
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Sam Heinie
Section Editor: Psychology
Sam Heine is a minister of religion in the small industrial town of Kinross on the Mpumalanga Highveld.
As reverend he has completed the BA Theology, the BD Theology and M Div. (Pastoral Family Counseling) degrees at the
University of Pretoria. He also completed the Psychology Honours degree, as well as an internship in Career Counselling,
at the University of South Africa. As a fervent student he is always searching for new ways to stay practical in his fields of study and interest.
Sam's hobbies include the outdoors, golf, fishing and scuba diving.
We would like to take this opportunity to thank him for his contribution to eCPD.
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| Ethics Article of the Month |
Physician-Assisted Suicide
While numerous studies address physicians' views regarding euthanasia and physician-assisted suicide (PAS),
there are relatively few studies of patients' attitudes and desires. Reviews have characterized the 7 patients
who were granted legalized assistance in death in Australia and 43 cases of legalized PAS in Oregon.
Studies have also examined the attitudes and practices regarding euthanasia and PAS of patients with cancer,
human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) infection, and amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS).
Read Full Article |
Primary Care Issues in Patients with Mental Illness
Family physicians commonly care for patients with serious mental illness.
Patients with psychotic and bipolar disorders have more comorbid medical conditions and higher
mortality rates than patients without serious mental illness. Many medications prescribed for serious mental
illness have significant metabolic and cardiovascular adverse effects.
Read Full Article
Disaster-Related Physical and Mental Health
Natural disasters, technologic disasters, and mass violence impact millions of persons each year.
The use of primary health care services typically increases for 12 or more months following major disasters.
A conceptual framework for assisting disaster victims involves understanding the individual and environmental
risk factors that influence post-disaster physical and mental health.
Read Full Article
Adolescent Substance Use and Abuse: Recognition and Management
Family physicians are well positioned to recognize substance use in their patients and to take steps to
address the issue before use escalates. Comorbid mental disorders among adolescents with substance abuse
include depression, anxiety, conduct disorder, and attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder.
Read Full Article
Social Anxiety Disorder
Social phobia is a highly prevalent yet often overlooked psychiatric disorder that can cause severe
disability but fortunately has shown responsiveness to specific pharmacotherapy and psychotherapy.
Recognition of its essential clinical features and the use of brief, targeted screening questions can
improve detection within family practice settings.
Read Full Article
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37th Congress of the Physiology Society of Southern Africa
Stellenbosch: 7 – 9 September 2009
On behalf of the Division of Medical Physiology (Stellenbosch University) and the Physiology Society of Southern
Africa (PSSA), They would like to extend an invitation to you to attend the 37th Annual Congress of the PSSA.
The Congress venue is situated in the lovely town of Stellenbosch, in the heart of the Cape Winelands.
Read more...
2nd Wonca Africa Regional Conference
Rustenburg: 25 - 28 October 2009
Wonca organises a World Congress every three years. Over 2000 attended the 2001 world conference in Durban, South Africa.
Topics include: The African context - culture and diversity in health, values, traditional beliefs, family,
generalists, connecting, leadership; Primary Health Care and Family Medicine – relationship, equity/advocacy,
intersectoral work, COPC; Training: the development of Training Complexes, the context of training and many more.
Read more...
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Physicians Refresher Conference
The Department of Medicine, Faculty of Health Sciences, Stellenbosch University hosted their Physicians
Refresher conference on 24 – 25 April 2009 at NH The Lord Charles Hotel. In contrast to previous years,
this meeting had a particular theme: Presentations and clinical case discussions served to update the delegates
on the latest developments in the DIAGNOSIS AND TREATMENT OF EMERGENCIES IN INTERNAL MEDICINE.
The programme was relevant to private and public sector physicians. The course was also of interest to general practitioners and emergency medicine specialists.
The feedback that we received from delegates and exhibitors was phenomenal: with the highest praise for the theme of the conference, the venue choice,
the exhibitor participation programme, conference organization and last but not least, the high standard and level of
the presentations.
Their next conference will be in May 2011. (visit
www.sun.ac.za/webmail for updates or alternativley contact Jennifer Stopford (021) 938 9074
/ Email:
Jennifer@sun.ac.za
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Infants and young children treated with heart drugs get the wrong dose or end up on the wrong end of medication errors more often than older children,
A panel of experts in the United States has raised new concerns about the popular painkiller paracetamol and are calling for the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to reduce the maximum dose of paracetamol
allowed because they say 'over-use' can cause serious liver damage
Now, however, a new review by scientists from Australia and Vietnam of all the peer-reviewed literature on the issue has found that people on vegetarian diets have approximately 5% lower bone mineral density (BMD) than non-vegetarians.
If you have hay fever, headaches or a cold, it's only a short way to the nearest chemist. The drugs, on the other hand, can take eight to ten years to develop.
Greater influence over everyday life, emotional support, and cultural and recreational activities help to enable teenage girls to withstand stress.
The findings could help prevent one of the most common forms of adult epilepsy, called acquired epilepsy.
What do all modern office workers have in common? All of them strain their eyes on a daily basis for the benefit of the company.