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Biomedical subjects

J Biddulph

Publications and source records attributed to J Biddulph.

At least 19 recordsLinked to original sources
PubMed1990

Short course chemotherapy for childhood tuberculosis.

A prospective study, with an attempted 24-month-post-treatment follow-up, of children with tuberculosis (TB) treated with short course chemotherapy (SCC) for 6 months was carried out because published experience of SCC in childhood TB was limited. All children in Port Moresby diagnosed as having TB between November, 1984, and November, 1986, entered the trial. Of the 639 children 165 (26%) were younger than 2 years old. Of these, 227 (35%) had extrapulmonary TB (peripheral lymph node, 110; central nervous system, 43; abdominal, 27; miliary, 16; bone and joint, 11; pleural, 11; polyserositis, 9). Clinical response to SCC was rapid. Adverse drug reactions occurred in 15 (2%), mainly to streptomycin. Twelve (2%) died, 38 (6%) transferred out and 145 (28% of the 518 who did not die, transfer or live too far from a treatment centre) defaulted. Three hundred seventy-three (58%) completed a 2-month course of daily rifampin, isoniazid, pyrazinamide and streptomycin followed by a 4-month course of twice weekly rifampin and isoniazid. A further 71 (11%) had their treatment modified because of their distance from a treatment center. Only 70 (19%) of the 373 children available for post-treatment follow-up attended the every-3-month follow-up visits for 24 months, although 223 (60%) attended one or more of the follow-up visits. Seven of the 373 children relapsed, mostly within 3 months. Five of these children had been irregular with their treatment. SCC for childhood TB is safe and effective for pulmonary and extrapulmonary disease.

Antitubercular Agents↗
PubMed1990

Twenty-five years of medical graduates in Papua New Guinea.

1989 is the 25th anniversary of the first doctors trained in Papua New Guinea at the Papuan Medical College (PMC). By the end of 1970 PMC had produced 44 doctors. The following year it became the Medical Faculty of the University of Papua New Guinea (UPNG), which had graduated 318 doctors by February 1989. National doctors now make up approximately two-thirds of the total number of doctors in the country. The largest category of national doctors includes those working with the Health Department, but not at headquarters or specialist medical officer (SMO) level. Private practitioners constitute the second largest category, with almost one-fifth of fully registered national doctors. While postgraduate training programs have been established for clinical and public health specialists, vocational training for general practitioners has been mainly ignored. Private practitioners represent a considerable, and growing, manpower resource in urban areas, and ways need to be found to utilize their services in the public sector. 20% of national private practitioners have the M. Med. degree and 24% of those with the M. Med. are currently in private practice. Medical graduates from PMC and UPNG have a good record in postgraduate education: 37 have passed the M. Med., 62 have obtained a postgraduate medical diploma from UPNG and many have obtained overseas postgraduate diplomas and degrees. It is projected that 80% of SMOs will be national doctors within five years. An increased intake of national medical students into the Medical Faculty is needed now if most doctors in the country are to be nationals by the year 2000.

Education, Medical↗
PubMed1979

Where have all the doctors gone? An analysis of national medical officers.

Criticisms of deployment of national doctors have ranged from their lack in rural areas to their lack as clinical specialists. It has been charged that after 27 years of producing doctors there is not one national doctor working anywhere in the highlands. An analysis of all the Papua New Guinea medical graduates from Fiji School of Medicine, medical graduates from Papuan Medical College and medical graduates from University of Papua New Guinea has been done. There were 124 doctors trained during the past 27 years. Of these only 66 (59 national and 7 non-national) are currently available. These 66 doctors are evenly divided up as general duties medical officers throughout the country except in the highlands provinces, medical administrators including provincial health officers, specialists or trainee specialists and other categories including 9% in private practice. These 66 doctors comprise 28% of the total doctors in the country. They make up 82% of the medical administrators, 40% of provincial health officers, 20% of medically qualified lecturers, 17% of general duties medical officers, 12% of doctors staffing rural health centres and 9% of Health Department specialists. 38% of national Health Department or Church doctors available for service are rural-based compared to 49% of non-national Health Department or Church doctors. The basic problem is the small pool of national doctors available. Only 4 highlands doctors are available, the first two graduating as recently as 1975. The proportion of highlands medical students is increasing each year. Many national doctors worked in highland provinces in the past and the killing of Dr. Luke Rovin in 1972 has probably been a factor in the absence of national doctors from the highlands in recent years. When more highlands doctors become available there will be national doctors working in the highlands.

Humans↗