Research Projects for Postgraduate Students

There are opportunities for postgraduate research students to become involved in existing research programs within the discipline. A brief description of some of the projects which could be the focus of postgraduate research are given below, as well as the contact numbers of relevant staff members.

Research into Asthma

Research into Asthma

The Discipline of General Practice, with funding from the National Health and Medical Research Council, is conducting a 2-year cluster randomised controlled trial revolving around systematic care for patients with moderate to severe asthma. It is particularly looking at organising the practices so that they have registers of their asthma patients, have a working recall system to encourage patients to come in regularly for pro-active care, and assessing the impact of a postcard prompt to patients.

Towards the end this trial (in 2^nd semester of 2005) we wish to interview a sample of patients in order to assess their feelings about the feasibility and acceptability of this method of care for their asthma. This will involve developing a schedule of questions, conducting face-to-face interviews with approximately 20 patients in SA and 20 in NSW, qualitatively analysing the transcripts, and writing a report. Underpinning this will be theory about self-management of asthma and the concept of patient autonomy.

If anyone would like to discuss this further, please contact Chris Holton on 8303 6268.