key: cord-0034535-cuzk5rok
authors: Leggat, Peter A.
title: Travel Medicine, Check Program of Self Assessment Unit 387, Vol. 2; Bruce Short (Ed.), 1st ed.; The Royal Australian College of General Practitioners, South Melbourne, May 2004, 33 pages, Paperback, ISSN 0812-9630
date: 2004-08-07
journal: Travel Med Infect Dis
DOI: 10.1016/j.tmaid.2004.05.004
sha: f035c1f0d05520f0bc2a7e0f22810526f2c44f0c
doc_id: 34535
cord_uid: cuzk5rok

nan

The importance of travel medicine in general practice was recognised recently by the Royal Australian College of General Practitioners (RACGP) with the dedication of one unit of its long-running Check Program of Self Assessment to the subject of travel medicine. The Check Program is a continuing medical education (CME) aid using evolving clinical cases. The Travel Medicine unit covers 10 topical cases, which will be of interest to general practitioners and travel health advisers. The review of educational material for travel health practitioners, such as this Check Program Unit on Travel Medicine, is a rare opportunity.

This Travel Medicine Unit of the Check Program has a table of contents, an open letter from the Director of the Check Program, Dr Jack Marshall, AM, 10 cases and associated questions, detailed answers overleaf of the relevant questions, and a page for notes. There is no foreword, preface, introduction, list of figures or photographs, references, bibliography, or index. It is probable that this Unit of the Check Program will become available as part of a consolidated CD of Check Units for 2004 at a later stage. The cost of the 2003 CD was listed as AUD149 for non-RACGP members.

The cases selected for CME include Japanese encephalitis, West Nile virus, Dengue and dengue haemorrhagic fever/dengue shock syndrome, Melioidosis, Altitude medicine, Schistosomiasis, Travellers' diarrhoea and amoebic liver abscess, Animal bites and rabies, Severe acute respiratory syndrome, and Malaria. These cases are exceptionally well selected and they provide a crosssection of common, difficult and topical problems in travel medicine. The physical limitation in the number of cases in this publication has obviously prevented the inclusion of deep venous thrombosis as a topical case study, possibly also omitted because the condition is relatively uncommon amongst travellers. Typically, a brief description of each case is provided initially with further details revealed, such as pathology, as the case evolves through the various questions asked. Typically, there are between two and four questions asked concerning each question. These often take the form of brief answer self-assessment questions, however, there are also some multiple-choice questions.

The Check Program Unit of Travel Medicine is presented as a compact well laid out A4-sized publication. The front cover design is very attractive. Perhaps an opportunity was lost to advertising on the back cover to provide some enticing details concerning the contents and distinguished authorship of the publication. The graphics within this Check Unit are also well selected and the 18 photos given in association with the selected cases are mostly given in full cover. The presentation is well researched, reasonably consistent, and fairly systematic in its presentation. The Check Unit is also very easy to read.

While it is hard to improve or criticise this Check Unit on Travel Medicine, it may be useful to have given a more informative introduction, foreword or preface. Selected references would also have been useful in this age of evidence-based medicine, or perhaps even a bibliography of important published work in travel medicine, especially a list of important guidelines, such as those providing advice on malaria chemoprophylaxis and travel immunisation. Maps showing the distribution of selected tropical diseases are an important oversight by the distinguished review panel of this publication. Geographic epidemiology is an important underpinning discipline of travel medicine, which should not be lost on the reader. Perhaps reference to an appropriate Atlas of travel medicine could be useful. 1 The author, Air Vice Marshal Bruce Short, RFD, is very well known in Australian circles, especially in aviation and military medicine, although possibly not as well known in travel medicine internationally. Air Vice Marshall Short, RFD, MBBS, FRACP, FCCP, FACTM, is Surgeon General of the Australian Defence Force and also a Consultant Physician, specialising in Cardiology. He has been Surgeon General since 2001 during one of the busiest periods in the deployment of Australian troops abroad, including deployments to East Timor, Bougainville, Afghanistan, Iraq, and the Solomon Islands. During this time, there has been an opportunity to fine tune travel medicine policies and practices for thousands of Australian troops deploying for short to medium terms abroad in areas where travel medicine advice and preventive measures have been truly challenged by endemic tropical diseases and prevailing environmental conditions.

Travel Medicine is an essential reference for all general practitioners and travel health advisers, who are able to access the Check Program of Self Assessment. This Check Unit will also appeal as a study and CME aid for those who are studying or teaching in the area of travel medicine, especially within academic and research departments of travel medicine. It should also be included in the libraries of these institutions. This dedicated Check Unit on Travel Medicine is an important contribution to the exclusive international portfolio of CME programs in travel medicine.

Book review: atlas of travel medicine and health

Leggat * School of Public Health and Tropical Medicine