Two out of three pain specialists experience severe burnout, in some cases compromising the treatment of patients. Australian social psychologist Claire Ashton-James said chronic patient pain was increasing and so too the prevalence among their specialists of burnout—a prolonged response to chronic emotional and interpersonal stressors. During the COVID-19 pandemic, burnout levels worsened. Speaking to…

Artificial intelligence is being used to help predict when a patient with colon cancer is likely to experience nasty side effects from chemotherapy. The technology can identify patients at risk of overdosing on medication which can lead to problems like infections, nerve damage, gastrointestinal issues and other side effects.  About 70 percent of colon cancer…

Prostate cancer is Australia’s most diagnosed disease and the costliest to treat yet major public and private sector differences mean access to preferred care for many men is too expensive. Private patient costs for a robotic prostatectomy, a standard surgical procedure for removal of the prostate, ranges between $12,000 (US$8,200) and $30,000 (US$20,060) nationally, new…

Doctors are demanding an apology after researchers debunked “baseless” accusations of widespread Medicare fraud. Nicole Higgins from the Royal Australian College of General Practitioners seized on the study to claim vindication. “Late last year, the entire general practice profession was slandered by baseless claims of ‘rorting’ for no good reason,” Dr. Higgins said. “We have…