Find here for HTRHN Rural Research Scholarship recipient Eamon Walsh's research, published in the "Journal of Clinical Neuroscience" Background: Spinal epidural abscess are difficult to diagnose due to its non-specific clinical presentation. Spinal epidural abscess is identified late or missed in almost half of patients. To better assist clinicians in making this diagnosis there needs to be a better appreciation of at risk patient profile.

Find here for HTRHN Rural Research Scholarship recipient Anna Donaldson's research. Higher amenable mortality and lower rates of healthcare utilisation have recently been identified for Aotearoa New Zealand’s (NZ’s) rural and rural Māori populations. These findings rely upon clinical information coded within routinely collected administrative datasets.

Due to COVID-19 pandemic restrictions in Aotearoa New Zealand, an established remote community marae-based workshop (a component of a postgraduate rural medical programme) was converted into a virtual platform. The aim of this study was to explore student and teacher experiences of this virtual adaptation with focus on cultural aspects.

This study aimed to understand rural–urban differences in the uptake of COVID-19 vaccinations during the peak period of the national vaccination roll-out in Aotearoa New Zealand (NZ). Using a linked national dataset of health service users aged 12+ years and COVID-19 immunization records, age-standardized rates of vaccination uptake were calculated at fortnightly intervals, between June and December 2021, by rurality, ethnicity, and region.

The study had a qualitative design, using qualitative content analysis. The study was conducted in South Island, New Zealand, and included nine different rural hospitals.

In this paper, 10% of acute hospital admissions, transfers and arranged admissions for Māori are to hospitals outside of their home domicile which increases with higher levels of deprivation.