Four staff from the medical faculty participated in a live satellite broadcast to rural health professionals earlier this month, the first time staff from the faculty have been involved in such a broadcast.

Professor Henry Krum and Professor Andrew Tonkin from the Department of Epidemiology and Preventive Medicine (DEPM), Professor Leon Piterman, head of the Department of General Practice, and Associate Professor Robert Hall from the School of Rural Health took part in the 90-minute broadcast on the topic of chronic heart failure.

The broadcasts are organised by the Rural Health Education Foundation and sent through its satellite network. They are viewed by around 4000 rural health professionals across Australia.

Professor Krum, director of the NHMRC Centre of Clinical Research Excellence in Therapeutics, said the broadcasts were a worthwhile exercise.

“They're the best way to disseminate medical information to people and areas that would have trouble accessing it otherwise. As an educator, I think it's tremendous.”

Professor Krum said the broadcast had also provided an opportunity to promote departmental research projects.

“Through the broadcast, we successfully recruited rural and remote doctors to participate in a study called CHAT (Chronic Heart Failure Assistance by Telephone), which examines the use of telephones as a tool to support patients in rural and remote areas and help them manage their condition.”