Men's health nights and men's health sessions have proven to be remarkably successful in rural and some suburban regions of Victoria. In the rural regions, enough interest has been generated to run follow-up health sessions on topics selected at the initial nights. Approximately 2000 men attended these events and 575 filled in questionnaires giving information such as age, occupation, health concerns and perceptions of health professionals. The results indicated that men's health nights appeal to older men who are more likely to be professional or retired. These men saw cardiovascular disease, cancer and stress management as their main health concerns. The majority indicated that they would be interested in attending more men's health sessions. The follow-up sessions provide initial pathways by which men may address the issues of their own health. The data collected contributed to the development of the Men's Awareness Network model for men's health.

There is a dearth of research on the undergraduate research training provided to pharmacy students. We aimed to identify and provide examples of effective pedagogy in teaching research and evidence-based practice (EBP) to undergraduate pharmacy students. In conjunction with the professional competency standards for pharmacists, a review of the pharmacy workforce needs and the relevant pedagogical literature, a range of evidence-based approaches for selecting unit content, teaching and assessment strategies was identified. The authors reflect on the evidence and their multidisciplinary experiences in developing curriculum to demonstrate how pharmacy students can be engaged in deep learning rather than surface learning. Effective pedagogy in research training for pharmacy students will ultimately improve the quality of pharmacy education and the use of EBP principles in practice.

There is a dearth of research on the undergraduate research training provided to pharmacy students. We aimed to identify and provide examples of effective pedagogy in teaching research and evidence-based practice (EBP) to undergraduate pharmacy students. In conjunction with the professional competency standards for pharmacists, a review of the pharmacy workforce needs and the relevant pedagogical literature, a range of evidence-based approaches for selecting unit content, teaching and assessment strategies was identified. The authors reflect on the evidence and their multidisciplinary experiences in developing curriculum to demonstrate how pharmacy students can be engaged in deep learning rather than surface learning. Effective pedagogy in research training for pharmacy students will ultimately improve the quality of pharmacy education and the use of EBP principles in practice.

Background: Men are notorious for not attending to their health and seeking health advice, especially in rural areas. Aim: To ascertain the role community pharmacists can play in men's health in rural Victoria. Method: Self-administered, closed-response written questionnaires were sent to community pharmacists and men in the Loddon-Mallee region of Victoria. Results: The men and pharmacists agreed that community pharmacies could be a useful men's health resource. Half the men thought that the only advice pharmacists gave concerned prescription medications. Men said that the gender of a pharmacist would not affect them seeking advice, yet among their criteria for making pharmacies more 'men friendly' was the provision of more male pharmacists and pharmacy assistants. Both men and pharmacists saw information leaflets as a valuable resource. The men and pharmacists agreed that the service to men could be improved with provision of more information, counselling, education sessions, referral and collaboration with other health professionals, men's health events and some risk factor screening. Pharmacists were confident and reported success in counselling men in some areas (e.g. smoking cessation) but not others (e.g. alcohol use). Some constraints to improving pharmacy services to men were identified including time constraints, lack of remuneration and training. Conclusion: Rural pharmacies could become a useful men's health resource. Time, lack of remuneration and training may be the main constraints.