The study demonstrated that variance associated with career satisfaction can be explained using various factors reported directly by physicians. The study also confirmed that relative differences in the importance of these factors do occur among specialties. Surgeons prefer to delegate more responsibility in the management of their practices on an informal basis, whereas psychiatrists prefer to be more involved in the management of their practices and use more formal structures.

This study examines issues around health care management competencies, as perceived by senior managers. A combination of questionnaire survey, focus group and in-depth interview methods was used to ascertain views on the importance of various competencies, current competency levels and thus the deficiencies or "GAPs." GAPs are greatest at the frontlines, where managers are generally appointed from clinical roles. However, there are significant GAPs at all levels of management.

The objectives of the study described in this article were to determine whether the faith of physicians in the Canadian system of health insurance depends on their assessment of quality and access to health services and whether their assessments of quality and access to health services affect their support of out-of-pocket and other methods of financing healthcare. To this end, a mail survey of 600 physicians in British Columbia and 240 physicians in Saskatchewan was conducted. The sample was stratified to ensure equal representation from urban and non-urban areas and between female and male specialists and family practitioners. Our conclusions indicate that physicians seem to be open minded in their views on financing. Their overriding concerns are to ensure the provision of sufficient resources to the healthcare system and to maintain full coverage of the population.

Using the Living Sky Health District in rural Saskatchewan as a sample case, this paper illustrates and discusses the use of location theory modelling tools as an aid to achieving high levels of efficiency coupled with administrator-determined levels of access. The paper begins by examining access issues as they affect location decisions. One of the empirical pillars of the paper is the well-documented idea that people will travel great distances in situations of acute circumstances, but are unwilling to travel far for important preventive care and monitoring of some chronic conditions. The study continues by presenting a non-technical overview of location theory which demonstrates the applicability of location modelling to the present problem; several possible location scenarios for Living Sky Health District are calculated, the most appropriate of which will depend on the goals and priorities of the district board. Finally, the study's results and more general conclusions are presented and discussed.

Introduction We studied perinatal health of first born children by mother's abortion history in Finland with good abortion and birth services and relatively few abortions. Methods Nationwide registers covering all births and induced abortions were used. All first time mothers in Birth Register (1996e2008) were linked to Abortion Register (1983e2008). The perinatal health of children was compared by the number of mother's abortions adjusting by logistic regression for mothers' age, civil status, socioeconomic status, urbanity and smoking. Results Of the 300 858 mothers, 22 860 (7.6%) had one, 2681 (0.9%) two, 542 (0.2%) three or more abortions. Of abortions, 88% were surgical, 91% were made <12 weeks, and most were made for social reasons. Compared to mothers with no previous abortion, perinatal health problems (preterm birth, low birth weight, low Apgar score 0e6, perinatal death) were not more common among mothers having had one abortion, but were among mothers having had 3+ abortions. Results on preterm birth (adjusted OR for <28 weeks 2.41 and for <37 weeks 1.34) and on low birth weight (<1500 g 1.92, <2500 g 1.42) were statistically significant. Among women having two previous abortions very preterm (<28 weeks, OR 1.45) and low Apgar scores (OR 1.10) were increased, but not statistically significantly. Conclusions One previous abortion did not increase perinatal problems at first birth, but three or more did; two were in between. This may be due to mothers' characteristics not controlled for or due to sequel of repeated abortions. Research in the US particularly has contributed to a lot of what is known about the difficulties that linguistic minorities face in accessing and using health services. Studies need to be conducted in Canada to refine and improve knowledge on the matter. The literature is virtually unanimous that seniors do not enjoy the same level of health as the general population. Canadian studies have found that the health status of seniors declines with increasing age as more health issues are reported. This has also been linked to health services use by seniors aged 65 and over accounting for over 47% of total healthcare cost increase. The 2006 Canadian post-census Survey on the Vitality of Official-Language Minorities (SVOLM) carried out by Statistics Canada is used as well as the 2007 Canadian Community Health Survey (CCHS). The SVOLM helps assess factors associated with the self-rated health of minority Francophone seniors. The CCHS helps complement the SVOLM and allows for comparability with the general population. Descriptive, univariate and multivariable analyses such as ordinary and binary logistic regression are carried out. Through a social marketing approach, the results of the quantitative analyses (which are currently being carried out) will help engage dialogue with the community, educators, policy makers, health practitioners, and the healthcare system in order to help inform and shape policy with regards to health services access and utilisation in the province of Saskatchewan...