Enhancing skills of GPs in essential surgical techniques and procedures through an accredited CPD short learning programme will ensure that adequate and comprehensive essential surgical care is provided to people living in rural communities.

To determine which specific surgical procedures GPs in rural SA need to be able to perform, and the contents of a CPD programme that could be developed to address these needs. Methods This research was designed as a descriptive study that made use of desktop review analysis (literature study) and a questionnaire survey to obtain both qualitative and quantitative data. Desktop/literature study A comprehensive literature search using the following key words: 'contents of a CPD programme in addressing essential surgical skills in SA rural areas for GPs' , 'current level of surgical skills of GPs in rural areas' , and 'essential surgical skills set needed by GPs in rural areas' was done using search engines such as EBSCO host, PubMed, medical student.com, Medscape, Google Scholar and Google Web. The explored literature provided a conceptual and contextual frame This open-access article is distributed under Creative Commons licence CC-BY-NC 4.0.

The review of these five recent publications by Playwrights Canada Press presents a double opportunity: an assessment of this press’s contribution to Canadian theatre and drama, and a chance to offer some general comments about the state of the art, as it were, in the middle of the 1990s, Playwrights Union of Canada had its origin in a small group formed on the Gaspe Peninsula in 1971, soon after receiving Canada Council support to establish a resource centre for Canadian playwriting. As the activities of this playwrights’ co-op developed and expanded, it was officially incorporated in 1979 as Playwrights Canada. In 1984 this group merged with the Guild of Canadian Playwrights (itself formed in 1977) to establish the Playwrights Union of Canada (PUC). Publishing has been and continues to be an important aspect of PUC’s work. At first, publications were those now-familiar typewritten and stapled scripts - and these were indeed my introduction to the existence of a Canadian drama. I was a new immigrant to Canada in the early 1980s and a graduate student in a Department of English. In response to my question “what Canadian drama is there?” asked of the department’s Canadianists and one or two others there, I heard the univocal response: “Oh, there isn’t any.” But soon after this emphatic declaration, I began discovering PUC’s typescripts on the University library shelves and read them all and eventually sent for a catalogue. Some ten years later, I find myself the President of the Association for Canadian Theatre Research so I guess I found my own and different answer to that initial inquiry. I wonder for how many other people PUC’s publications have been a route for uncovering and enjoying the breadth and diversity of talent that is contemporary Canadian drama. And now PUC’s publishing enterprise has expanded to include the full text production of some six or more plays each year, along with occasional special volumes (such as the Taking the Stage anthology reviewed here).