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As we slowly move towards a post-COVID-19 world, it is timely to revisit the ongoing disparity in health outcomes across Australia. Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people continue to experience lower life expectancy and higher morbidity than other Australians.1 Closing the Gap began in 2007, aiming to ‘close the health and life expectancy gap between Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples and non-Indigenous Australians … by 2030’.2 However, at the 10-year review in 2018, it was clear that the gap is not closing.2

‘Uncharted waters’ is perhaps an understatement of where we are headed at this time. The situation is fluid, with government regulations for our society changing rapidly.

The importance of physical activity as a core component of the suite of preventive measures central to improving health outcomes has been documented since the Ancient Greek period. Yet, the headline news regarding Australian physical activity trends highlights that only 15% (2.8 million) of people aged ≥18 years meet the minimum activity guidelines for physical activity and muscle strengthening.

The fact that an opinion has been widely held is no evidence whatever that it is not utterly absurd – Bertrand Russell

Skin cancer medicine is a core component of Australian general practice and is consistently in the top 10 conditions managed.1 This is not surprising as Australia has the highest incidence of melanoma in the world,2 leaving melanoma the fourth most common cancer in Australia, especially in non-metropolitan locations.3 Across the 20-year period 1995–2014, melanoma incidence in Queensland remained the highest recorded in the world (age-standardised incidence of invasive melanoma 572 per 100,000/annum [2010–2014]).4 Widespread public information campaigns have been effective; currently, approximately half of all new diagnoses of melanoma are initially noticed by the patient, who then approaches their clinician, usually their general practitioner (GP), for advice.5 This is leading to earlier detection, known to improve survival, with the incidence of in situ melanoma rising while the incidence of invasive melanoma is stable or falling in patients aged under 60 years.4 The management of melanoma continues to evolve, with the latest changes for both cutaneous and metastatic melanoma explored by Dixon et al.6,7 GPs are well positioned to play a key part in skin cancer medicine, with diagnostic acumen of similar high sensitivity and accuracy to formal skin cancer doctors.8 Overall management of skin cancer in general practice is of similar quality and effectiveness to that provided by skin cancer clinic networks.9 Similarly, despite patients with cutaneous melanoma having a high risk of recurrence and hence requiring careful follow-up, GP-led follow-up for melanoma has been shown to be as effective as hospital-based care.10

The man who uses intelligence with respect to his diet, his sleeping habits and who exercises properly, is beyond any question of doubt taking the very best preventive medicines provided so freely and abundantly by nature.

You matter because you are you, and you matter to the end of your life. We will do all that we can not only to help you die peacefully, but also to live until you die. – Cicely Saunders

Tobacco has been a pervasive part of the human experience since prehistory, with tobacco cultivation in the Americas dating back to 6000 BC.2 The dangers of tobacco smoking were clearly apparent and publicised by the mid-20th century, but formal measures to stop smoking were slow to be introduced or accepted. Looking back from our current understanding, it is hard to believe that around the time when The Royal Australian College of General Practitioners (RACGP) was established, doctors including general practitioners (GPs) were promoting smoking to patients,3 with brand preference among doctors used as a marketing strategy.4 Even a noted GP and past president of the RACGP ‘smoked Temple Bar cigarettes, sometimes while consulting’.5

As noted by Leonardo da Vinci, ‘the human foot is a masterpiece of engineering and a work of art’,2 evolving over eons with a unique design for propulsion and support.3 However, it would seem that overall we do not afford the foot great interest, adopting at an early age footwear that may not be especially supportive and restricting movement.4 When combined with the hard surfaces we regularly tread, strong and mobile feet are not the usual outcome.4

I have always been interested in the apparent dichotomy between the two arms of medical training and practice: the exploration of disease and illness through intellectual discourse versus the practical use of the clinician’s psychomotor skills and techniques to physically interact with the patient. Perhaps there is no real surprise as medicine’s two branches – the less invasive medical methods and the more invasive surgical methods – have been present since before the existence of written language.2 This duality persists in the designation of the primary medical degree in most countries as a combination of a Bachelor of Medicine with a Bachelor of Surgery.