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Objective: To determine the frequency and circumstances of serious cervical cord injuries associated with rugby union and league football in New South Wales., Design: Retrospective review of patients with rugby football-related cervical spinal cord injuries., Setting: The two central spinal units in NSW, from January 1984 to July 1996., Outcome Measures: Admission to spinal units; injury resulting in permanent tetraplegia., Results: During the review period, 115 rugby football players (56 union and 59 league) were admitted to the spinal units because of cervical spinal cord injuries. 49 patients had resultant permanent neurological deficits (complete tetraplegia [quadriplegia])--26 associated with rugby union and 23 with rugby league. Two patients died of injury sequelae within two weeks of admission. There was no significant change in the rate of football-related admissions to spinal units for either code. There was a small decline in the number (from 15 in 1984 to 1987 to 7 in 1992 to 1996) and incidence (from 1.2 to 0.5 per 10,000 participants) of patients with tetraplegia associated with rugby union. When this decline was tested as a trend over the years, it was found to be statistically significant (P = 0.06). No significant trend was found in the tetraplegia data associated with rugby league. Cervical spinal cord injuries leading to complete tetraplegia were most commonly associated with scrum-like plays in union and with tackles in league., Conclusion: Serious cervical spinal injuries associated with both codes of rugby continue to occur in NSW. Rugby football in its various forms is still an inherently dangerous game.

Objective: To report the occurrence of uncommon but catastrophic eye and testicle injuries to rugby league and rugby union footballers in New South Wales., Methods: A retrospective review of players who had permanent football-related injuries and who claimed financial compensation from a voluntary sports injury insurance scheme from 1978-1994., Results: An average of 100 000 rugby league and rugby union players per year were registered with the insurance scheme in NSW. As a consequence of playing football, 15 players lost 90%-100% vision in one eye, five lost 75% vision in one eye, four lost 50% of vision in one eye and two lost 75% vision in both eyes. Eye injuries were caused by "gouging" with fingers, kicks, or blows from fists, elbows and knees; five cases appeared to be intentional. Fourteen players had testicular injuries: in 11 players this resulted in complete loss of one testicle, and in three partial loss of one or both testicles. The immediate cause of the injuries to the testicles was kicking and kneeing, usually during tackles; at least three of the injuries appeared to be intentional., Recommendations: Rules relating to tackles, kicks and other assaults to the head or groin should be strengthened and policed. Officials, players, parents and the public should be educated to support this.

This article reports the results of a study which was designed to evaluate a revised Master's of Health Administration program in the School of Health Services Management at the University of New South Wales, Australia. The original program was established in 1956; during the 1970s, humanities-based subjects such as sociology and quality assurance were added to the traditional financial and management subjects. During 1987-88, health-oriented subjects such as public health and epidemiology were included as compulsory subjects. To assess the program, a cross-sectional study of 1990 to 1992 graduates was undertaken. The study revealed that students found that the traditional financial and management subjects and the health-related subjects were useful to their jobs. The study also demonstrated significant career advancement for a majority of graduates. Two-thirds of the respondents stated that their initial objectives for enrolling in the course had been met.