Prof Geoffrey Solarsh - Researcher Profile

Geoffrey Solarsh

Address

Monash University School of Rural Health
Building 64, Clayton

Biography

Professor Geoff Solarsh is Director of the Bendigo Regional Clinical and co-Head of the North Victorian Regional Medical Education Network (NVRMEN), a collaborative initiative with the School of Rural Health at the University of Melbourne designed to identify and educate a cohort of 60 medical students in educational sites in Northern Victoria. From 2004-07 he served as Head of the School of Rural Health at Monash University.

Prior to arriving in Australia in 2004 he worked in South Africa, where his main interest and involvement was in the design, development, implementation and evaluation of maternal and child health programs in underserved black populations at district, regional and provincial levels.  From1995 until 2003) he served as the Stella and Paul Loewenstein Professor of Maternal and Child Health at the University of Natal in Durban.

His main interests are the development of programs of community-based medical education and population-based research in underserved communities.  He also has a long history of involvement in the development of primary health care systems in developing countries.  He has held major grants from the Kellogg Foundation, the Wellcome Trust and the US National Institutes of Health.

Research & Supervision Interests

    1.  Community/International Child Health
    2.  Primary Health Care Systems
    3.  Community-Based Medical Education

Qualifications

COLLEGE OF PHYSICIANS OF SOUTH AFRICA
Institution: University of CapeTown
Year awarded: 1986
MBBCH
Institution: University of Witwatersrand
Year awarded: 1975

Publications

Book Chapters

Solarsh, G.C., Hofman, K.J., 2006, Developmental disabilities, in Disease and Mortality in Sub-Saharan Africa, eds Jamison, D.T., Feachem, R.G., Makgoba, M.W., Bos, E.R., Baingana, F.K., Hofman, K.J. and Rogo, K.O., World Bank, Washington USA, pp. 125-147.

Durkin, M.S., Schneider, H., Pathania, V.S., Nelson, K., Solarsh, G.C., Bellows, N., Scheffler, R.M., Hofman, K.J., 2006, Learning and Developmental Disabilities, in Disease Control Priorities in Developing Countries, eds Dean T. Jamison, Joel G. Breman, Anthony R. Measham, George Alleyne, Mariam Claeson, David B. Evans, Prabhat Jha, Anne Mills, Philip Musgrove, Oxford University Press, New York USA, pp. 933-951.

Solarsh, G.C., Goga, A., 2004, Child health, in South African Health Review, eds Petrida Ijumba and Candy Day, Health Systems Trust, South Africa, pp. 101-128.

Ngom, P., Benzler, J., Solarsh, G.C., Hosegood, V., 2002, Core concepts of DSS, in Population and Health in Developing Countries, eds Sankoh, O.A., Kahn, K., Mwageni, E., Ngom, P. and Nyarko, P., International Development Research Centre, Ottawa Canada, pp. 7-16.

Solarsh, G.C., Benzler, J., Hosegood, V., Tanser, F., Vanneste, A., 2002, Hlabisa DSS, South Africa, in Population and Health in Developing Countries, eds Sankoh, O.A., Kahn, K., Mwageni, E., Ngom, P. and Nyarko, P., International Development Research Centre, Ottawa Canada, pp. 213-220.

Journal Articles

Solarsh, G.C., Lindley, J.M., Whyte, G.S., Fahey, M.C., Walker, A.M., 2012, Governance and assessment in a widely distributed medical education program in Australia, Academic Medicine [P], vol 87, issue 6, Lippincott, Williams and Wilkins, Philadelphia USA, pp. 1-8.

Ranmuthugala, G.P., Humphreys, J.S., Solarsh, B., Wakerman, J., Dunbar, J.A., Solarsh, G.C., 2007, Identifying the aspects of rural exposure that influence medical students to take up rural practice, Medical Education, vol 41, issue 7, Blackwell Publishing Ltd, UK, p. 718.

Ranmuthugala, G.P., Humphreys, J.S., Solarsh, B., Walters, L., Worley, P.S., Wakerman, J., Dunbar, J.A., Solarsh, G.C., 2007, Where is the evidence that rural exposure increases uptake of rural medical practice?, Australian Journal of Rural Health, vol 15, issue 5, Blackwell Publishing, Carlton Vic Australia, pp. 285-288.

Hosegood, V., Benzler, J., Solarsh, G.C., 2005, Population mobility and household dynamics in rural South Africa: implications for demographic and health research, Southern African Journal of Demography, vol 10, issue 1 & 2, University of Cape Town, South Africa, pp. 43-68.

Bland, R.M., Rollins, N.C., Solarsh, G.C., Van den Broeck, J., Coovadia, H.M., 2003, Maternal recall of exclusive breast feeding duration, Archives of Disease in Childhood, vol 88, issue 9, BMJ Publishing Group, London England, pp. 778-783.

Tanser, F., Hosegood, V., Benzler, J., Solarsh, G.C., 2001, New approaches to spatially analyse primary health care usage patterns in rural South Africa, Tropical Medicine and International Health, vol 6, issue 10, Blackwell Science Ltd, Oxford England, pp. 826-838.

Tanser, F., Le Sueur, D., Solarsh, G.C., Wilkinson, D., 2000, HIV heterogeneity and proximity of homestead to roads in rural South Africa: an exploration using a geographical information system, Tropical Medicine and International Health, vol 5, issue 1, Blackwell Science Ltd, Oxford England, pp. 40-46.

Conference Proceedings

Rolton, C., O'Connor, D., Dane, V., Solarsh, G., 2010, Shaping longintudinal approaches to community-based medical education for rual and regional health care settings, The Muster: Global Community Engaged Medical Education: Abstract Book, 18-21 October 2010, Flinders University, South Australia, p. 128.

Solarsh, G.C., Rolton, C., Radomski, N.A., 2009, Scoping the curricula for longitudinal undergraduate medical placements in rural and regional clinical practice settings, Research in Clinical Skills: Showcasing Best Practice for Students and Practitioners, 1-4 July 2009, Monash University, Clayton, Vic, Australia, pp. 105-106.

Other

Hiscock, H., Solarsh, G., Oei, J., Uppal, P., Allen, K., Tey, D., Starr, M., 2011, Check: First 12 months of life, Check: Continuous Home Evaluation of Clinical Knowledge, Royal Australian College of General Practitioners, Australia.

Humphreys, J.S., Solarsh, G.C., 2008, Populations at special health risk: Rural populations, International Encyclopedia of Public Health, vol 5, Academic Press, USA, pp. 242-253.

Postgraduate Research Supervisions

Completed Supervision

Student:
Mcgrail, M.
Program of Study:
The McGrail Index of Access to primary care for rural Australians. (PHD) 2008.
Supervisors:
Humphreys, J (Main), Solarsh, G (Associate).