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The OZeGP Mailgroup


The OZeGP Mailgroup is an internet community of doctors who correspond regularly on any matters of relevance to them. These matters might relate to such things as running a practice, treating medical conditions, medico-political issues, computing subjects or personal hobbies.
The group is

  • an internet community because it functions like a big family.
    Members regularly come together each year at a conference. See OZeGP Conferences.
  • very active, ie "lots of mail".
  • longstanding in Internet time. It has been going since 1995.
  • unmoderated, meaning that there is no filtering or censorship of what is posted to the group.
  • a closed group, meaning that access to the group is not automatically given. The membership list is not available.
  • spread around Australia (and the world).
  • not aligned with any political, religious, or medico-legal view. It has no association with any medical college or institution. The OZeGP group is not sponsored by any organisation.
  • not archived

If you are a medical doctor, you will be given access, once your details have been verified.
If you are not a doctor then you may still apply, but the group will decide whether access will be given. Either way, notification will generally be sent within one week.
Note that falsifying information to pose as a doctor is fraudulent and hence a criminal offence.

Because this group is closed, some information is required to help verify the applicant's identification. Information will be stored by myself (a registered medical practitioner), but will not be used for any other purpose. The information provided may be shown to the enrolled members of the group but will not be transmitted to any other party.
Some rules and recommendations for participating in this group are listed as well, but these are nothing more than common sense and courtesy.

Dr John Goswell


    To request subscription to the OZeGP Mailgroup please email your request to:

Please include the following information in your application:

  • Full name
  • any alias you wish to use
  • occupation
  • medical registration number (where relevant)
  • work address
  • contact telephone number
  • email address
  • and a declaration of any conflicts of interest and/or commercial interest in the group. This would include such declarations as
    • I am a medical journalist wishing to source good medical stories
    • I am a medical software developer wishing to get an idea of what grieves doctors with current programs
Note that failing to declare a conflict of interest could see you promptly expelled and that if there is a conflict of interest then your enrolment may be subject to a decision by the administrator or the group as a whole.


Recommendations
A few matters of commonsense and courtesy:-
  1. Introduce yourself. Whilst not essential it is good to introduce yourself when you first join. It is a quick way to make some new friends and to get some conversation going on subjects of interest to you. It may be as short as "Hi. My name is ..... ..... I have just joined this list. My interests are........".
  2. Attachments. Think twice about sending attachments and images. Does everyone want them? You can always let people know what you have and then send them out to those who request them. Few people like large downloads of information that they won't use. Do not send executable files or files with macros as they may contain viruses. Mailgroup members are advised to immediately delete such files. Executable files are usually programs. If the files end in ".exe or .com or .bat" do not send them to the group. Word files ending in ".doc" should not be sent unless you know for certain that they do not contain macros. If in doubt convert to the ".rtf" format before sending. Note that there is a limit in size of 100kb for any email sent to this group.
  3. Subject headings. are used by many to decide if they are going to read the Email. Make sure they remain relevant. When the thread (subject flow) changes, change the wording in the Subject Header on your Email to reflect this, eg if the discussion starts off on "Arthritis" and new threads develop from this (or you want to start a new thread from this) then you might type into the Subject field something like "Joint Injections - was Arthritis"
  4. Holidays. If you don't want the mail to build up while you are away then consider unsubscribing and then rejoining when you get back. This is particularly important for those who have limits on the size of their Mailboxes on the ISP's server. Do not set up an autoreply on your mail server.
  5. Mail sorting. There can be considerable mail through this mailgroup at times. It is often wise to create a separate Mailbox (also called Folder) for it within your Email program, and filter all of the OZeGP mail to that Mailbox.
  6. Changes of address. If you change your Email address then remember to subscribe the new one and remove the old one. Mail that cannot find a home does not disappear into limbo, it is returned to the Administrator of this group (me!) who then has to cope with multiple copies of the mail.
Rules
There are a few absolute rules.
  1. No libellous remarks. This Mailgroup is a public forum and any derogatory comments about other people will be seen by many. This leave you, as the sender, legally liable for these comments. No-one with or associated with OZeGP takes any responsibility for what is posted out by group members and so the legal and ethical responsibility falls securely on the shoulders of the person who posts the remark.
  2. No personal attacks. No name calling, insulting, or attempts to discredit the sender of an email. If you disagree then do so, but give your reasons.
  3. No personal grievances. If you have any matter to deal with, regarding another person, it is to be done privately, and not openly on this list.
  4. No pornography. No material of a pornographic nature is to be sent through this list. It is a legal requirement.
  5. No material is to be sent which could be seen by authorities as related to terrorist activities.
  6. No viruses. Anyone purposefully using this list to launch or spread a computer virus will be banned for life.
  7. No advertisements. If you want to promote a product then this is not the place. Using the List to promote a product will lose more Brownie points than it is worth. If you have a product or conference that you think the List would like to know about then email the information to the administrator (John Goswell).
  8. There is a limit in size of 100kb for any email sent to this group. This means that if you have a fantastic photo that you must send, reduce its size using a photo editing or graphics program. Otherwise post it onto the internet and send us a link to it.
  9. Information obtained from this Mailgroup is not to be used in any way to bring harm or loss of reputation to any member of this Mailgroup.
  10. Copyright. All material posted to this group is to be considered the copyrighted possession of the sender unless otherwise clearly stated. Nothing sent to this Mailgroup is to be quoted outside of this mailgroup without the express permission of the sender. This includes quoting in medical publications and includes forwarding to other mailgroups.
  11. Information from this Mailgroup is not to be sold, or made available for the purposes of financial gain.
  12. Non-members may not post. Members are not permitted to allow others to post messages to this group. If someone wishes to post to the group then they can join themselves. They have the option of asking the Administrator to post something for them. This would be at his discretion.

Penalties
    Breaching the rules of this Mailgroup will be acted upon in the following ways:

  • Immediate dismissal will be used for anyone who uses this Mailgroup to send a virus (or similar program or macro), post pornographic material or send material relating to terrorist activities.
  • Immediate suspension may be invoked should someone post emails causing obvious harm to others. The sender will have the ability to defend their actions and rejoin given the assurance that such activity will not continue.
  • Other breaches of the rules will be dealt with in the following way:
    • A warning will be given either privately or via the Mailgroup
    • On continuance a second warning will be given via the Mailgroup, with clear indication as to what the breach is and that this is the final warning.
    • On continuance the sender will be taken off the Mailgroup for a week.
    • If the sender resumes the breach of rules on return then the sender will be banned for a month.
    • If the sender resumes the breach of the rules upon return then the sender will be banned for life.

Disclaimer
    No-one associated with this Mailgroup or the Internet Service Provider takes any responsibility for any material sent through this Mailgroup. All responsibility rests with the person sending the material, who will be liable for any breaches in law, be it within Australia, or within the country of origin of the Email.

The Administrator of this group reserves the right to remove anyone from the Mailgroup for breaching the above rules or behaving in a manner contrary to the best interests of the group a whole.



Enquiries or comments should be directed to the webmaster...Dr John Goswell.