Over the past 10 years significant improvements in technology underlying ophthalmic diagnosis and treatment have led to marked improvements in visual outcomes for patients.

Developments in ophthalmic diagnosis and treatment have led to marked improvements in visual outcomes for patients in general practice.

Lifestyle medicine has arisen as a relatively new (adjunct) discipline to assist conventional approaches to clinical care in dealing with lifestyle and environmental disease.

Lifestyle medicine adds to conventional medicine by closely examining environmental and distal determinants and individual behaviours that influence disease.

Maintaining health and function into older age is a priority for patients, clinicians and policy-makers.

Maintaining health and function into older age is a priority for patients, clinicians and policy-makers. The Focus articles in this issue discuss the care of ageing patients in general practice.

Skin cancer medicine is a core component of Australian general practice. The Focus articles featured in this issue discuss the management of pigmented skin lesions in general practice.

Skin cancer medicine is a core component of Australian general practice and is consistently in the top 10 conditions managed.

Australian primary healthcare has been transitioning from episodic to continuous care of patients with diabetes.

Diabetes is the fastest growing chronic disease in Australia, with 1.2 million people known to have type 1, type 2 or gestational diabetes.

Respiratory tract and sleep disorders – including obstructive sleep apnoea, difficult-to-treat asthma in adults, and insomnia – are commonly encountered in general practice.

The connection between sleep and health has been recognised for centuries, but it is only relatively recently that the treatment of sleep disorders has developed as a medical specialty.

Advances in genomic epidemiology and sequencing technology will change the way GPs practice medicine in the 21st century.

The genomics era is finally upon general practice, and we need to be prepared to meet the challenges it raises and reap its benefits.

The Focus articles featured in this issue highlight medico-legal concerns that may be encountered in general practice.