Australasian Medical Journal
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Teleconferencing in Medical Education
Get PDFEducation and healthcare are basic needs for human development. Technological innovation has broadened the access to higher quality healthcare and education without regard to time, distance or geopolitical boundaries. Distance learning has gained popularity as a means of learning in recent years due to widely distributed learners, busy schedules and rising travel costs. Teleconferencing is also a very useful tool as a distance learning method.Teleconferencing is a real-time and live interactive programme in which one set of participants are at one or more locations and the other set of participants are at another. The teleconference allows for interaction, including audio and/or video, and possibly other modalities, between at least two sites. Various methods are available for setting up a teleconferencing unit. A detailed review of the trend in the use of teleconferencing in medical education was conducted using Medline and a literature search. Teleconferencing was found to be a very useful tool in continuing medical education (CME), postgraduate medical education, undergraduate medical education, telementoring and many other situations. The use of teleconferencing in medical education has many advantages including savings in terms of travel costs and time. It gives access to the best educational resources and experience without any limitations of boundaries of distance and time. It encourages two-way interactions and facilitates learning in adults. Despite having some pitfalls in its implementation it is now being seen as an important tool in facilitating learning in medicine and many medical schools and institutions are adapting this novel tool
Challenges to Pharmacists and Pharmacy Practice in Pakistan
No full textThe Islamic Republic of Pakistan is the sixth most populous country in the world. While exploring the history of the development of the pharmacy profession, the author discovered that the late Sheikh Nabi Buksh was the first to start a general store with a pharmacy in 1863. After the independence of Pakistan (14 August 1947), the University of Punjab became the first institution to develop a three-year bachelor programme in 1948 which was extended to four years in 1978–1979. In 2003, a step towards further change was seen when the Higher Education Commission (HEC) upgraded its BPharm programme to a five-year Doctor of Pharmacy (PharmD) programme. At the moment the Pakistani PharmD programme is facing a number of problems which are acting as a hurdle to Pakistani pharmacists and the establishment of pharmacy practice as a profession in Pakistan. This perspective will highlight these challenges so that the HEC and the Pakistan Pharmacy Council (PPC) can intervene to modify the Pakistani healthcare system in order to establish a good foundation for practicing pharmacists and to develop strategies to cope with the challenges accordingly
Seven Years of P-drug Selection
No full textPersonal or P-drug selection teaches students to use impartial, objective information to make prescribing decisions. It is an important exercise recommended to reduce irrational prescribing and improve the prescribing behaviour of healthcare professionals. The exercise of P-drug selection has not been widely implemented in health professions schools in South Asia. This article describes the author’s personal experiences of P-drug selection teaching, learning and assessment in two Nepalese medical schools, Manipal College of Medical Sciences, Pokhara and KIST Medical College, Lalitpur
Quality of life assessment in postmenopausal women in India with and without HRT
No full textBackground
The quality of life (QOL) of the increasing ageing population is becoming an important issue. There is a lack of literature on the association of QOL, menopause and hormone replacement therapy (HRT) in the Indian setting. This study aimed to investigate whether the menopausal transition results in any change in QOL of the postmenopausal women compared to premenopausal women and assess the affect of HRT on the QOL of postmenopausal women on this therapy in relation to estradiol levels of the subjects.
Method
The study included 32 postmenopausal women on HRT (Group1), 36 control postmenopausal women (Group 2) and 36 premenopausal women (Group3). Quality of life was assessed by the WHOQOL-BREF questionnaire in Hindi. Statistical analysis was done by one –way ANOVA followed by Tukey test using 5 % as level of significance.
Results
The control postmenopausal women (Group 2) had significantly lower QOL compared to the premenopausal women (Group 3). Women on HRT (Group 1) had significantly better QOL compared to the postmenopausal women (Group 2) and their QOL was comparable to the premenopausal women (Group 3).
Conclusion
Menopausal transition is associated with decrease in QOL of women. HRT has beneficial effect on physical, psychological and social well being of postmenopausal women
Injection Practices at Primary Healthcare Units in Bangladesh
Get PDFBackgroundIndiscriminate usage of injections and lack of safe practices during injection administration have been reported worldwide. Unnecessary and unsafe injection usage not only increases the financial burden but are also responsible for spreading blood borne diseases including HIV, HBV and HCV. To attain a better understanding of the situation of injection usage in Bangladesh, a study was conducted at six Upazilla Health Complexes (UHCs), which are primary healthcare units in Bangladesh.Method The study involved the retrospective collection of treatment sheets of 1048 in-patients at six UHCs from January 2009 to June 2009. The data was then analyzed using statistical tests. ResultsAmong the patients investigated, 60.11% of the patients received injections and among them the male population received more injection than the female population (males vs. females = 62.50% vs. 55.85%). Patients below 12 years of age received the highest proportion of injections and highest usage of injections was observed in the month of March. The average number of injection(s) prescribed to a patient was 2.44 incurring a prescription cost of 280.22 Taka (USD 3.92 approx.). Injections were mostly prescribed in patients who were diagnosed with physical assault and acute watery diarrhea where intravenous fluids and antibiotics were most widely prescribed. Non-compliance to recapping of used injections was very common which accounted for 22.22% needle stick injuries.ConclusionThe data suggest that indiscriminate and unsafe injection practices were occurring in all UHCs. Such practices resulted in financial losses as well as compromising safety for healthcare providers and patients.
Behaviour of Urban Indian Adolescent Girls During Menstruation
Get PDFBackgroundAdolescence in females signifies the transition from girlhood to womanhood and is marked with the onset of menarche. Indian society is interwoven into a set of traditions, myths and misconceptions, especially regarding menstruation and related issues. The present study was conducted to assess knowledge and psycho-social behavior related to menstruation among adolescent girls in urban Haryana (state), India. Method A total of 478 adolescent girls in the age group of 15 -19 years from three educational institutes of Rohtak city were selected randomly. It was a community-based, descriptive, cross-sectional questionnaire based study, and a pre-tested, pre-coded, closed ended questionnaire was used. Results Feeling of sickness was the most common (in more than two-third of subjects) followed by irritability and emotional disturbances. More than 3/4th of the subjects did not worship during menstruation, 45% were not allowed in kitchen and nearly one-fourth followed dietary restrictions. More than 16% subjects thought menstruation to be a sign of onset of a disease and little more than 7 % thought it to be a curse. Girls preferred to discuss their menstruation related problems either with their mothers or with their friends. ConclusionGirls have inaccurate and partial information regarding menstruation. There is a need of early intervention in the area of adolescent psycho-social behavior during menstruation
Serum Butyrylcholinesterase Levels in Oral Cancer
Get PDFBackgroundOral squamous cell carcinoma (OSCC) is a relatively common epithelial malignancy, and thus represents a significant public health problem. Early detection improves quality of life for affected patients. Identification of molecular markers (or biomarkers) which can predict disease progression is necessary for better management of these disorders. A correlation of cholinesterase with tumourigenesis, cell proliferation and cell differentiation has been observed. Butyrylcholinesterase (BChE; pseudocholinesterase) has been shown to be a biochemical marker for cervical cancer which is also an epithelial malignancy. In this study, we sought to estimate and compare serum BChE levels in healthy controls and patients with biopsy-proven oral squamous cell cancer (also an epithelial malignancy) before definitive therapy as radiotherapy or chemotherapy may alter the levels of BChE and may act as a confounding variable.Method After obtaining consent from biopsy proven oral cancer patients (n= 39) (before onset of any definitive treatment), and from age- and sex-matched healthy controls (n = 20), 2ml of blood was collected. After clot formation samples were centrifuged, serum was collected for estimation of BChE.ResultsPre-treatment serum BChE levels were significantly elevated (p < 0.0001) in oral cancer patients compared to that of controls. BChE levels showed a significant increase (p = 0.005) with advancing stage in oral cancer patients. ConclusionOur results show there could be a role for serum BChE in determining the prognosis of oral cancer