The Defects of Infectious Diseases Residency Curriculum in Iran

Background & Objective: To train specialists in infectious diseases, a comprehensive and responsive curriculum to community needs is essential. We checked the infectious diseases residency curriculum in Iran and comprised it with same curricula of other country with the aim of identifying the defects. Methods: This descriptive-comparative study had three steps. First, researchers studied the infectious diseases curriculum of Iran. Then, the same curricula in some other countries were extracted and finally, information such as mission and goals, type and duration of postgraduate training and rotations, teaching strategies and approaches, and amount of elective courses were compared within these curricula. Results: In Iran, the curricula of postgraduate courses for all medical universities are formulated by Ministry of Health. There are many similarities between infectious diseases residency curriculum of Iranian universities and other countries; but in many countries, it is offered in fellowship courses. In Iranian domestic curriculum, learning objectives, themes and subthemes, assessment methods blueprint, and rotational period details are not mentioned. However, other issues such as the epidemiology and health issues are considered in the short-term courses. Based on domestic curriculum, resident cannot be selectively trained in any course, or procedure. Most of the instructional content of curriculum was organized by topics. Conclusion: Policy makers in Iranian Ministry of Health should attend internal consistency of infectious diseases residency curriculum considering other trainee levels curricula and utilize exclusive subject-based models in curriculum formulation to promote education in this field. Keywords Curriculum Professional Infectious Residenc

Students’ Participation in Teaching and its Improvement Methods: A Review Study

Background & Objective: Students’ participation in the classroom is a feature of many educational designs. This can include scholarly and interesting ideas by students and results in the creation of positive energy and enthusiasm in the classroom atmosphere. However, if not managed, students’ participation may cause burnout among teachers and confusion for students. This review study aimed to assess models for students’ participation in the classroom and provide a general guideline to improve it. Methods: To perform this review study, PRISMA flow diagram was used. First, available scientific websites were searched using the related keywords, and 35 articles were retrieved. Due to inappropriate contents or repetition of ideas, 25 articles were excluded. Thus, 10 articles which had discussed the issue and its guidelines more comprehensively were selected. Parts of the contents were selected and combined to provide a brief guideline for university faculties and instructors. Results: The selected studies were review studies conducted in Canada and the United States. The contents of the studies included advantages of students’ participation in teaching, strategies to increase participation, reasons for the lack of participation, and classification and evaluation of student participation. Conclusion: Regarding the importance of students’ participation in the overall quality of teaching, faculties are recommended to try to enhance students’ participation in teaching. Key Words: Teaching models, Participation in teaching, Teaching participative models, University studen

Concept Mapping in Learning Histology from the Viewpoint of Midwifery Students

Background & Objective: Concept mapping is an active, creative, and objective practice which improves the advanced learning process and students’ required skills. The aim of this study was the evaluation of concept mapping method in learning histology lessons from the point of view of midwifery students. Methods: The present research was a descriptive, cross-sectional study. The target population consisted of all first-semester midwifery students of Qazvin University of Medical Sciences, Iran, in 2015. After concept mapping education, the students were asked to make a concept map of the lessons of the same week and to hand it in the following session. At the end of the semester, students' views regarding the effect of concept mapping on learning were collected by completing the researcher-made questionnaire. The collected data were analyzed in SPSS software. Frequency distribution was presented in the form of frequency tables. One-sample ttest was used to compare the mean score of each question with its mean and 3 (the value of the mean). Results: In this study, 68.9% of students confirmed the usefulness of concept mapping during the semester. Among the students, 6.9% believed other methods to be more effective. However, 58.6% of students found it effective in memorizing histological terms and 65.5% emphasized that concept mapping helped them better understand histology lessons. Independent t-test results showed a significant difference between the mean score of each question and 3. This revealed that mapping was useful in better understanding (P = 0.003), maintaining terminology (P = 0.004), and answering questions (P = 0.001). In general, the majority of students approved the use of concept mapping as an effective learning method during the term (P < 0.001). Conclusion: This study showed that concept maps are acceptable among students as a means of learning new information. Therefore, in order to facilitate learning for students, the application of different training strategies, like concept mapping, is suggested in basic medical sciences educations. Key Words: Concept map, Learning, Histolog

Problems of Continuing Medical Education Programs and Their Solutions from the Viewpoint of Faculty Members

Background & Objective: The majority of surveys have demonstrated the inadequate success rate of continuing education programs in Iran from the viewpoint of participants. However, no studies have been conducted on the viewpoints of lecturers (influential individuals and beneficiaries in this issue) in this regard. Thus, the present study aimed to investigate the problems of continuing education programs and their solutions from the perspective of lecturers. Methods: This qualitative study was conducted in 2015 on 15 university faculty members who had previous experience of lecturing continuing education programs. The participants were selected using purposive sampling (n = 15). Data were gathered through focus group discussion. All discussions were recorded on audiotapes, transcribed, and then, analyzed through inductive content analysis. Results: Data analysis led to the extraction of 3 main themes (problems), 12 categories, 42 subcategories, and 68 suggested solutions. The main themes included the reduction of incentive to participate in programs (4 categories), low effectiveness of implemented programs (5 categories), and the ineffective evaluation of programs (3 categories). Conclusion: The main motivation for general practitioners to participate in these programs must be the correction of professional practice. It seems that intervention in the implementation and assessment fields are more likely than participants’ motivation. Providing teaching methods workshops for faculty members, improving awareness of the goals and timetable of workshops, holding workshops rather than lectures, evaluating performance instead of satisfaction, and providing feedback on the assessment results are effective factors in the efficiency of programs. Key Words: Effectiveness, Continuing education, General practitioner, Evaluation, Qualitative stud

The Yin and Yang of Sodium Lauryl Sulfate Use for Oral and Periodontal Health: A Literature Review

Sodium lauryl sulfate (SLS) is an anionic surfactant, which has a wide range of usage in the health sector and in dental pharmaceutical products, especially in toothpastes. The objective of this review was to investigate the effects of SLS containing dentifrices on oral and periodontal health, possible side effects, and its benefits. A thorough literature search was done using databases of PubMed and Google Scholar and finally, 40 articles were included in the study. This narrative review revealed the sources of discrepancy and conflicting results regarding the impact of SLS on oral cavity as well as a lack of sufficient evidence in most topics. Hence, the evidence suggests improved drug bioavailability when used as a solubilizer, improved plaque control, and reduction in bad breath. On the other hand, SLS can serve as a risk indicator of prolonged oral wound healing time, recurrent aphthous stomatitis

Effect of topical honey application along with intralesional injection of glucantime in the treatment of cutaneous leishmaniasis

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Leishmaniasis is an endemic disease in Iran. Although many treatments have been suggested for this disease, there hasn't been an effective and safe treatment yet. Regarding the healing effect of honey in the chronic ulcers and its reported therapeutic effect in cutaneous leishmaniasis, we performed a study to better evaluate the efficacy of honey in cutaneous leishmaniasis and its final scar.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>In a prospective clinical trial, 100 patients with confirmed cutaneous leishmaniasis were selected and randomized into 2 groups. Group A were treated with topical honey twice daily along with intralesional injection of glucantime once weekly until complete healing of the ulcer or for maximum of 6 weeks. Group B were treated with intralesional injection of glucantime alone until complete healing of the ulcer or for a maximum of 6 weeks, too. The patients were followed for 4 months. The collected data were analyzed statistically using statistical tests including Chi-square, Mann Whitney and Kaplan – Mayer tests.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>In this study, 45 patients that had cutaneous leishmaniasis were treated with intralesional glucantime alone and 45 patients were treated with topical honey and glucantime . Ten patients left out the study. In the glucantime alone treated group, 32 patients (71.1%) had complete cure whereas in the group treated with both glucantime & topical honey, 23 patients (51.1%) achieved complete cure. This difference was significant statistically (p = 0.04).</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>Further studies to better clarify the efficacy of honey in cutaneous leishmaniasis is needed. We suggest that in another study, the efficacy of honey with standardized level of antibacterial activity is evaluated against cutaneous leishmaniasis.</p

Effect a negative score on the exam results: A case report

Background: The main assumption in the exam scoring system consists of multiple choice questions is that the number of choice is limited, so if the student don’t knows the correct answer can guess it. The most common way to stop guessing, assigning a negative score. Objective: The aim of this study was to investigate the effect of negative score on the results of an exam. Methods: This article is descriptive study of student score and grades before and after applying a negative score, and then again after the changes done by the Department of Basic Sciences. Encompassing 58 scores entered in SPSS v19 and analyzed using paired t-test was performed. To clarify the relationship between students rank, the Spearman correlation test was used. Findings: The mean score before and after applying a negative score, and then again after the changes done by the Department are 11.59 ± SD 2.34, 10.90 ± SD 2.14 and 12.45 ± SD 2.19, respectively. T test results showed statistically significant differences between the mean scores of the three modes. (P value for all three <0.001) Spearman correlation coefficients between three models are the 0.94, 0.94 and 0.98 (P value for all three <0.001) Conclusions: Although the use of correction formulas has its fans, but the results of this study and the related literature indicates, using the correct formula for the prevention of guessing is not recommended to increase the credibility and differentiation and other methods may be used. Keywords: negative scores, exam, Medical School, Multiple choice questio

The comparision of Iranian Physician and Nurses attitudes towards Do- Not- Resusciate Orders

Abstract:Background and AimDecision making process about Do- Not-Resusciate (DNR) order is unique, since, it is the only treatmentdecision that should be taken in advance. Most physicians and nurses are not sure whether and when to makea decision about DNR order and its moral aspects. The current study is performed to compare and investigatenurses and physicians attitude about DNR order for patients in their final phases of life.Materials and MethodsIn this descriptive–comparative study, 152 physicians and 152 nurses have been studied. The samplingmethod was stratified sampling. The data gathering tools were a demographical questionnaire and a attitudequestionnaire about DNR order.ResultsThe nurses and physicians in this research with averages of 3.25 for nurses and 3.22 for physicians, had apositive attitude about DNR order. But there was no significant difference between the attitude average scoreof the physicians and nurses about DNR order (p&gt;0.5). Nurses and physicians with experience ofparticipating in implementation of cardiopulmonary resuscitation and DNR order, had more positive attitudetoward DNR orderConclusionsThe findings suggest that there is no difference between the physician’s and nurse’s view about DNR order.Although there is a significant relationship between former experience of participating in implementation ofcardiopulmonary resuscitation and DNR order with positive attitude about DNR order.KeywordsCardiopulmonary resuscitation; Physician; Nurse, Attitud