COMPARATIVE STUDY OF PROFESSIONALISM OF FUTURE MEDICAL PROFESSIONALS AMONG THREE PRIVATE MEDICAL COLLEGES OF BANGLADESH

Objectives: Medical professionalism forms the bridge between doctors and society. Conserving and maintaining professionalism is obligatory for physician curriculum. The objective of this study was to scrutinize and compare the professionalism of future medical professionals among different medical institutes. Methodology: It was a cross-sectional study conducted on 332 year-III and year-IV MBBS students of session 2012-2013 from three private medical colleges in Bangladesh. Data was collected using a mixed validated instrument containing items under fundamental elements of professionalism, measured by 5-points Likert scale giving a maximum score of 220. Results: Among 332 respondents, 44% were male, 56% female; Year-III respondents constituted 51% and Year-IV constituted 49%. Mean professionalism scores for male and female were 176.21 and 175.33, while for Year-III and Year-IV were 174.96 and 176.50 respectively. No significant differences observed between gender and year of study. However, significant differences were noticed between year-IV male students among three medical colleges. Majority (83%) students were imprecise of professionalism. Conclusions: Lack of focus is a worry for professionalism. Educators should focus on fundamental elements of professionalism. KEYWORDS: Professionalism, Medical-student, Core-values, Comparisons, Bangladesh

Sensitivity of Proteus vulgaris to zinc oxide nanoparticles

Zinc oxide nanoparticle (ZnO NP) has become a popular choice in nanomedicine and in the treatment of infections. The present study investigated the sensitivity of Proteus vulgaris to ZnO NPs. The bacteriostatic and bactericidal effects on P. vulgaris were determined by using turbidity and colony count methods. The oxidative stress induced by the treatment of ZnO NPs was evaluated by investigating the level of intracellular reactive oxygen species (ROS) along with lipid peroxidation (LP) analysis. The results showed the highest bacterial growth inhibition of 76.21±1.91 and 87.49±3.29% determined using the turbidity and colony count methods, respectively. The highest oxidative stress effects were observed in P. vulgaris exposed to 100 μg/mL of ZnO NPs for 24 h as shown by 510.90±108.53% increase in ROS production and 328.77±44.36% increase in LP level. The Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR) spectrum illustrated the possible involvement of functional groups such as amine, alkane, acid and alkene from the bacterial cell wall in allowing the surface attachment of nanoparticles on the bacterial cells. Hence, the present study clearly demonstrated the sensitivity of P. vulgaris to ZnO NPs