5 research outputs found

    Grade 12 teachers' attitude towards mass-media transmitted educational supplements

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    ThesisThe purpose of this research was to investigate the essence of Grade 12 teachers' attitude towards the use of Mass-Media Educational Supplements, to textbooks and teachers as well. Firstly, the study sought to examine Grade 12 teachers' use ofMass-Media in their lessons. Secondly, the study sought to determine problems Grade 12 teachers experience when they apply Mass-Media in their lessons. Lastly, the study sought to determine the cause of problems for Grade 12 teachers when applying Mass-Media. Data were collected from one school in Thabong (Welkom). Two instruments were used to collect the data. The first instrument was the questionnaire which collected primary data, and the second instrument was the interview which collected secondary data to complement the primary data collected through the questionnaires. The results have revealed that Grade 12 teachers do in fact, have a positive attitude towards having to use Mass-Media Educational Supplements. The problem lies with lack of resources at schools, and also the time clashes at school with the time for example on which The Learning Channel is being aired. This study therefore, recommends that problems with regard to the time- table and lack of resources be addressed from a higher level than the school level, and also that Mass-Media supplements being in schools, should be centrally co-ordinated. They should be just left as a loose canon for individual school to decide on themselves what to do with it

    Fifth-year medical students’ perspectives on rural training in Botswana: A qualitative approach

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    Background. The curriculum of the Faculty of Medicine at the University of Botswana includes rural community exposure for students throughout their 5 years of training. In addition to community exposure during the first 2 years, students complete 16 weeks of family medicine and 8 weeks of public health medicine. However, as a new faculty, students’ experiences and perceptions regarding rural clinical training are not yet known.Objective. To describe the experiences and perceptions of the 5th-year medical students during their rural training and solicit their recommendations for improvement.Methods. This qualitative study used face-to-face interviews with 5th-year undergraduate medical students (N=36) at the end of their family medicine rotation in Mahalapye and Maun villages. We used a phenomenological paradigm to underpin the study. Voice-recorded interviews were transcribed and analysed using Atlas TI version 7 software (USA).Results. Three main themes were identified: (i) experiences and perceptions of the rural training environment; (ii) perceptions of the staff at rural sites; and (iii) perceptions of clinical benefits and relevance during rural training. While the majority of students perceived rural training as beneficial and valuable, a few felt that learning was compromised by limited resources and processes, such as medical equipment, internet connectivity and inadequate supervision.Conclusion. While the majority of students perceived rural training as beneficial, students identified limitations in both resources and supervision that need to be improved. Understanding students’ rural training experiences and perceptions can help the Faculty of Medicine, stakeholders and site facilitators to guide future rural training implementation

    Fifthyear medical studentsñ€ℱ perspectives on rural training in Botswana: A qualitative approach

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    Background. The curriculum of the Faculty of Medicine at the University of Botswana includes rural community exposure for students throughout their 5 years of training. In addition to community exposure during the first 2 years, students complete 16 weeks of family medicine and 8 weeks of public health medicine. However, as a new faculty, studentsñ€ℱ experiences and perceptions regarding rural clinical training are not yet known.Objective. To describe the experiences and perceptions of the 5th-year medical students during their rural training and solicit their recommendations for improvement.Methods. This qualitative study used face-to-face interviews with 5th-year undergraduate medical students (N=36) at the end of their family medicine rotation in Mahalapye and Maun villages. We used a phenomenological paradigm to underpin the study. Voice-recorded interviews were transcribed and analysed using Atlas TI version 7 software (USA).Results. Three main themes were identified: (i) experiences and perceptions of the rural training environment; (ii) perceptions of the staff at rural sites; and (iii) perceptions of clinical benefits and relevance during rural training. While the majority of students perceived rural training as beneficial and valuable, a few felt that learning was compromised by limited resources and processes, such as medical equipment, internet connectivity and inadequate supervision.Conclusion. While the majority of students perceived rural training as beneficial, students identified limitations in both resources and supervision that need to be improved. Understanding studentsñ€ℱ rural training experiences and perceptions can help the Faculty of Medicine, stakeholders and site facilitators to guide future rural training implementation

    Enhanced infection prophylaxis reduces mortality in severely immunosuppressed HIV-infected adults and older children initiating antiretroviral therapy in Kenya, Malawi, Uganda and Zimbabwe: the REALITY trial

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    Meeting abstract FRAB0101LB from 21st International AIDS Conference 18–22 July 2016, Durban, South Africa. Introduction: Mortality from infections is high in the first 6 months of antiretroviral therapy (ART) among HIV‐infected adults and children with advanced disease in sub‐Saharan Africa. Whether an enhanced package of infection prophylaxis at ART initiation would reduce mortality is unknown. Methods: The REALITY 2×2×2 factorial open‐label trial (ISRCTN43622374) randomized ART‐naïve HIV‐infected adults and children >5 years with CD4 <100 cells/mm3. This randomization compared initiating ART with enhanced prophylaxis (continuous cotrimoxazole plus 12 weeks isoniazid/pyridoxine (anti‐tuberculosis) and fluconazole (anti‐cryptococcal/candida), 5 days azithromycin (anti‐bacterial/protozoal) and single‐dose albendazole (anti‐helminth)), versus standard‐of‐care cotrimoxazole. Isoniazid/pyridoxine/cotrimoxazole was formulated as a scored fixed‐dose combination. Two other randomizations investigated 12‐week adjunctive raltegravir or supplementary food. The primary endpoint was 24‐week mortality. Results: 1805 eligible adults (n = 1733; 96.0%) and children/adolescents (n = 72; 4.0%) (median 36 years; 53.2% male) were randomized to enhanced (n = 906) or standard prophylaxis (n = 899) and followed for 48 weeks (3.8% loss‐to‐follow‐up). Median baseline CD4 was 36 cells/mm3 (IQR: 16–62) but 47.3% were WHO Stage 1/2. 80 (8.9%) enhanced versus 108(12.2%) standard prophylaxis died before 24 weeks (adjusted hazard ratio (aHR) = 0.73 (95% CI: 0.54–0.97) p = 0.03; Figure 1) and 98(11.0%) versus 127(14.4%) respectively died before 48 weeks (aHR = 0.75 (0.58–0.98) p = 0.04), with no evidence of interaction with the two other randomizations (p > 0.8). Enhanced prophylaxis significantly reduced incidence of tuberculosis (p = 0.02), cryptococcal disease (p = 0.01), oral/oesophageal candidiasis (p = 0.02), deaths of unknown cause (p = 0.02) and (marginally) hospitalisations (p = 0.06) but not presumed severe bacterial infections (p = 0.38). Serious and grade 4 adverse events were marginally less common with enhanced prophylaxis (p = 0.06). CD4 increases and VL suppression were similar between groups (p > 0.2). Conclusions: Enhanced infection prophylaxis at ART initiation reduces early mortality by 25% among HIV‐infected adults and children with advanced disease. The pill burden did not adversely affect VL suppression. Policy makers should consider adopting and implementing this low‐cost broad infection prevention package which could save 3.3 lives for every 100 individuals treated
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