Future Choice of Specialty among Students in a Caribbean Medical School

Background: The medical specialities chosen by medical students for their careers play an important part in the development of health care services. The study was designed to examine the perception of medical students to clinical specialty while in the preclinical school. Methodology: A cross-sectional study was done among all the preclinical students using a structured questionnaire. The questions explored the demographic data, generic factors considered as important in their specialty choice as well as factors that influence the students\' attractiveness to various medical specialities. The study was conducted among medical students of Spartan Health Sciences University, St. Lucia Results: Out of 90 questionnaires, 76 were correctly filled, producing response rate of 93.4%. The ages of respondents were between 19 to 43, with mean age of 25.3. 59.2% male and 39.5% female. Internal medicine was the most attractive specialty with attractive factor with mean of 1.2 and SD of 0.46. The aspects of medicine that interest the students most is diagnosis and treatment of diseases; 50 (65.8%), followed by interpersonal interaction with patients; 44 (57.9%) while the least attractive aspect is research; 11 (23.7%). Conclusion: Our study showed that few students are interested in basic biomedical research; hence need to address this apathy in the medical curriculum. Keywords: Future, Choice, Specialty, Students, Saint Lucia, Caribbean Nigerian Journal of Medicine Vol. 17 (3) 2008: pp. 261-26

Knowledge and Attitudes of Students at a Caribbean Offshore Medical School Towards Sexually Transmitted Infections and Use of Condoms

Background: Sexually transmitted infections remain one of the predominant health issues that affect young adults. The aim of this study is to assess the level of knowledge, the attitudes and misconceptions of medical students at a Caribbean University towards STIs and condom use. Method: A cross-sectional descriptive study was carried out among medical students by employing semi-structured questionnaires. Results: Out of 150 questionnaires, 130 were completed, showing a response rate of 87%. The ages of the respondents ranged from 19 to 45 years with a mean age of 26 (SD 5.2) years. The findings indicated that the knowledge of students concerning STIs is high (95.4%). Twenty-four (18.5%) of the respondents had experienced vaginal/penile discharge following sexual intercourse over the last 6 months. The correlation of beliefs in condom usage and risky behaviour gives an odds ratio of 0.19 indicating a lower use of condoms among the students. A negative attitude towards condom usage was seen in 3.8% of the respondents. The main reason for condom usage was to prevent unwanted pregnancy and not to prevent contracting sexually transmitted infections. Conclusion: The knowledge of students about STIs in this study was found to be high, however, risky behaviour such as having sexual intercourse with commercial sex-workers and regular unprotected sexual activities were identified although the prevalence of such behaviour was found to be low. We therefore recommend that behaviour modification programmes with regard to sex education and condom usage be implemented for the medical students as they are to be the future educators of the public on these matters. Keywords: Attitudes, Caribbean offshore medical school, condom, knowledge, sexual transmitted infections, students. "Conocimientos y Actitudes de Estudiantes en una Entidad de la Llamada Caribbean Offshore Medical School en Relación con las Infecciones de Transmisión Sexual y el uso de Condones" RESUMEN Antecedentes: Las infecciones de transmisión sexual siguen siendo uno de los problemas de salud predominantes que afectan a los adultos jóvenes. El objetivo de este estudio fue evaluar el nivel de conocimientos, actitudes y concepciones erróneas de estudiantes de medicina en una universidad caribeña hacia las ITS y el uso del condón. Método: Se llevó a cabo un estudio descriptivo transversal entre los estudiantes de medicina empleando cuestionarios semiestructurados. Resultados: De 150 cuestionarios, se completaron 130, para una tasa de respuesta de 87%. Las edades de los encuestados fluctuaron de 19 a 45 años con una edad promedio de 26 (SD 5.2) años. Los hallazgos indicaron que el conocimiento de los estudiantes acerca de las ITSs es alto: (95.4%). Veinticuatro (18.5%) de los encuestados habían experimentado descarga vaginal/uretral tras el acto sexual durante los últimos 6 meses. La correlación de creencias en el uso del condón y comportamiento de riesgo arrojó un cociente de probabilidades (odds ratio) de 0.19, lo que indica un uso menor de condones entre los estudiantes. En 3.8% de los encuestados se observó una actitud negativa hacia el uso del condón. La razón principal para el uso del condón era prevenir embarazos no deseados y no el evitar contraer infecciones de transmisión sexual. Conclusión: Se halló que el conocimiento de estudiantes sobre las ITSs en este estudio fue alto. Sin embargo, se identificaron comportamientos de riesgo tales como el acto sexual con las trabajadoras del comercio sexual y las actividades sexuales regulares sin protección, aunque se halló que la prevalencia de estos tipos de comportamiento era baja. Por consiguiente, recomendamos que se pongan en práctica programas dirigidos a la modificación de conductas en relación con la educación sexual y el uso del condón para los estudiantes de medicina, ya que estos van a ser los futuros educadores del público en estos asuntos. Palabras claves: Actitudes, “Caribbean Offshore Medical school”, condón, conocimientos, infecciones de transmisión sexual, estudiante

The contributing role of tourism in the HIV/AIDS epidemic in the caribbean

No Abstract

Human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) latency: The major hurdle in HIV eradication.

Failure of highly active antiretroviral therapy to eradicate the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV), even in patients who suppress the virus to undetectable levels for many years, underscores the problems associated with fighting this infection. The existence of persistent infection in certain cellular and anatomical reservoirs appears to be the major hurdle in HIV eradication. The development of therapeutic interventions that eliminate or limit the latent viral pools or prevent the reemergence of the viruses from producing cells will therefore be required to enhance the effectiveness of current antiretroviral strategies. To achieve this goal, there is a pressing need to understand HIV latency at the molecular level to design novel and improved therapies to either eradicate HIV or find a functional cure in which patients could maintain a manageable viral pool without AIDS in the absence of antiretroviral therapy. The integrated proviral genome remains transcriptionally silent for a long period in certain subsets of T cells. This ability to infect cells latently helps HIV to establish a persistent infection despite strong humoral and cellular immune responses against the viral proteins. The main purpose of this report is to provide a general overview of the HIV latency. We will describe the hurdles being faced in eradicating latent HIV proviruses. We will also briefly discuss the ongoing strategies aimed toward curing HIV infection