Students\u27 perceptions of usefulness of Anatomy demonstrations in traditional and hybrid undergraduate medical education curricula

A cross-sectional study was carried out to study students\u27 perceptions on the usefulness of Anatomy demonstrations (AD) in the undergraduate medical education by comparing the Conventional Medical College (CMC) and problem-based learning as hybrid curriculum (HMC). Purposive sampling technique was used and all students were included. The completed questionnaire responses were returned by 92 CMC and 87 HMC students. CMC cohort understood the structural relationship more than HMC (p=0.03). AD helped 50 students (54%) of CMC to get through the theory examination, however 73 (84%) students of HMC found them useful in preparation for theory examinations (p\u3c0.001). The importance of AD as a major content delivery strategy cannot be overemphasized in the anatomy curriculum and useful teaching strategies from various undergraduate medical curricula, such as the use of the plastic and plastinated models and the session handouts

Comparative Evaluation of Lamina Cribrosa Anatomical Parameters with Retinal Nerve Fiber Layer Thickness Defects In Primary Open-angle Glaucoma Cases And Controls

OBJECTIVES To assess the lamina cribrosa (LC) anterior lamina cribrosa depth (ALCD), lamina cribrosa thickness (LCT) and retinal nerve fiber layer thickness (RNFLT) in primary open-angle glaucoma (POAG) cases and age-matched controls and to compare these anatomical variables among POAG cases and age-matched controls. METHODOLOGY The case-control study was researched at Al-Ain Eye Institute, Karachi, in four month’s duration (November 2018 till February 2019). Expert eye specialist recruited 57 POAG cases and 46 age-matched healthy controls. Observation of intraocular pressure (IOP) and open angle was done using Goldmann tonometry and Slit-lamp biomicroscopy with stereoscopic ophthalmoscopy respectively. Visual field parameters of mean deviation (MD) and pattern standard deviation (PSD) measured using Humphrey Field Analyzer. Highly sensitive spectral domain ocular coherence tomography with enhanced depth imaging (EDI-OCT) was used to determine ALCD, LCT and RNFLT. RESULTS Statistically significant results were produced by RNFLT defects when it is compared in groups of mild with moderate cases of POAG (P-value 0.037). ALCD and LCT did display an association with RNFLT defects but did not produced statistically significant results. CONCLUSION Assessments of ALCD and LCT can provide important prognostic evidence about RNFLT and can assist in future planning of mild and moderate cases suffering from POAG

Development and validation of an instrument to measure emotions of medical students

Background: Emotions have been known to play a pivotal role in developing, organizing, and motivating human beings. it can impact cognitive skills like memory, perception, reasoning, and problems solving. Similarly, in clinical settings the emotions of doctors are triggered in response to challenging situations resulting in a meaningful impact on patient care and decision-making skills. The aim of the study was to develop a valid and reliable tool which can enable the students to recognize and measure their emotions. Moreover, it also aimed to compare the emotions over medical undergraduates in clinical settings. Method: In this mixed method study, the instrument was developed after the Focused Group discussion with undergraduate MBBS students in clinical years (years 3, 4 and 5). 10- item instrument, with a list of 13 emotions rated on a 5-point Likert scale. It was further tested for validity, reliability, feasibility, acceptability, and educational impact. Data obtained from students of all clinical years for emotions felt during clinical practice, were compared. Qualitative data was analyzed by thematic analysis whereas Fischer’s Exact test was used to analyze the quantitative dataResult: Significant differences were observed in emotions of all three years of students with p-values of 0.025, 0.020 0.007, 0.001, 0.024 and 0.032 for emotions like helplessness, sadness, anger, guilt and being grateful when encountered with various emotionally challenging scenarios in clinical settings. Reliability coefficient was 0.902 and factor analysis showed 3 factors loading. Mean time taken by the students to complete the instrument was 8 minutes. The feedback from the students indicated that it is an acceptable instrument which can help them recognize and identify their emotions in a clinical setup. Conclusion: Based on the results, this instrument was able to identify and measure the differences in emotions of undergraduate medical students in clinical settings across the 3 years, reliably. It was also evident that the tool can play an effective role in helping the students to recognize their emotions and eventually help them manage in an effective way

Hydrocephalus and Its Diagnosis - A Review

Hydrocephalus is enlargement of the ventricular system of the brain due to increased cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) volume and pressure. Congenital hydrocephalus is further classified as communicating and non-communicating depending on whether there is an obstruction to the flow of CSF or not. Multiple causes have been identified in literature which has been summarized as an imbalance in the production and absorption of CSF. It can lead to cognitive impairment, cerebral palsy and visual field defects. It is crucial to identify this condition prenatally as it can leave a debilitating impact on the fetus. Several modalities like ultrasound, computed tomography scans (CT) and magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) have been used to diagnose hydrocephalus. These can help reduce the disease burden and provide means for timely decisions.</jats:p

Association of fetal hydrocephalus with other embryological anomalies: A prenatal ultrasound-based study

Objective: To determine the incidence of fetal hydrocephalus in pregnant women and to identify the association of fetal hydrocephalus with other embryological anomalies.&#x0D; Methods: This comparative cross-sectional study was conducted on 36 pregnant women at a private ultrasound clinic in Karachi over a period of eight months. The participants were divided into age groups, 21-30 years and 31-40 years. Toshiba APLIO 300 ultrasound machine was used to assess fetal age by measuring biparietal diameter (BPD) and femur length, whereas atrium of lateral ventricle was measured to diagnose fetal hydrocephalus.&#x0D; Results: Twenty-two cases of fetal hydrocephalus were observed in maternal age of 21-30 years with a p-value of 0.011. Severe dilatation of ≥15mm was observed in 85.7% cases in age group of 31-40 years. Cranial anomalies were found in 20 cases with significant results while extracranial anomalies were observed in cases of severe dilatation only. Hydrocephalus was prevalent in male fetuses and was observed in 30 (83.33%) fetuses.&#x0D; Conclusion: Most cases of fetal hydrocephalus were observed in women of younger age (p=0.011). Fetal hydrocephalus of severe type exhibiting ventricular dilatation &gt;15mm was observed in fetuses of male gender.&#x0D; doi: https://doi.org/10.12669/pjms.38.6.5223&#x0D; How to cite this:Surti A, Usmani A, Javaid Q, Shafique S. Association of fetal hydrocephalus with other embryological anomalies: A prenatal ultrasound-based study. Pak J Med Sci. 2022;38(6):---------. doi: https://doi.org/10.12669/pjms.38.6.5223&#x0D; This is an Open Access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.</jats:p

Is anxiety related to oral examination scores of anatomy and physiology? A study of pre-clinical MBBS and BDS students

Objective: To assess anxiety levels among 1st and 2nd year MBBS and 1st year BDS students in oral examinations of anatomy and physiology and to compare the anxiety scores among students of 1st and 2nd year MBBS and 1st year BDS.Methods: This cross-sectional study was conducted on 231 undergraduate (MBBS and BDS) students of University from Karachi durning December 2022 to May 2023. Westside anxiety scale was used to assess anxiety levels in students and the scores were compared with oral examination scores using One-way analysis of variance.Results: Extremely high levels of anxiety was noted in relation to oral examination of Anatomy with a mean score of 25±3.801 while a mean of 30.00±5.170 was noted in Physiology in BDS students. However, significant results were observed on comparing Anatomy and Physiology oral examination scores among 1st and 2nd year students.Conclusion: In summary higher levels of test anxiety, especially for oral examinations was observed in MBBS students as compared to BDS students. It was also observed that anxiety levels were much higher for Anatomy oral examinations as compared to those for Physiology

A study relating fetal hydrocephalus with family history and consanguinity in Pakistani population.

Objective: To correlate the amniotic fluid index (AFI), measurements of biparietal diameter (BPD) and head circumference (HC) with atrium of lateral ventricle measurements (ALV) and relate the association of fetal hydrocephalus with family history and consanguinity. Study Design: Cross-sectional study. Setting: Private Ultrasound Clinic, Karachi. Period: December 2018 – July 2019. Material &amp; Methods: Thirty six patients were inducted in the study. Female patients of age range of 18-41 years with gestational age of 21-39 weeks were inducted into the study after informed consent. Toshiba Aplio 300 ultrasound machine was used to measure, atrium of lateral ventricle, biparietal diameter, fetal length, head circumference and amniotic fluid index. Association between ALV and BPD, family history and consanguinity was seen by applying independent t-test while Pearson’s correlation was used to correlate the measurements of ALV and head circumference. Results: Atrium of lateral ventricle measurements &gt;10mm were diagnosed as hydrocephalus. It was observed that hydrocephalus was associated with normal volumes of amniotic fluid with highly significant results (&lt;0.000).  Furthermore, the study also reported a strong association of family history and consanguineous marriages with hydrocephalus. A negative correlation was however observed between measurements of atrium of lateral ventricle and head circumference. Conclusion: Hydrocephalus was found to be associated with normal volumes of amniotic flid and had a strong association with family history and consanguinity.</jats:p

Are congenital malformations associated with maternal sociodemographic and risk factors? A multicenter ultrasound-based study

Objective: Congenital malformations (CM) are structural defects of the human body that arise during development. They significantly impact neonatal outcomes such as morbidity and mortality, hence identification of risk factors and their reduction is vital to improve materno-fetal outcomes. In Karachi, Pakistan, there is insufficient data on the incidence of congenital malformations. Therefore, it is necessary to initiate a prospective case control study. The desired objective was to determine the association of congenital malformations with sociodemographic and maternal risk factors in different ethnicities.Methods: This multi-center case control study spanned over a duration of six months (December 2022 - May 2023) and included women ranging from 18-45 years using purposive sampling technique. It was conducted at Jinnah Postgraduate Medical Center and Tanveer Ultrasound Clinic. Sample of 120 participants fulfilling the inclusion criteria were included in this study after purposive sampling. Sonoscape S22 ultrasound system and Toshiba Aplio 500 ultrasound system were used to detect congenital malformations.Results: Participants were divided into five groups based on ethnicity. Most of the congenital anomalies of the central nervous system were seen in Urdu-speaking group with a p-value = 0.016. An association between maternal age, education level, family income and medications with congenital malformations in fetuses was observed with p-values of 0.003, 0.000, 0.024 and 0.000 respectively.Conclusion: It was evident that various maternal sociodemographic and risk factors play a significant role in the development of congenital anomalies

Application of principles of cognitive psychology in teaching: Perspectives from undergraduate medical and dental students.

IntroductionPrinciples of cognitive psychology (CP) aim to shed light on the fundamentals of perception, attention, and knowledge extraction used for critical thinking, learning, and recollection of information. These principles were incorporated to educate undergraduate medical and dental students, and the study aims to assess the perspectives of medical and dental students regarding applying these principles.MethodsThe descriptive cross-sectional study was carried out among 555 Bachelor of Dental Surgery (BDS) and Bachelor of Medicine, Bachelor of Surgery (MBBS) students using a validated questionnaire with purposive sampling. Data was analyzed on SPSS version 21.ResultsThe study population comprised 555 undergraduate medical and dental students, with a mean age of 20.55 ± 1.86 years. Of these, 63.4% were pursuing MBBS, and 36.6% were BDS students. The sample included 320 (57.65%) female and 235 (42.35%) male students. MBBS and BDS students exhibited high confidence levels in most aspects of CP principles required for interactive learning. However, they expressed lower confidence in facilitator-student interaction, receiving feedback within large classes, and experiencing online teaching elements. A significant difference was observed between the two groups. In five of six CP attributes, MBBS students demonstrated significantly higher perceptions than BDS students: overcoming cognitive and emotional challenges, recognizing and overcoming ineffective learning strategies, paying attention in class, and integrating knowledge (p ConclusionThe current study reveals that MBBS students perceived the application of CP principles more positively than BDS students in key interactive learning areas. Furthermore, the integration of CP principles enhanced session interactivity, student engagement, attention, and retention. To optimize learning outcomes, institutions should consider adopting blended learning strategies, curricular innovations, and active learning methodologies (such as case-based, team-based, and problem-solving approaches) aligned with CP principles. Future longitudinal research could provide deeper insights into the long-term impact of CP principles on student learning and perception