Challenges and Barriers Recruitment of Professionals and Management Trainees in a Transitional Situation to the New Normal

The purpose of this study is to find out the obstacles faced in recruiting professional and management trainees in the transition situation to the new normal. Competition in the global business world requires company management to be more concerned in managing human resources in it. However, in the new normal situation, several challenges and obstacles in professional recruitment are difficult to attract Candidates with the Right Qualifications, Incomplete Company-Related Information, Ineffective Channels Used, Limited Access to Required Devices and others. All recruitment processes including selection can be done online, the right solution during a pandemic

Malaria incidence in Myanmar 2005–2014: steady but fragile progress towards elimination

Abstract Background There has been an impressive recent reduction in the global incidence of malaria, but the development of artemisinin resistance in the Greater Mekong Region threatens this progress. Increasing artemisinin resistance is particularly important in Myanmar, as it is the country in the Greater Mekong Region with the greatest malaria burden. If malaria is to be eliminated in the region, it is essential to define the spatial and temporal epidemiology of the disease in Myanmar to inform control strategies optimally. Results Between the years 2005 and 2014 there was an 81.1 % decline in the reported annual incidence of malaria in Myanmar (1341.8 cases per 100,000 population to 253.3 cases per 100,000 population). In the same period, there was a 93.5 % decline in reported annual mortality from malaria (3.79 deaths per 100,000 population to 0.25 deaths per 100,000 population) and a 87.2 % decline in the proportion of hospitalizations due to malaria (7.8 to 1.0 %). Chin State had the highest reported malaria incidence and mortality at the end of the study period, although socio-economic and geographical factors appear a more likely explanation for this finding than artemisinin resistance. The reduced malaria burden coincided with significant upscaling of disease control measures by the national government with support from international partners. These programmes included the training and deployment of over 40,000 community health care workers, the coverage of over 60 % of the at-risk population with insecticide-treated bed nets and significant efforts to improve access to artemesinin-based combination treatment. Beyond these malaria-specific programmes, increased general investment in the health sector, changing population demographics and deforestation are also likely to have contributed to the decline in malaria incidence seen over this time. Conclusions There has been a dramatic fall in the burden of malaria in Myanmar since 2005. However, with the rise of artemisinin resistance, continued political, financial and scientific commitment is required if the ambitious goal of malaria elimination in the country is to be realized

Nonbreeding Bird Communities Along an Urban–Rural Gradient of a Tropical City in Central Myanmar

Urbanization is known to be a major driver in abundance and species richness of birds. However, how birds respond to urbanization in tropical cities is understudied in general and entirely absent from Myanmar. We conducted a study in and around Mandalay, a large city in central Myanmar to gather first data on birds and their response to urbanization.We selected four habitats with 10 sampling points each in November 2015. We made 1,536 observations of 68 bird species. The number of species and diversity significantly differed between the four localities. Mandalay Hill and Downtown Mandalay had the lowest number of species and diversity, whereas the University Campus and Paddy Fields had the highest. The highest number of observations was in Downtown Mandalay (1,003 counts) and the lowest on Mandalay Hill (103). Nonmetric multidimensional scaling ordination techniques showed that the four habitat types had significantly different bird species composition. Our results indicate a large effect of urbanization on species diversity, species richness, and species composition of birds

A summary of the Pondaung fossil expeditions

We briefly summarize the fossil expeditions of the Eocene Pondaung Formation of central Myanmar by the Kyoto University field parties with Myanmar researchers during the field seasons of 1998-2003. We briefly report our contributions to the study on the Pondaung fossils, providing locality data, a list of the Pondaung vertebrate fauna, comments of the repositories of the specimens, and specimen lists, with references of the studies on the Pondaung Formation and Pondaung fossils. The Pondaung vertebrate fauna currently consists of three species of fishes (three orders and three families), 16 species of reptiles (three orders and 10 families), one species of birds, and 53 species of mammals (seven orders and 25 families). The age of the Pondaung fauna is determined as the late middle Eocene by the geological and microfossil evidence. The paleoenvironment of the Pondaung fauna is estimated to be forested/woodland vegetation with humid/subhumid moisture and large rivers, which were located not far from seashore. The Pondaung mammalian fauna includes many artiodactyl taxa compared to other middle Eocene faunas of East Asia and shows relatively high endemism at the generic level among the contemporaneous mammalian faunas of East Asia. The Pondaung fauna includes several mammalian taxa that indicate migration between Eocene Southeast Asia and Eocene western Eurasia/North Africa

Mentor-mentee program with Medical Students: A successful program with ethical considerations

Background: Mentoring is the relationship of a guide or a teacher with another person/student augmenting his/her carrier growth, knowledge, skills, and experiences implemented by caring, sharing and helping hands. The aim of this paper is to highlight the mentoring, type of mentoring, how important of matching and consideration of ethical issue in mentoring program. Not missing these significant points, mentoring program could be successful in universities including medical faculty. Methods: The SMART principles of specific, measurable, attainable, relevant, and time-bound are essential to structure the matching between mentor and mentee. The rule of etiquette and ethical issues are crucial and beneficial for mentor-mentee relationship. Clinical mentoring programs help to develop students’ clinical skills and can increase interest in under-subscribed specialties. Positive mentoring plays a part in reversing the decline of academic medicine, by sparking interest through early research experiences. Results: There is the short term goal which is to introduce an immediate support network for incoming students and the long term goal is to cultivate a mentoring culture to engage all strata of medical students and every faculty member. Medical students expressed that mentoring program is to provide counselling, develop professionalism, increase students' interest in research, and support them in their personal growth. Conclusion: The goal of mentorship is to provide additional support to student or mentee by steering of the academic needs or social prerequisites to accelerate the personal and professional development of mentee with advice, guide and feed backs from the mentor

Effectiveness of an Integrated Community- and Clinic-Based Intervention on HIV Testing, HIV Knowledge, and Sexual Risk Behavior of Young Men Who Have Sex With Men in Myanmar

Purpose: Young men who have sex with men (YMSM) in Myanmar are disproportionately affected by HIV, with prevalence five times that of the general population. The Link Up project implemented an intervention using peer education and outreach providing education and counseling on health seeking around sexually transmitted infections and reproductive health, combined with focused clinic capacity building to improve the sexual and reproductive health of YMSM. This study aimed to evaluate the effectiveness and acceptability of the intervention. Methods: Using a mixed-methods approach, and employing a quasi-experimental design, we conducted two quantitative repeat cross-sectional surveys in purposively selected control (no intervention) and intervention townships, before and after implementation of the Link Up intervention. Respondent-driven sampling was used to recruit YMSM aged 15-24 years, and study participants were administered a structured questionnaire assessing intervention exposure, health service access, knowledge of HIV, and sexual risk behavior. Focus group discussions were held to elicit perspectives on the use and acceptability of the health services and peer outreach. Results: At baseline, 314 YMSM were recruited in the intervention townships and 309 YMSM in the control townships. At end line, 267 (intervention) and 318 (control) YMSM were recruited. Coverage of the program was relatively low, with one-third of participants in the intervention townships having heard of the Link Up program by the end line. Comparing changes between baseline and end line, a greater proportion of HIV-negative or unknown status YMSM accessed HIV testing in the past 3 months in intervention townships (from 45.0% to 57.1%) compared with those in control townships (remained at 29.0%); however, this difference in the effect over time was not statistically significant in multivariate modeling (adjusted odds ratio: 1.45; 95% confidence interval: .66-3.17). Qualitative findings showed that the intervention was acceptable to YMSM. Conclusions: Overall, the intervention was perceived as acceptable. Although not statistically significant, results showed some trends toward improvements among YMSM in accessing HIV testing services and HIV-related knowledge. The modest coverage and short time frame of the evaluation likely limits the ability for any significant behavioral improvements

Additional file 2: of A cross-sectional survey of soil-transmitted helminthiases in two Myanmar villages receiving mass drug administration: epidemiology of infection with a focus on adults

Sample size back calculation. (DOC 85 kb