Qualitative evaluation of general practitioner training program as viewed by graduates from Shiraz, Fasa and Jahrom Medical Universities

Introduction: The majority of countries have brought the quality of higher education into focus in the past few years. They have tried to improve the quality of their own higher education. The studies show that Iranian Universities are not at an accepted level in terms of quality. They have encountered several problems which have diminished their quality level. This study aimed at assessing the quality of medical education program as viewed by general practitioners graduated from Shiraz, Fasa and Jahrom Medical Universities

Methods: This is a cross-sectional study. 215 subjects were selected based on a census of all the general practitioners graduated from Shiraz, Fasa and Jahrom Universities during 2011-2013. The questionnaire used for collecting the data was that of the Association of Graduates from American Medical Colleges.The collected data were then analyzed using SPSS 14 through which such descriptive and bivariate statistics as percentage, means, Standard Deviation and ANOVA were used. The level of significance was set to 0.05

Results: The questionnaire return rate was 97%. As to the graduates' preclinical experiences, five indices were studied which were assessed as "average" in graduates' views. However, with respect to their clinical experiences five indices were equally studied, among which such indices as "Communication" were evaluated as "desirable" in view of the graduates from the very three universities. On the contrary, the quality of clinical experiences and technological skills was evaluated as "almost weak"; furthermore, the integration of basic science with required clinical experience was also considered "weak"

Conclusion: It seems essential to set up an annual assessment of general practitioner education program and a review of the medical education program in Iran based on the global medical advancement and international standards

Radioprotective effect of melatonin in reducing oxidative stress in rat lenses

Ocular morbidity is widely observed when radiotherapy includes the orbit. Oxidative stress generated by irradiation is responsible for this complication. In different studies, it has been shown that melatonin has antioxidative properties and a radioprotective role. The aim of this study was to evaluate the antioxidant role of melatonin against radiation-induced oxidative injury in rats' lenses after total cranial irradiation. Thirty-six adult female Sprague-Dawley rats were divided into six groups. Group I was the control group, group II only received total cranial gamma irradiation of 5 Gy, group III was exposed as the second group but at the dose of 8 Gy, group IV received 30 mg/kg melatonin 30 minutes prior to radiation plus total cranial irradiation of 5 Gy plus 5 mg/kg melatonin daily through intraperitoneal injection for ten days after irradiation, group V was treated similar to the fourth group, i. e. received irradiation plus melatonin, but at the dose of 8 Gy, and group VI only received melatonin [30 mg/kg on the first day and 5 mg/kg on the following days]. Ten days after irradiation, all rats were sacrificed and their eyes were enucleated to measure the biochemical parameters i. e. malondialdehyde [MDA] and glutathione [GSH]. The levels of MDA in rat lenses increased and the levels of glutathione in lenses decreased after gamma ray irradiation but these parameters were still within normal limits in rats that received melatonin. It could be concluded that melatonin is useful in preventing radiation-induced oxidative injury due to its antioxidative and free radical scavenging properties