In Search Of Research- Cross Sectional Study To Assess Knowledge, Attitude And Practice Of Research In Undergraduate Medical Students.

Background & Objective of the study: Research in medical field is growing in leaps and bounds creating a new career option for the students. But there is poor understanding of research and its vastness among undergraduate students. There is dire need to expose undergraduate students to some basics of research activity. Prior to their orientation towards research there is a need to assess the knowledge, attitude and practice of research so as to pave way for developing new methodologies, strategies to foster student interest in research as an academic career and help create young researchers among this field.Objective of the study was to assess the knowledge,attitude and practice of research among medical undergraduate students.Materials & methods: A pre-validated questionnaire was prepared, provided to II Phase-II term MBBS students and their response was collected. Quantitative evaluation of the data acquired was done. Results: Response rate to the questionnaire was 84.8%. Though 81.2% students showed positive attitude towards research, mean score of research knowledge was 51.7% and mean score of research practice was only 11.9%. Conclusion: Undergraduate students have positive attitude towards research but their knowledge & practice of research is low. Further steps have to be undertaken to raise this bar of knowledge and practice of research among the undergraduate students.

Cardiac sarcoidosis causing sudden death.

Sarcoidosis is a systemic disease of young adults. Cardiac involvement is rarely diagnosed clinically. In most cases it presents with arrhythmias and conduction disorders. We report a case of sudden death of a young female, wherein sarcoidosis with prominent cardiac involvement was diagnosed at autopsy. The other organs involved were lung and liver. Cardiac sarcoidosis should be considered in young patients with unexplained conduction disorders.

Serous microcystic adenoma of the pancreas.

Serous microcystic adenoma (SMA) is a rare benign neoplasm. It accounts for 1-2% of all exocrine pancreatic tumors. It is thought to arise from the ductal epithelial cells. It is usually located in the body and the tail of the pancreas. It is important to identify SMAs and distinguish them from mucinous cystic neoplasm, which can be premalignant or malignant, and pseudocyst, which is a non neoplastic condition. We present one such rare case of SMA occurring in the head of the pancreas, an infrequent location requiring a Whippel's resection.

Isolated polycystic liver disease--a rare entity: report of a case.

A 45-year-old woman presented with a mass in the right hypochondrium and shortness of breath. The mass was felt up to 4.5 inches below the right costal margin and its dullness on percussion was continuous with liver dullness. Ultrasonography (USG) of abdomen revealed enlargement of the left lobe of the liver with multiple cysts of varying sizes. Left liver lobectomy was done, histology of which showed multiple cysts lined by cuboidal to columnar epithelium. A small amount amount of normal liver parenchyma between the cysts was observed. A diagnosis of Adult polycystic liver disease (APLD) was given.