ABSTRACT
BACKGROUND The first-year pathology postgraduates can take a long time to learn the basic skills of microscopy, which can become a barrier to learning. METHODS A WhatsApp group comprising all 14 postgraduate first-year students with one senior resident and one faculty as group administrators was formed. For the study, 50 routine cases (35 histopathology cases and 15 cytopathology cases) captured by using a smartphone camera and annotated using image-editing software, along with relevant descriptions and weblinks, were sent to the WhatsApp group. A pre- and post-test comprising 15 cases each was conducted and the results were compared by non-parametric Wilcoxon rank test. A feedback form about the effectiveness of this method of learning was circulated at the end of the study. RESULTS The results of the post-test were better than the pre-test by the non-parametric Wilcoxon rank test. Both the active participants (>10 posts) and passive participants of the study group showed statistically significant improvement in the scores and posted a similar number of intellectually thought-provoking posts. The students’ responses to the questionnaire also indicated that they liked the new method of instruction. CONCLUSION This pilot study shows that smartphone-based learning methods can supplant the traditional methods of teaching for pathology postgraduates.
ABSTRACT
Introduction: Lung cancer is a major cause of cancer-relatedmortality and morbidity in males and females. Althoughsmoking is the major cause of lung cancer, only 10 % of heavysmokers develop lung cancer suggesting that other factorsmay also act independently or synergistically with smoking.Recent studies have suggested that there are changes inhistological type in recent years.Objectives: This study was to determine incidence of varioushistological types of lung carcinoma and analyse their changingtrends.Material and Methods: This is a prospective study. A total of184 cases of lung carcinoma were undertaken to analyse from2011 to 2014 in a tertiary care centre.Results: Overall adenocarcinoma was found to be mostcommon with 73 (39.67%) cases followed by squamous cellcarcinoma with 68 (36.96%) cases. However, in malessquamous cell carcinoma still remains predominant with 59(43%) cases followed by adenocarcinoma with 49 (35.7%)cases .Male to female ratio was 2.9:1. In females,adenocarcinoma was the most common type.Conclusion: Overall adenocarcinoma was the mostpredominant variant of lung carcinoma in our region closelyfollowed by squamous cell carcinoma. However, in malessquamous cell carcinoma was most common histological type.Incidence of lung tumor also shows increase in femalesthereby decreasing the male to female ratio to 2.9.