Inclination towards a research career among first year medical students: an international study.

Introduction: The importance of fostering clinicians who are also scientists is well recognized. It is of value to assess medical students’ inclination towards and self-perceived readiness for a research career, as this has implications on the future development of such individuals. Methods: A questionnaire was self-administered to all consenting first year medical students from eleven universities in ten countries. Questions were asked pertaining to inclination towards research careers, confidence in research methodology and ability to understand medical literature. Results: A total of 1354 questionnaires were completed, with a mean response rate of 76.5%. While 24.8% students expressed an interest in pursuing a research career, 48.3% were undecided. Students with prior research experience and students who were attending graduate medical school programmes were more likely to have an interest in a research career after graduation. Males were more interested in learning about biostatistics than females, while the reverse was true for learning about research ethics. Discussion: Most students in their first year of medical school are not inclined towards a research career. This finding applies internationally, across different countries and medical school systems. Thus, the onus is on medical schools to help transform the perception and attitudes of their students during the course of their training, so that a greater proportion will be interested in and ultimately pursue research careers.

Awareness Status about HIV-AIDS among Indian Railway's Employees and their Family Members.

A house to house survey was conducted in December 2005 in the Railway Colony of Shamli, located in the state of Uttar Pradesh, India using a semistructured questionnaire to study the awareness level regarding HIV/AIDS among Indian Railway's employees and their family members. Information regarding demographic characteristics and knowledge about various aspects of HIV/AIDS was recorded by a trained staff nurse of the local Railway Medical Unit from at least one person, aged 15 years to 59 years, from each household. Among 293 individuals interviewed, majority were males (61.8%), aged > 30 years (56.6%) and literate (85.3%). Majority were aware about existence of HIV infection in India (92.5%), AIDS is a fatal disease (92.8%) and laboratory tests are available for detecting HIV infection (89.4%). Although most of them knew the correct routes of HIV transmission viz. sexual (91.5%), parentral (90.8%), perinatal route (86.3%) and blood transfusion (86.0%), misconceptions such as transmission through shaking hands (89.1%), hugging (88.4%), sharing utensils (82.6%), mosquito bite (74.1%) and using public toilets (73.4%) were also observed. Most of them were also aware about preventive measures. Knowledge about various aspects was observed to be significantly higher among females, among individuals aged < 45 years and literate individuals. The findings highlight the need of intensified health education focusing on removal of misconceptions and further improvement in awareness level of the study population.

Should there be mandatory testing for HIV prior to marriage in India?

The National AIDS Prevention and Control Policy of the government of India states that testing for HIV infection should be voluntary in nature. But from time to time various state governments and the central government have announced their intent of introducing mandatory premarital testing. Though this intent has not yet been translated into action, we present our case against the adoption of such a policy by discussing various social and medical issues. These include the limited population that such a policy would target given the early age of marriage in India; issues related to its implementation considering the low marriage registration rates in India; potential of stigma and discrimination associated with it; issues with defining boundaries and the role of the state; limitations related to the HIV test itself in context of the policy, including the window period and the positive predictive value of the test; its limited impact in population groups at a high risk for HIV infection; its limited role in changing unsafe behaviours; its limited potential to enhance the empowerment of women; its conflict with existing human rights; and the adverse experience of other countries with a similar policy.

Perception of risk and potential occupational exposure to HIV/AIDS among medical interns in Delhi.

A cross sectional study was conducted among 129 medical interns of Maulana Azad Medical College, New Delhi for assessing the perceived levels of risk of acquiring HIV infection in the health care settings among medical interns, reasons for the same and their exposure to situations having potential of HIV transmission. Majority of the interns (68.3%) perceived themselves to be at a very high/high risk of acquiring HIV infection during their medical career. The common reasons for perceived risk of acquiring HIV infection were getting injuries due to needle pricks/cuts during surgical procedures (32.4%), frequent exposure to the blood/ secretions of patients (28.5%) and insufficient availability of gloves (17.6%). Some (23.2%) were of the opinion that students in future might lose interest in the medical profession due to increasing risk of HIV infection and few (3.1%) were even considering to leave the medical profession for the same reason. Majority of the interns (72.9%) had experienced needle pricks and more than half (53.7%) of them even had had blood splashes in their eyes/ nose/ mouth during surgical procedures. The findings of the study call for efforts for bringing a reduction in the risk perception of the interns through awareness campaigns and reorientation trainings, ensuring availability of gloves and other items necessary for observing universal work precautions and proper disposal of potentially contaminated articles.

Perception of risk and potential occupational exposure to HIV/AIDS among medical interns in Delhi.

A cross sectional study was conducted among 129 medical interns of Maulana Azad Medical College, New Delhi for assessing the perceived levels of risk of acquiring HIV infection in the health care settings among medical interns, reasons for the same and their exposure to situations having potential of HIV transmission. Majority of the interns (68.3%) perceived themselves to be at a very high/high risk of acquiring HIV infection during their medical career. The common reasons for perceived risk of acquiring HIV infection were getting injuries due to needle pricks/cuts during surgical procedures (32.4%), frequent exposure to the blood/secretions of patients (28.5%) and insufficient availability of gloves (17.6%). Some (23.2%) were of the opinion that students in future might lose interest in the medical profession due to increasing risk of HIV infection and few (3.1%) were even considering to leave the medical profession for the same reason. Majority of the interns (72.9%) had experienced needle pricks and more than half (53.7%) of them even had had blood splashes in their eyes/nose/mouth during surgical procedures. The findings of the study call for efforts for bringing a reduction in the risk perception of the interns through awareness campaigns and reorientation trainings, ensuring availability of gloves and other items necessary for observing universal work precautions and proper disposal of potentially contaminated articles.

Study of hand hygiene and enteroparasite infestation among food handlers working in a medical college of North India.

The present study was conducted to assess: 1) Prevalence of enteroparasite infestation among food handlers working in food service establishments located in the campus of a medical college, 2) Presence of enteric organisms on their hands and nails and their hand washing practices. A total of 151 food handlers were interviewed regarding their socio-demographic and professional characteristics. Their hand washing practices were also observed. Stool examination for enteroparasites and stool culture for Salmonella & Shigella and culture of nail clippings / nail bed swabs for detecting presence of enteric organisms were also carried out. Prevalence of enteroparasite infestation was observed to be 41.1%. None of the stool samples was observed to be positive for Salmonella or Shigella. Enteric organisms were isolated from nail clippings/nail bed swab samples of 76 (73.1%) study subjects. Hand washing practices were observed to be poor with low use of soap. Findings highlight importance of periodic stool examination and deworming of food handlers and need to educate them about importance of maintaining hand hygiene with a focus on improving their hand washing practices.

Assessment of functioning of Pulse Polio Kendras and house to house activity in Delhi: is there any scope for improvement?

A cross sectional study was done to assess the performance of Pulse Polio Immunization Booths on National Pulse Polio Immunization day (NID) observed on 2nd December 2001. 55 booths located in Delhi were visited. House to house visits were made on 5 successive days to assess out-reach activities and hold focus group discussions with workers and mothers of the beneficiaries. Majority of the booths were within walking distance (96.4%) and accessible (94.5%) to the beneficiaries, had adequate trained staff reporting in time (88.5-90.4%), displayed IEC material (89.1%), marked the tally sheets in a correct manner (86.5%) and were administering polio vaccine within acceptable norms. Correct knowledge regarding vaccine vial monitor (VVM) was present among workers of 82.7% booths. The marking of children was not being done correctly in 38.2% booths. Efforts to disseminate key messages of next date of NID and routine immunization schedule, information about the disease and it's impact on life and removal of misconceptions regarding polio was observed to be poor (28.9-48.1%). During house-to-house visits coverage was found to be excellent barring a few isolated cases of unimmunized children due to various reasons. The finding of the study implies increased focus on training of the workers manning these booths, especially on dissemination of key messages and information about early symptoms and signs of polio, removal of misconceptions, correct marking of the children and houses and countering resistance to immunization.