Learning styles of postgraduate and undergraduate medical students

To compare learning styles of undergraduate and postgraduate medical students. Observational, comparative study. Department of Medical Education, Army Medical College, NUST, Rawalpindi, Pakistan, during February and March 2012. A total of 170 students were divided into two equal groups of undergraduate students of Army Medical College, and postgraduate students of Armed Forces Post Graduate Medical Institute, Rawalpindi. Learning Style Questionnaire [LSQ] was used to assess and categorize the participants into Honey and Mumford classification of learning styles. The responses of each student ranging from 'very strong,' 'strong', 'moderate', and 'low' preference towards activist, theorist, reflector and pragmatist learning styles were compiled. The two groups were compared using SPSS version 17, using Fisher's exact test and the chi-square test. A p-value of < 0.05 was considered significant. Preferences for all four learning styles were present in both groups. The results reveal an overall statistically significant difference in the 'very strong' preference in learning styles between the two study groups [p=0.002]. Among the undergraduate students, 45% had a very strong preference for being an activist, whereas in postgraduate students, 38% had very strong preference for reflector, and 35% for theorist. This was statistically significant for activist, and reflector, and attained a p-value of < 0.001, for activist, and of 0.018 for reflector. The most uncommon 'very strong', and 'strong preference' for learning style was pragmatist in both undergraduate and postgraduate students. Diversity of learning styles at undergraduate and postgraduate level of medical education calls for multiplicity of instructional and assessment modalities to match them. The learning styles amongst the undergraduate medical students are different from the postgraduates. The postgraduates commonly have the reflector learning style while the undergraduates are predominantly activists and theorists

Obsessive compulsive disorder in Lahore-based population: a survey of social factors

To study the sociodemographic factors, age of onset, patterns of presentation and attitudes of family members towards Obsessive compulsive disorders in a sample drawn from patients from an urban population. It is an observational study of patients with OCD reporting to tertiary care psychiatric units of general hospitals. The sample is from an ongoing multicenter study being jointly conducted at five tertiary care general hospitals. Patients included in the study are those who reported in the initial eight weeks [October to November 2000] of the onset of the study. Forty consecutive patients who fulfilled the ICD 10 criteria of OCD were included irrespective of their age, gender or social class. The sociodemographic data was compiled on a structured form while the complaints and attitudes of the relatives towards the illness were recorded verbatim. The sample shows no gender difference in proportion, a mean age of onset of 22.6 years with a preponderance of females in onset before the age of twenty years. No significant relationship has been found with family size or birth order. The "first born, only child" phenomena described in the West has not been found. Two-third patients reported to psychiatrists within five years of onset of symptoms. Attitude of the family was overwhelmingly sympathetic and empathetic. Obsessions with religious content and fears of the life hereafter and compulsions of washing and cleaning rituals were the commonest. The study shows significant differences in the sociodemographic profile from the West in form of absence of the 'first-born, first child phenomena', a relatively early referral to the psychiatrists, and religious content in symptoms. A positive attitude is observed amongst families of OCD patients towards the disease and the sufferer

Somatoform disorder: Cardiac neurosis

Cardiac neurosis is a frequently encountered form of somatisation, well known for its high prevalence in Armed Forces personnel and females. This common form of somatisation is dramatic and often devastating in its presentation, therefore, resulting in uncalled for referral to cardiologists, extensive, investigations and admissions at tertiary care hospitals. This greatly increases health care costs in terms of professional manhours. The management of the condition at the primary health care [MI ROOM] level is recommended with guidelines for doctors and their clients