ABSTRACT
Introduction: Educational environment always play a crucial role in the development of students as well as faculty of any institution. In India, there is a continuous increase in the number of medical colleges and the number of MBBS seats, but the quality of education with quantity is questionable. To answer this question, the present study was planned to know the educational environment in a new Medical Institution that ejected its alumni in 2018. Aim: To analyze the educational environment of a newly established Medical College in eastern Uttar Pradesh. Materials and Methods: The present study was a descriptive cross-sectional which took six months to complete. This study used the Dundee Ready Education Environment Measure (DREEM) questionnaire, open-ended questions and focus group discussions (FGDs). The study was conducted on MBBS students in Government Medical College, Azamgarh, UP. Results: The batch-wise Global DREEM scores were 169.08 (alumni), 156.23 (interns), 168.76 (2015), 164.16 (2016), 176.23 (2017), 176.94 (2018). This demonstrates that the educational environment is satisfactory in all domains and comes under the 3rd category of the educational environment index. The FGDs showed a positive response in all batches but with high variability in scores, which indicates lack of standardization in Medical Education. The open-ended questions’ responses revealed many merits and demerits about five domains. Conclusion: The variability of DREEM score, FGDs and open ended questions denotes the lack of standardization in the Medical Education system and the scores of the Education Environment Index (all domains) must move from category III (satisfactory) to category IV (excellence).
ABSTRACT
Background: The increasing number of the elderly persons and their health problems has greater implications on public health programs in developing countries. Estimates of health problems of the elderly are required from time to time to predict trends in disease burden and to further plan health care for them. Therefore, this study was conducted to determine the prevalent diseases and places for seeking treatment among the elderly in eastern Uttar Pradesh. Data & Methodology: A community-based cross-sectional study was carried out for the elderly people (60 years & above) and the information was collected in a pre-tested instrument. Using multistage stratified random sampling procedure, a total of 417 elderly respondents were participated in the study. Information was sought on the respondents' socio-demographic characteristics, living arrangements and self-reported diseases suffering by the elderly. Results: Maximum numbers of diseased cases were among females (38.06 %) than males (26.45 %). Breathing problem was found one of the major problems among each sex of the elderly. It was found that more than half of the elderly living alone were suffering from one or more diseases. Most of the elderly of lower and middle social status groups were more inclined towards the private health facilities. About one-third of male and female elderly covered more than 5 kms from their residence to seek their treatment. Conclusion: Breathing problem and joint problems were prevalent in both male and female elderly populations. Social status and age of the elderly play important role in seeking treatment from the private/government health care facilities.