Motivation and preparedness of first semester medical students for a career in medicine.

Purpose : To determine motivation of medical students towards a medical career, and their knowledge of and preparation for it. Methods : After ethical committee approval, students admitted in 2009, who volunteered, were administered an anonymous questionnaire. Descriptive analysis was done. Results : Of 150 students admitted, 103 (68.7%) submitted completed questionnaires. Fifty-seven students (55%) got admission after ≥2 attempts; 65 (63%) decided on a medical career before class ten. Accurate knowledge about the curriculum was poor even though many had a family member in the health field and were encouraged to take up medicine. Only half had sought guidance from a medical person; most had never undergone career preparation activity. Conclusion : Students are early deciders and highly motivated to join medicine. Family is a strong motivator and could encourage career preparation activities. Policy makers could design interventions to inform school students before they make the critical decision to join medicine.

Comparison of cardiac autonomic functions among postmenopausal women with and without hormone replacement therapy, and premenopausal women.

The aim of present study was comparison of cardiac autonomic status during different phases of reproductive life in women – in premenopausal women between proliferative and secretory phase, in postmenopausal women and in postmenopausal women receiving hormone replacement therapy (HRT). The study included 30 premenopausal women (Group 1) who were assessed in both proliferative (Group 1A) and secretory phase (Group 1B) of menstrual cycle, 30 postmenopausal women (Group 2) and 30 postmenopausal women on HRT (Group 3). Various autonomic function tests were done to assess parasympathetic and sympathetic functions. Results were obtained by ANOVA followed by Tukey test. The postmenopausal women (Group 2) showed increased sympathetic and decreased parasympathetic tone compared to premenopausal women (Groupl). The women on HRT (Group 3) showed parasympathetic dominance and decrease in sympathetic activity compared to postmenopausal women (Group 2). Across the menstrual cycle, increased parasympathetic activity was seen in secretory phase while no change was observed in the sympathetic activity in the two phases.