Prevalence, knowledge, attitude and practice regarding self-medication among medical, dental and paramedical students in a tertiary care hospital

Background: Self-medication is practiced universally. Having medical knowledge plays a vital role in its prevalence. It is more prevalent in higher education course students especially medical students. However, it is increasing in dental and paramedical students. Hence, this study was conducted to evaluate self-medication among medical, dental and para-medical students in a tertiary care hospital.Methods: A cross sectional questionnaire based study was conducted among 449 undergraduate students. They were divided into three groups. A questionnaire was developed based on literature. The questionnaire was validated and finalised. The paper questionnaire was administered to students. The data collected from questionnaires was analysed. The results were expressed as percentages and frequencies.Results: The male female ratio of students who filled questionnaire was 65:35. All the students (100%) reported that they practice self-medication. The most common reason for self-medication was prior experience (36%) in group A as well as in group B (46%), but in group C, 39% mentioned no serious problem. Main information source was family members in all the groups (A 57%, B 53%, C 29%) followed by advice from senior/friends. Fever was most common symptom reported (29%) by group A followed headache (28%) in group C and cough and cold (23%) in group B. The commonest group of drugs used is cough syrups (25%) in group B, followed by analgesics (23%) in group C and antipyretics (21%) in group A.Conclusions: Self-medication is growing among dental and paramedical students too. It is necessary to educate them about self-medication to prevent future disastrous consequences as well as to make them aware of appropriate use of self-medication.

Cultivating Lifelong Learning Skills During Graduate Medical Training.

Lifelong learning is referred to as learning practiced by the individual for the whole life, is flexible, and is accessible at all times. Medical Council of India has included lifelong learning as a competency in its new regulations for graduate medical training. Acquisition of metacognitive skills, self-directed learning, self-monitoring, and reflective attitude are the main attributes of lifelong learning; and all of these can be inculcated in the students by using appropriate instructional methodologies. It is time to deliberate upon the instructional designs to foster the lifelong learning skills and behaviors in medical graduates. In this communication, we aim to debrief the concept of lifelong learning, particularly in context with medical training and detailing the process that can be explicitly used to cultivate the attitude of lifelong learning in medical graduates.