An evaluation of training of teachers in medical education in four medical schools of Nepal.

Effective teaching is a concern of all teachers. Therefore, regular teachers' training is emphasized globally. B. P. Koirala Institute of Health Sciences (BPKIHS), a health science deemed university situated in eastern region of Nepal has an established Medical Education unit which attempts to improve teaching-learning skills by training faculty members through organizing regular medical education training programs. The aim of the present study was to assess the effectiveness of 3-day training workshop on "Teaching-learning methodology and Evaluation" held in four different medical colleges of Nepal. The workshop was targeted at middle and entry level of health profession teachers who had not been previously exposed to any teacher's training program. The various components, such as teaching-learning principles, writing educational objectives, organizing and sequencing education materials, teaching-learning methods, microteaching and assessment techniques, were incorporated in the workshop. A team of resource persons from BPKIHS were involved in all the four medical institutions. The collection data had two categories of responses: (1) a questionnaire survey of participants at the beginning and end of the workshop to determine their gain in knowledge and (2) a semi-structured questionnaire survey of participants at the end of workshop to evaluate their perception on usefulness of the workshop. The later category had items with three-point likert scale (very useful, useful and not useful) and responses to open-ended questions/ statements to document participants general views. The response was entered into a spreadsheet and analyzed using SPSS. The result showed that all participants (n = 92) improved their scores after attending the workshop (p < 0.001). Majority of respondents expressed that the teaching-learning methods, media, microteaching and evaluation techniques were useful in teaching-learning. The workshop was perceived as an acceptable way of acquiring teaching-learning skills but 39.4% participants expressed that the duration of the workshop was too short. The overall impression about trainers was very positive. Therefore, regular organization of such workshops with addition of new advances in medical education would be highly beneficial to improve teaching learning skill of medical teachers.

Knowledge, attitude and practices of mothers regarding home management of acute diarrhoea in Sunsari, Nepal.

In Nepal, 45,000 children less than five years age die due to diarrhoea annually. Home management of diarrhoea is the hallmark of control of diarrhoeal diseases program in Nepal, which also aims to increase the correct use of Oral Rehydration Solution (ORS) by mothers, so mothers play a great role in the reducing the morbidity and mortality of children. The aim of the study was to assess knowledge, attitude and practices of the mother regarding home management of acute diarrhea in their children. The list of 330 children on Plan 'A' treatment was prepared at 11 peripheral health institutions of Sunsari district. Their identification data were recorded by health workers. The mothers were interviewed by the same health worker at the time of home visit after 24 hrs to know the improvement in the child and also preparation and use of ORS. Majority (97.6%) of the mother had information about ORS and also its usefulness in the management of dehydration due to diarrhea. Fifty percent mothers could make ORS properly and gave ORS to their children ideally (after each stool). The correct preparation and ideal use of ORS have not reached in proper way to the mothers of Sunsari district. Use of ORS definitely lowers the mortality due to dehydration, an effect that can clearly be seen in the short term. Intervention such as increasing women's literacy, improving basic sanitation and health care services, and raising the general nutritional status of the population can only be expected to decrease the diarrhoeal diseases morbidity and mortality in long term.

Measles outbreak in a vaccinated population in Dhankutta.

A measles outbreak occurred in Dhankutta town in year 2056 Falgun to 2057 Baishak (3 months). A total of 130 cases were registered at the Dhankutta District Hospital. A large proportion of the cases had severe disease with complications and were admitted at the hospital. None of the patients registered at the hospital died. Interestingly, 50.0% of cases were in higher age group (10 years and above) which is an unusual trend in developing countries. All the cases gave history of measles vaccination, which points towards the need for investigation of vaccine efficacy and cold chain efficiency.