Assessment: Student’s perspectives: A cross-sectional and questionnaire-based study

Background: Assessment is the most important factor which affect student’s learning behavior. It has been seen that the things which are not assessed have not been read by the students usually. Mainly two types of assessments are there: (1) Summative assessment, which is taken to assign grades to the students and (2) formative assessment, it is considered more important than summative assessment, because feedback to the learner is given after this. Moreover, it is the feedback which stimulates further improvement in learners. Now-a-days the students do not take assessments seriously because their unclear perception regarding the same. Hence, the present questionnaire-based study has been conducted on 2nd-year undergraduate students for obtaining their views regarding assessment and depending on their answers, they will be guided to utilize it in constructive way for their betterment. Aims and Objectives: The aim of the study was to evaluate the student’s perspectives toward assessment. Materials and Methods: This questionnaire-based and cross sectional study has been conducted on 100 2nd-year undergraduate students after taking informed consent from them. Questionnaire in Google forms has been sent to their emails after explaining the purpose of the study. Results obtained have been analyzed and presented in counts and percentages. The Institutional Ethics Committee approval has been taken before commencement of the study. Results: Students were aware about different assessments, but the purpose of the same was not clear to them. Around 63 (74.1%) students were in favor of frequent assessment, that is, they want assessment in every 1–3 months interval. The types of questions for examinations, most of them preferred multiple choice questions and short answer type of questions. Conclusion: The attitude of most of the students toward assessment system was found positive but they need guidance regarding proper use of it. There is immense need to put more effort to aware the students toward this.

Phentolamine Mesylate as a Drug for Reversal of Local Anaesthesia - A Questionnaire Based Study

Local anaesthesia being the most commonly administered drug in dentistry has its prolonged action for up to 3 - 5 hours due to the addition of vasoconstrictors. The extended periods of soft tissue anaesthesia due to the addition of these vasoconstrictors can cause other problems while speaking, drinking, and eating during which there is a higher risk of experiencing self-inflicted injuries to the tongue and lips. Phentolamine mesylate is a drug which helps in the reversal of action of local anaesthesia. Hence, the objective of this study was to provide a basic knowledge about this drug to the patient and assess the interest of the patient in taking the drug when given a choice. METHODSA questionnaire-based survey was conducted among 200 patients who required the administration of inferior alveolar nerve block for their dental treatment. This questionnaire contained basic information about Phentolamine Mesylate drug along with six questions where the patient was asked as to whether or not he / she was willing to take this drug for reversal of the effect of local anaesthesia and specific reason for its usage. RESULTSAmong 200 patients, 122 patients wanted to reverse the effect of local anaesthesia by the use of the phentolamine mesylate drug. Amongst these patients, 93 wanted to take the drug orally initially and upon informing that the injection will be given in the previously anaesthetized area, 91 patients preferred to take an injection of the drug. CONCLUSIONSMajority of patients surveyed in this study wanted to reverse the effect of local anaesthesia by taking phentolamine mesylate drug. However, there is a need to increase the awareness of the type of drug used and the importance of administration of the same.

Feedback of Second-Year Medical Students on Existing Teaching Methodology in Pharmacology: A Questionnaire Based Study

Background: In order to successfully run a curriculum in a medical college, it is a mandatory to collect regular feedback from the students regarding teaching and learning methodologies. The primary objective of our study was to analyse the various teaching-learning aids and course content of pharmacology. The secondary objective was evaluation of pharmacology practical classes and their relevance in relation to the interests of students as well as clinical application. Methods: This is a cross sectional, open labelled questionnaire based study conducted among 100 2nd year MBBS students of a tertiary care teaching hospital. The questionnaire consisted of 10 questions with 4 response options each. Descriptive statistics was used for analysis and interpretation and the results were expressed as percentage frequency of responses. Results: It was revealed from our study that a majority of the students (45%) found microbiology undergraduate practical laboratory more interesting with pharmacology at 35%, which reflects that 65% students think that pharmacology laboratory exercises are boring and less useful. From among the pharmacology practical laboratories (clinical laboratory, experimental pharmacology and pharmacy), majority (47%) of the students opted for clinical prescription and problem based learning exercises as most beneficial. A whopping 55/100 students wanted introduction of clinical case studies as part of the regular practical teaching schedule while 30 students felt that doctor-patient role play should be included in teaching curriculum for better understanding of subject. Surprisingly, 42% of students find audio visual aids as most useful teaching methodologies while 33% students like bilateral (student- teacher) interactive classes. On the contrary, 72% of the students prefer studying pharmacology from combination of both lecture notes, textbooks and their self-prepared notes. 50/100 students wanted inclusion of more case studies and treatment protocols as a part of regular teaching protocol in pharmacology and 30 students wanted more group discussions to be included as a part of teaching curriculum in pharmacology. Conclusion: Pharmacology is a dynamic and continuously evolving branch of medicine. The results of our study are hoped to help in knowing students’ perspective regarding pharmacology teaching and modifying pharmacology teaching patterns for better outcomes.

Baumann Skin Type in the Korean Male Population

BACKGROUND: Research into the Baumann skin type (BST) has recently expanded, with growing interest in the development of an efficient and effective skin type classification system for better understanding of this skin condition. OBJECTIVE: We aimed to identify male-specific skin type characteristics with investigation into the distribution of BST by age and region in the Korean male population and to determine the intrinsic and extrinsic factors related to skin type. METHODS: A questionnaire was administered to collect information about age, region, working behavior, drinking behavior, smoking behavior, usual habit of sun protection, medical history, and the BST which consisted of four parameters; oily (O) or dry (D), sensitive (S) or resistant (R), pigmented (P) or non-pigmented (N), and wrinkled (W) or tight (T). RESULTS: We surveyed 1,000 Korean males aged between 20 and 60 years who were divided equally by age and region. Of the total respondents, OSNW type accounted for the largest percentage and ORPW type the lowest. In terms of Baumann parameters, O type was 53.5%, S type was 56.1%, N type was 84.4% and W type was 57.5%. Several behavioral factors were found to have various relationships with the skin type. CONCLUSION: The predominant skin type in the Korean male respondents was OSNW type, and the distribution of skin types with regards to age and region was reported to be distinct. Therefore, skin care should be customized based on detailed skin types considering the various environmental factors.

Prevalence and Related Factors for High-Risk of Obstructive Sleep Apnea in a Large Korean Population: Results of a Questionnaire-Based Study

BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE: A population-based door-to-door study of cross-sectional methods for assessing the prevalence and factors related to a high risk of obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) was conducted using the Korean version of the Berlin Questionnaire (K-BQ). METHODS: Pooled data collected from Community Health Surveys by the Korea Center for Disease Control and Prevention were analyzed. Of 8,140 respondents from the population, 7,955 were finally included in this study. RESULTS: Of the 7,955 included subjects, 15.7% of the men and 9.8% of the women were at high risk of OSA. Significant differences were found in the following factors between the subjects with a high risk of OSA: gender, age, marital status, educational level, occupation, and presence of smoking, harmful alcohol use, and chronic diseases. Male sex, harmful alcohol use, and the presence of chronic diseases were identified as factors independently associated with a high risk of OSA. CONCLUSIONS: This is the first study to confirm the usefulness of the K-BQ to study the prevalence of OSA in the Korean general population. The findings demonstrate that harmful alcohol use and chronic diseases are very common characteristics among those with a high risk of OSA.