ABSTRACT
The proceedings contain 16 papers. The topics discussed include: false identification of icterus by eye in a complex patient with severe neutropenic sepsis;an unusual cause of Hypertriglyceridemia in an Infant;a confectionary cause of biochemical mimic for fructose-1,6-bisphosphatase (FBP1) deficiency;forward thinking for reverse PseudoHyperKalaemia;an unexpected follow-up of increased leucine on newborn blood spot screening;'that's gas!' - evaluation of the Abbott Alinity carbon dioxide assay;calcium verification with a difference?;changes in diagnosis of gestational diabetes mellitus during the Covid-19 pandemic at a large maternity hospital in Southwest Ireland;NT-proBNP in primary care. What's the indication and can it be interpreted? and elevated serum neurofilament light chain (NfL) as a potential biomarker in neuropsychiatric disorders.
ABSTRACT
Introduction: Covid-19 was the cause of a pandemic that claimed thousands of human lives. The pandemic has caused health professionals mental health problems that influence emotional, psychological and social well-being, which affects the way they think, feel and act in daily life. Objective(s): To de-termine the quality of life of health personnel during the Co-vid-19 pandemic in public institutions in the city of Cuenca. Material(s) and Method(s): Descriptive, cross-sectional and observational study. The study sample was 338 health professionals belonging to the Ministry of Public Health of the Canton Cuenca, province of Azuay-Ecuador, doctors, nurses, dentists, psychologists, assistants and biochemists who work at differ-ent levels of care were included. Two WHOQOL surveys and the Lazarus and Folkman scale of coping modes were used, for the tabulation of the data the RStudio statistical program was used. Result(s): In the psychological domain, no significant destructuring was found in the personnel studied. In the field of health, it should be noted that the personnel studied reported the inability to carry out the activities they need and the diffi-culty in moving from one place to another. Conclusion(s): When investigating the relationship of health personnel with the envi-ronment, no statistically significant alteration was found, but it was evidenced that social support is a protective factor for the mental health of personnel.Copyright © 2022, Venezuelan Society of Pharmacology and Clinical and Therapeutic Pharmacology. All rights reserved.
ABSTRACT
The last two years in education were like no other ones. What would we expect from 2022? The COVID-19 pandemic and subsequent health crisis has profoundly impacted our lives. Furthermore, it influences dramatically education whose implications are yet to be determined. However, even before 2020, it was verified that teaching or studying biochemistry no longer involves the reading of the biochemistry book. Moreover, recent studies referred that about 60% of Portuguese do not read any book. Thus, it was decided at the biochemistry classes, to adopt the strategy of discovering a new friend, 'The Biochemist's Uncle', for the teaching and the learning of biochemistry. Some chapters of the biochemistry book were read more than 3 times during the 14 weeks of the semester. Each time the teacher traveled through a chapter, stopped at a different page where it could be found a feature about a concept or/and a topic. Students are invited to participate in this process. Certainly, students acquire better knowledge in the subjects and topics of biochemistry, if they are involved in the discovery of the topics. Furthermore, the participation of students in learning, rather than simply teaching them, leads to an increase interest in the study of biochemistry as well as in their various interfaces and applications. One problem with active learning, however, is that it is very time consuming. Herein, we described some examples arise from this methodology of teaching and learning biochemistry by purely reading the book. Students were encouraged to report the positive and negative aspects of this approach. Regarding the positive aspects, the feeling of having learned to study and the importance of biochemistry was mention. Further analysis and concerns will be given in the present communication. Still, perhaps the pandemic effects in education are yet to come. In any case, in education, the act of discovering and innovating is always an exciting adventure.
ABSTRACT
Background: Covid-19 has enforced education system across India and the world indeed, to suspend physical classrooms and shift to online classes. While faculty grapples with new ways of managing this sudden transition to online education, students are left clinging on to electronic gadgets. Online education is not as easy as using laptop or phone. There are challenges with this form of education, which are faced at both ends of the spectrum by students as well as faculty. Hence, there was a need to find out the perception of medical faculty regarding tectonic shift from traditional to online teaching during COVID 19 pandemic. Description: An observational, prospective and cross-sectional study was conducted among the faculty of medical domain with online teaching experience during COVID 19 pandemic. Out of 269 faculty participated: 29% Professors, 22% Associate Professors, 25% Assistant Professors and 15% Teachers and others 9%. Institutional Ethics Committee approval was obtained prior to the study. Google form with questionnaire and Informed consent with link were shared with faculty all over the globe. The online facilitation system for students (modified) with 20 questions was used as questionnaire with three subscales: (a) student-related issues, (b) instructor-related issues, and (c) institutional-related issues. SPSS version 21, ANOVA test used for statistical analysis. Where, designation and demographic details considered as independent variables and faculty perception as dependent variable. Outcome: 269 subjects from medical domain comprising of faculty from Medical 89%, Allied Health Sciences 6% and Nursing 5% participated in this study. Males were 36% and females 67%, within the age group of 25 years and above. More than 50% of the responses were obtained from Biochemists and Physiologists. Seventy-five to 100% of faculty agreed that they do not have any control on students while teaching online, students can access online course from any place in India or world, students use a wider range of resources, technical problems discourage teaching online. Not meeting students face-to-face prevents the teacher from knowing them with respect to academics and emotional perspectives, concerned about receiving lower course evaluations, it is more difficult to motivate students in online environment than in the traditional setting As the age increased the satisfaction, rating has decreased with p value 0.03 (statistically significant) between groups and within the groups. The junior faculty responded with increased mean value rating of satisfaction when compared to the senior faculty. Medical faculty (mean value 2.75) were less satisfied rating with online teaching compared to allied health sciences and nursing (mean value 3.44). Faculties across India and world have responded that they are partially satisfied with online teaching and prefer traditional teaching. Conclusion: Online learning is an exciting new way to learn and has a positive impact on students' education as well as faculty from medical domain during Covid-19 pandemic. Faculty of every age is taking it as a good step during pandemic. The difference was found when perception was compared with the designation and age groups. High-quality online teaching requires candid planning, preparation and more individualised feedback and assistance. Hence, preference is given for traditional teaching.