The "new normal" for medical education during and post-COVID-19.

After outbreaks in more than 110 countries, the World Health Organization declared COVID-19 a global pandemic on the March 11, 2020, heralding unprecedented challenges in medical education. Our aim is to provide a descriptive overview of the impact of COVID-19 on medical education worldwide and to assess its future repercussions. Worldwide, medical students were removed from clerkship training. Clinical skills and practical procedure training transitioned to being online, and in some cases, postponed. Medical educators scrambled to convert the curriculum into online formats. Access to Internet, technology, and computer education posed resource allocation challenges in developing countries and further widened the disparities in medical education. Even in countries where the framework and funding were available to support the online transition, debatably, this arrangement can lead to disparities in clinical skills, bedside manner, and field experience among pre- and post-COVID-19 medical graduates. Challenges extend beyond undergraduate medical education to include the medical licensing process of international and national postgraduates. The international community of medical educators needs to collaborate to drive the future of medical education, as the world adapts to the "new normal."

Vitamin D level in a sample of Egyptian females of childbearing age attending a family medicine center.

BACKGROUND: Vitamin D deficiency is now recognised as a pandemic. The normal range of Vitamin D in the Arab countries is much lower than the international standards. Several Arab countries have published studies assessing serum Vitamin D levels among women--to date there is no national study assessing Vitamin D levels among Egyptian women. OBJECTIVE: The aim of the study is to measure Vitamin D level among Egyptian women of childbearing age. PATIENTS AND METHODS: We included 100 healthy adult females of childbearing age, who were attending a family medicine center in Cairo, Egypt. A validated interview questionnaire was conducted with participants, thereafter BMI and serum 25 (OH) Vitamin D levels were measured. RESULTS: The age of the included women ranged from 19 to 49 years old with a mean age of 34 ± 8.47 years. Only 39% of participants were employed and 61% were housewives. About 76% of participants were married, 20% unmarried and 4% divorced. Most of participants (82%) wore hijab; only 9% wore niqab and 9% wore no scarf. Only 44% of participants had normal levels of Vitamin D (˃20-150 ng/mL). About 43% of the participants were Vitamin D deficient and 13% were Vitamin D insufficiency. CONCLUSION: Vitamin D deficiency and insufficiency are prevalent among Egyptian women of childbearing age. A routine monitoring screening for Vitamin D deficiency and Vitamin D health education are required to minimise risk factors among women of childbearing age.