Continuing medical education programs for primary care physicians from remote locations of Vietnam: a needs assessment.

BACKGROUND: Inadequate attention has been given to ensuring ongoing training to improve knowledge, skills and capacity of primary health care providers in low- and middle-income countries. The Hanoi Medical University, Vietnam is providing training sessions for physicians working in commune health stations (CHSs) in three mountainous, remote northern provinces in 2019. This article aims to assess these physicians' knowledge of correct medical responses to emergencies in order to assess their training needs. METHODS: We conducted a cross-sectional study amongst doctors posted to CHSs located in 3 mountainous remote provinces of northern Vietnam. We used a self-administered questionnaire that comprised questions on common medical emergencies, maternal and child care, and non-communicable disease management. We performed Chi-square tests to assess the statistical significance of differences in the mean proportions of correct answers for each health care question category, and for differences in mean proportions of correct answers by doctor characteristics. RESULTS: In total 302 doctors were recruited to the study. More than half of the sample answered 30-50% of the questions correctly, followed by around a third who answered 50-70% correctly. Less than 2% of doctors answered more than 70% correct responses to the entire question set. There were statistically significant differences between question categories, with cardiovascular care questions answered correctly significantly less often than any of the categories (p < 0.00001). CONCLUSION: The findings reported here show that the doctors who participated in the study have relatively low knowledge on common emergencies, particularly to answer cardiovascular care questions. The results also support the need for continuing medical education to improve doctors' knowledge, who are mostly practicing in resource limited remote settings.

Confocal microwave imaging for breast cancer detection: delay-multiply-and-sum image reconstruction algorithm.

A new image reconstruction algorithm, termed as delay-multiply-and-sum (DMAS), for breast cancer detection using an ultra-wideband confocal microwave imaging technique is proposed. In DMAS algorithm, the backscattered signals received from numerical breast phantoms simulated using the finite-difference time-domain method are time shifted, multiplied in pair, and the products are summed to form a synthetic focal point. The effectiveness of the DMAS algorithm is shown by applying it to backscattered signals received from a variety of numerical breast phantoms. The reconstructed images illustrate improvement in identification of embedded malignant tumors over the delay-and-sum algorithm. Successful detection and localization of tumors as small as 2 mm in diameter are also demonstrated.