Progress in medical education in the Faculty of Medical Sciences, University of the West Indies: implementation of problem-based learning at the St. Augustine Campus.

This paper reviews some of the developmental procedures regarding changes in Medical Education within the Faculty of Medical Sciences, University of the West Indies. Discussed are some of the constraints experienced in attempting curriculum changes in the established Medical School at Mona, Jamaica, as compared with the implementation of a Problem-based Learning Strategy curriculum at the Eric Williams Medical Complex, St. Augustine, Trinidad and Tobago. At Mona, integration of disciplines, Community-health and other programmes were attempted. However, it was at the Eric Williams Complex, a new school, that the Faculty of Medical Sciences was able to implement a problem-based programme.

Ethics and law in the medical curriculum--a university of the West Indies perspective.

The Faculty of Medical Sciences (FMS), University of the West Indies, recognizes that ethics and law are not currently given adequate importance in the training of health professionals. FMS also recognizes the rapid advancement of technology, such as transplants, artificial organs, in vitro fertilization, life-sustaining equipment and euthanasia, as well as the ever-increasing prevalence of malpractice. Thus, two conferences were held to consider the implementation of ethics and law in the medical curriculum. The conferences recommended an increased input into the curriculum of ethics and law, and that this programme be taught and examined in all the medical years. The article discusses implementation strategies.

Mesolimbic deficits exacerbate amphetamine treatment. Clinical implications for drug abusers.

Amphetamine, a common drug used by abusers, is able to produce a schizophreniform psychosis in man. The experiment reported here examined amphetamine in relation to its role in the nucleus accumbens septi (NAS) and the globus pallidus. The effects produced by apomorphine, a direct dopamine (DA) agonist, were compared with those of amphetamine, a known indirect DA agonist. The data revealed that amphetamine in NAS-lesioned animals produced very active stereotypy which intensified with time. This effect was blocked by pallidal lesioning. Apomorphine in pallidectomised rats produced persistent stereotypy, but of diminished intensity. The results are discussed in terms of the mediating roles of the NAS and globus pallidus on behavioural sequelae.

Testicular function in rats following immobilization stress.

Stress is believed to influence male reproductive activity. Male rats were subjected to immobilization stress for 2 h/day for 30 days to assess the effects of stress on testicular function. Net mass of the testes, epididymes and the seminal vesicles, sperm morphology, number of epididymal sperms and percent progressive motility of the sperms were determined. Adrenal weights were significantly increased (P less than 0.05) in the stressed animals. There was no significant difference between the control and the stressed animals with respect to testicular and epididymal weight, level of sperm production, progressive motility, seminal vesicular weight and abnormal forms. Histological examination also revealed a similarity in the structure of seminiferous tubules, adequacy of cell types of developing germ cells, structure of Leydig cells and epididymal lumina in both the groups. This study demonstrated a lack of significant effect of immobilization stress on testicular function in rats.

Review of the effects of Cannabis on mental and physiological functions: justification for an intensive and comprehensive programme for the health of the Caribbean people

This paper draws on scientific work done in the English-speaking Caribbean in an attempt to assess the specific effects of the chronic use of Cannabis on psychological and physiological processess. Evidence is reviewed concerning the interaction of this psychotomimetic compound on cognitive functioning and the possible sequelae of altered mental states giving rise to psychopathology. The physiological work evaluates studies relating to Cannabis smoke and lung function. In addition, the work reveals some exciting findings of the impact of Cannabis on the reproductive process. The implications of these findings are discussed in view of our knowledge of the chronic use of Cannabis in Jamaica, and focusses attention on the long-term effects of this substance in the context of the abusing population

Test for autonomic function to establish the norm: a useful tool for evaluation in various clinical disorders

Little information is available regarding the responses of the Jamaica population to the Valsalva manoeuvre (VM), a test to investigate the integrity of the autonomic nervous system (ANS). This study is aimed at investigating the cardiac automonic control in the Jamaican population, to explore the range of responses and to establish the norm. Such an explorative investigation provides an important tool to uncover autonomic dysfunction in psychosomatic, cardiopulmonary, metabolic and neural disorders. Fifity male and fifty female Jamaicans, who were apparently healthy and did not indulge in any drug use and smoking, are asked to perform the VM in a semirecumbent position. A tachograph (Grass model) and standard electrocardiographic leads are used for the graphic presentation of the subjects' beat-to-beat heart changes. The Valsava ratio (VR) is calculated by dividing maximum tachicardia and maximum bradicardia during the VM. The mean VR for the female (2.41 ñ 0.18) is greater than for the male (1.63 ñ 0.27) p < 0.001). Female subjects exhibit a higher basal hearth rate (88 ñ 6 as aginst 77 ñ 7 in the male) and a greater magnitude of bradycardia (33 as against 4 in the male). The values for VR are above the minimum of 1.5 proposed in the literature. Relatice roles of the sympathetic and parasympathetic nervous systems may differ in the male and the female subjects, thus accounting for a higher VR in the female. This test is simple, safe, noninvasive and reproducible and is useful to detect the abnormal autonomic function in various conditions, including states of pregnancy and stress