Evolution of Clinical Simulation Training and Pandemic-Led Acceleration: The International Medical University (IMU), Malaysia Journey.

In many universities, simulation-based learning has finally been inducted as a member of 'the accepted teaching modality community'. This paper is to share the challenges and successes in the journey towards the inclusion of simulation-based learning in the medical curriculum at the authors' university which saw a steep surge during the COVID-19 pandemic. Our teaching and learning that was heavily traditional based went through a dramatic change to adapt to the new norm when the actual environment and patients became out of reach. We followed five factors (5 Fs) that significantly influenced the successful change: fast, force, fellowship, flexibility, and favourable reception.

Biochemical evaluation of the supporting structure of pelvic organs in selected numbers of premenopausal and postmenopausal Malaysian women.

CONTEXT: Pelvic organ prolapse (POP) is associated with menopause and changes in the proteins of the pelvic supporting system, but there is scant data on the precise alterations in Malaysian women. AIM: The aim of this study is to determine the differences in the extracellular matrices (ECM) of uterosacral ligaments in premenopausal and postmenopausal Malaysian women with or without POP. SETTINGS AND DESIGN: The observational study was conducted for 9 months in three general hospitals involving 30 women who underwent hysterectomies for various indications except for carcinoma of pelvic organs. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Three groups were identified: Premenopausal women (Group 1), postmenopausal women without POP (Group 2), and postmenopausal women with POP (Group 3). Age, duration of menopause, body mass index (BMI), parity, and vaginal deliveries were documented. Only 21 samples of the uterosacral ligaments were stained immunohistochemically for collagen I and III, matrix metalloproteinases (MMPs) 1 and 2, elastin, and tenascin. STATISTICAL ANALYSIS USED: Image J software analysis was utilized for quantification, while non-parametric statistics (Kruskal-Wallis with post-hoc Dunns Multiple Comparison test) was used for result analysis. RESULTS: The profile parameters were not significantly different except for mean age and duration of menopause in Group 3. Samples from Group 2 showed lower expression of almost all proteins except MMP1 and tenascin (higher) as compared to Group 1. The changes appeared to be exaggerated in Group 3, though statistically insignificant. CONCLUSION: A significant difference in the expression of ECM was apparent in postmenopausal subjects as compared to premenopausal (P=0.05), compromising the uterosacral ligament tensile strength. The findings are proven similar as those changes in women from other studies.