Depression in Mexican medical students: A path model analysis.

BACKGROUND: Depression is a mental health disorder present in medical students that foster cumulative disadvantages throughout life and that may compromise patient care. Yet, in Mexico there is a dearth of research concerning prediction models for depression in this population. METHODS: The aim of this cross-sectional study was to develop and test a path model analysis of depression in 103 freshmen Mexican medical students ages 18-23 years old selected non-randomly. Anxiety, emotion dysregulation, and coping skills were used as factors influencing depression. Mexican self-report scales were used as assessment measures. RESULTS: Main results showed that anxiety and emotion dysregulation had a significant direct influence on depression. Emotion dysregulation had a significant direct effect on coping skills and anxiety, while anxiety had a significant direct effect on problem drinking and alcohol problems. Fit indexes obtained indicate an excellent adjustment to data. R square indicates that 53.7% of the variance in depression can be explained by this model. LIMITATIONS: The results are exploratory rather than confirmatory. The sample size was not large enough and the research focused on only Mexican freshmen medical students. Other factors associated to depression in medical students were not considered. CONCLUSIONS: The current research provides unique findings in terms of a model of depression in Mexican medical students through which it is possible to design and implement interventions that decrease depression, thus positively affecting their well-being, their future careers as medical doctors and their abilities to serve the society adequately, especially in the context of Latin American cities.

Desempeño académico, y su relación con calidad de vida y hábitos saludables / Academic Performance and its Association with Quality of Life and Healthy Habits

Introducción: El estudiante de Medicina enfrenta, en muchas ocasiones, entornos de vida y condiciones de aprendizaje poco favorables, así como aspectos psicológicos que pueden impactar de modo negativo en su calidad de vida y rendimiento académico. Objetivo: Evaluar el desempeño académico de los aspirantes a estudiar Medicina en relación con la autopercepción de la calidad de vida y los hábitos saludables. Métodos: Se realizó un estudio transversal, observacional y analítico. Se aplicó una encuesta sociodemográfica y la encuesta WHOQOL-Bref a una muestra de estudiantes del curso propedéutico de Medicina. Resultados: Se encontraron diferencias entre los alumnos que aprobaron y no aprobaron el curso propedéutico en autopercepción de Calidad de Vida (p = 0,01), y los dominios de Salud Física (p = 0,04), Salud Psicológica (p = 0,02) y Ambiente (p = 0,003). También entre los alumnos que desayunaban y los que omitían el desayuno en Autopercepción de Calidad de Vida (p = 0,012), Autopercepción de Salud Física (p = 0,009), y los dominios Salud Psicológica (p = 0,009) y Ambiente (p = 0,024). Conclusiones: Los altos puntajes en la prueba WHOQOL-Bref se correlacionan con el elevado desempeño académico; además, el hábito de omitir el desayuno conlleva a un bajo rendimiento escolar y una menor calidad de vida en los discentes(AU)

Introduction: Medical students face, many times, unfavorable living environments and learning conditions, as well as psychological aspects that can impact negatively on their quality of life and academic outcomes. Objective: To assess the academic performance of applicants to study Medicine in association with self-perception of quality of life and healthy habits. Methods: A cross-sectional, observational and analytical study was carried out. A sociodemographic survey and the WHOQOL-Bref survey were conducted on a sample of medical students of the propaedeutic course. Results: Differences were found between students who passed and those who did not pass the propaedeutic course regarding self-perception of quality of life (p=0.01), and the domains of physical health (p=0.04), psychological health (p=0.02) and environment (p=0.003). Also, we found differences between students who had breakfast and those who omitted breakfast regarding self-perception of quality of life (p=0.012), physical health (p=0.009), and domains of psychological health (p=0.009) and environment (p=0.024). Conclusions: The high scores in the WHOQOL-Bref test are in correlation with high academic performance; also, the habit of omitting breakfast leads to poor school performance and lower quality of life in students(AU)

Cómo afrontar con éxito el Examen Clínico Objetivo Estructurado (ECOE) / How to successfully confront the Objective Structured Clinical Examination (OSCE)

La prueba ECOE está diseñada para evaluar el desempeño de los estudiantes ante situaciones clínicas específicas, donde se ponen a prueba sus conocimientos teóricos, razonamiento clínico, habilidades y destrezas, así como su actitud y capacidad de comunicación interpersonal. Este trabajo presenta medidas sobre cómo un estudiante puede afrontar un ECOE con éxito antes, durante y después de la prueba

The OSCE is designed to assess student performance in specific clinical situations, in which their theoretical knowledge, clinical reasoning, skills and abilities are tested, as well as their attitude and interpersonal communication skills. This paper presents measures on how a student can successfully confront the OSCE before, during, and after the test

[Construction and validation of the "La Salle Instrument" to evaluate the ethical aspects in biomedical research on human beings]. / Construcción y validación del Instrumento «La Salle¼ para evaluar los aspectos éticos en la investigación biomédica.

INTRODUCTION: Research projects must demonstrate not only a rigorous scientific methodology, but also the ethical aspects that require profound reflection of the reviewers. Current regulations establish criteria for research projects on human health, but many of these aspects are subjective. How can the evaluation of such projects be standardized? This is the main subject of the current project. MATERIALS AND METHODS: This project comprises two phases. First, the design and construction of an instrument of evaluation based on the fundamental principles of bioethics, which are autonomy, beneficence, non-maleficence, and justice, and other aspects. The second phase consists of content validation through expert. RESULTS: During the phase of reviewing the instrument, it was necessary to make changes by adding, removing, or changing the concepts or criteria, which lead to the construction of the second version of the format. This new instrument was reviewed and analyzed by using the AGREE II instrument, and this version was validated by experts by greater than 95%. CONCLUSIONS: There are some recommendations to analyze the ethical aspects in research protocols involving human subjects, but they define the concepts and criteria to be evaluated. By presenting the criteria to be evaluated individually, the "La Salle instrument" allows the evaluation to be more objective and standardized.

Exposure to extremely low-frequency electromagnetic fields improves social recognition in male rats.

The effect of exposure to low-frequency electromagnetic fields (ELF EMFs) on social recognition was studied. The test was based upon a comparison between two encounters of an adult rat and a conspecific juvenile, separated by an interexposure interval (IEI). The exposure to ELF EMF of 1 mT intensity during 2 h for 9 days increased the duration of short-term memory of adult male Wistar rats up to 300 min. These data indicate, for the first time, that ELF EMF improves social recognition memory in rats.