Assessment of performance and confidence level of simulation based clinical examination of respiratory system in undergraduate medical students of a medical college: a comparative cross-sectional study.

Introduction: Students in the preclinical phase have adequate clinical exposure to normal physiological findings of clinical examinations performed in healthy peers but do not have exposure to pathological findings other than theoretical knowledge, which is challenging for students during the clinical phase of curricula in examining actual patients. Simulation based medical education (SBME) has recently emerged to address this gap. This study aimed to assess performance and confidence level of simulation based clinical examination of respiratory system in preclinical undergraduate medical students of a medical college. Methods: A comparative cross-sectional study was conducted in the Department of Human Physiology of Medical College. All second year medical students using purposive sampling were taken. Students were divided into three groups and subdivided into six subgroups and each subgroup carried out examination in either healthy subjects or both healthy subjects and manikin. Predesigned proforma was used for assessment of students and the clinical examination process was invigilated by certified physiologists. Results: Students who received both simulation and conventional tutoring methods were able to accurately identify all lung sounds better as compared to those with conventional tutoring with the percentage difference being maximum in identifying vesicular (29 vs 6), stridor (28 vs 6), and bronchial (25 vs 6) breath sounds and least in identifying coarse crackles (3 vs 2). Majority (39 out of 41) of the students receiving SBME of respiratory system were satisfied with the simulation based practice and 34 of those students were even confident on clinical examination. Conclusion: SBME increases performance status and confidence level in medical students. A practical curriculum can be planned to incorporate simulation based clinical examination in preclinical medical students in practical sessions.

Comparison of spirometric parameters in athletes engaged in aerobic and anaerobic sports: a cross-sectional study.

Pulmonary function tests are better among athletes than non-athletes. The spirometry parameters may vary among athletes involved in aerobic and anaerobic sports. This study aims to study the difference in spirometry parameters among aerobic and anaerobic sports athletes. Materials and methods: This cross-sectional study was conducted among 131 professional athletes. A convenience sampling technique was used. The data were collected from April to November 2022 using a proforma form, entered into Microsoft Excel, and analyzed using Statistical Package for Social Sciences version 16. Results: Out of 131 total participants, 65 were involved in aerobic sports, while 66 were in anaerobic sports. The mean age of the participants was 27.34±5 years, the majority being male (n=104). Aerobic athletes had higher differences in forced vital capacity (1.19%, P=0.726) and forced expiratory volume in the first second (3.08%, P=0.315), the difference was not statistically significant. Statistically significantly higher difference in forced expiratory flow at 25-75% (13.42%, P=0.001), forced expiratory flow at 0.2-1.2 l/s (7.47%, P=0.035), and maximum voluntary ventilation (8.58%, P=0.023) values were observed among aerobic athletes. Conclusion: Aerobic and anaerobic athletes had no statistically significant difference in forced vital capacity and forced expiratory volume in the first second; however, other spirometry parameters were comparatively better in aerobic athletes.

Knowledge Regarding Blood Pressure Measurement among First and Second Year Undergraduate Medical Students: A Descriptive Cross-sectional Study.

Introduction: Blood pressure measurement has a great implication in medicine. Every medical personnel should have a sound knowledge regarding blood pressure measurement. This study was conducted with the aim of determining the knowledge regarding blood pressure measurement among first and second year medical students of a medical college. Methods: A descriptive cross-sectional study was conducted by Department of Physiology of Nepalese Army Institute of Health Sciences from June to December 2021 after receiving the ethical approval from Institutional Review Committee with registration number 394. One hundred ninety-seven students from first and second year were included in the study using whole sampling technique. Data was entered and analysed using Microsoft Excel 2019 and Statistical Package for Social sciences version 16.0. Descriptive statistics like frequency, percentage for binary data and mean, standard deviation for continuous data were calculated. Results: Among 197 students from first and second year, 175 (88.83%) had satisfactory knowledge regarding blood pressure measurement with score ≥8 in Objective Structured Practical Examination. Eighty five (85.86%) students from first year and 90 (91.84%) students from second year had scores ≥8, hence had satisfactory knowledge on blood pressure measurement. A total of 18 (18.18%) first year students achieved a score of 10, while 24 (24.49%) students of the second year scored 12, which were the modal score. Conclusions: The proportion of first and second year students having satisfactory knowledge regarding blood pressure measurement is higher in our study. Keywords: blood pressure; knowledge; medical students.

Perception Regarding Early Clinical Exposure among Second Year Medical Students after Educating Pregnant Women on Physiological Changes during Pregnancy: A Mixed Methods Study.

INTRODUCTION: The traditional teaching-learning process should reform to improve the academic performance and understanding of the students. This study aimed to determine the perceptions of second-year medical students towards early clinical exposure about their approach to educating pregnant women on the physiology of pregnancy. METHODS: This was a descriptive cross-sectional study with a mixed-method design comprising both quantitative and qualitative components among second-year medical students of a medical college in Nepal from September 2019 to September 2020. After ethical approval from the Institutional Review Committee (Reference number: 207), 40 students included through the convenience sampling method. These students were subjected to early clinical exposure in the form of educating pregnant women on physiological changes during pregnancy. Data was entered and analyzed using Microsoft Excel 2016. Point estimate at 95% Confidence Interval was calculated along with frequency and proportion for binary data. RESULTS: Among 34 responses, majority of the students 29 (85.28%) (73.36-97.20 at 95% Confidence Interval) were motivated to learn the physiology of pregnancy after the activity; 15 (44.11%) strongly agreed and 14 (41.17%) agreed to this statement. Thirty-two students (94.11%) claimed that the activity improved their understanding of the physiology of pregnancy. The majority of the students expressed that this approach is pragmatic which ignited more curiosity regarding the subject matter. CONCLUSIONS: The majority of the students had satisfactory perceptions regarding their early clinical exposure which was similar to standard data and they expressed that they would like to have similar activities in the future.

Neuroscience Symposium and Workshop on SAAPCON-2016, Nepal.

Physiological Society of Nepal, with support from the South Asian Association of Physiologists (SAAP), organized the 5th Biennial Conference of the South Asian Association of Physiologists in conjunction with the 2nd Annual Conference of Physiological Society of Nepal. The purpose of this conference is to bring the scientists, researchers, and students from the South Asian countries in one platform to share and discuss the recent advances and achievements in the field of physiology. Since physiology is the backbone of medical science which deals with the functions of the human body, the theme of the conference was given as "Redefining health in nature." Giving the emphasis on this theme, the conference was organized on November 10-14, 2016, in Kathmandu University, Dhulikhel, Nepal. A total of 300 participants from 15 countries including the South Asian Association of Regional Cooperation (SAARC) and Non-SAARC countries participated in the conference. The scientific program of main conference, which ran for 2 days, was divided into 7 symposia - neuroscience, cardiopulmonary physiology, cellular and integrative physiology, health and lifestyle, role of physiology and medical education, endocrine and reproductive physiology, and high altitude and respiratory physiology - to highlight the latest progresses made in the field of physiology around the globe. Neuroscience symposium held on the second day consisted of 7 advance lectures and 3 young scientist presentations and poster session. Post-conference workshop on system neuroscience was held in BP Koirala Institute of Health Sciences, Dharan, Nepal.