Natl Med J India
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Background Improving patient safety (PS) is critical to optimizing healthcare delivery. There is a need to develop curricula or incorporate PS concepts in health professionals' (HPs) education, in both theoretical and practical training. Consequently, there is a need to measure the perception of HPs regarding various PS competencies imparted to them during their training. ⋯ Comparison of the results with the results of the Canadian setting confirmed external validity. Conclusion The 16-item H-PEPSS has good psychometric properties for use in the Indian context. The 23-item HPEPSS was found to be reliable and valid for assessing PS.
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Observational Study
Relationship of vitamin D deficiency with mammographic breast density and triple-negative breast cancer: A cross-sectional study.
Background As breast epithelium is affected by vitamin D, it may have a direct effect on breast density and the risk of breast cancer. Our aim was to study the serum levels of vitamin D in patients with malignant and benign breast disease, and to study the association, if any, between vitamin D levels, mammographic breast density (MD) and molecular subtypes of breast cancer. Methods In this cross-sectional, observational study, we enrolled 162 consecutive adult women with benign and malignant breast masses subjected to mammography and core-needle biopsy. ⋯ Among patients with breast cancer, the good prognosis luminal A molecular subtype had mean vitamin D level of 12.94 (6.16) ng/ml, whereas the poor prognosis triple-negative subtype had a significantly lower value of 7.68 (3.42) ng/ml. Conclusion Our study shows that vitamin D deficiency has a significant relationship with breast cancer (v. benign breast disease), high MD (showing increased breast cancer risk) and poor prognosis triple-negative breast cancer. Vitamin D deficiency could be an important, potentially modifiable, risk factor for the prevention of breast cancer in susceptible populations.
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Background The first-year pathology postgraduates can take a long time to learn the basic skills of microscopy, which can become a barrier to learning. Methods A WhatsApp group comprising all 14 postgraduate first-year students with one senior resident and one faculty as group administrators was formed. For the study, 50 routine cases (35 histopathology cases and 15 cytopathology cases) captured by using a smartphone camera and annotated using image-editing software, along with relevant descriptions and weblinks, were sent to the WhatsApp group. ⋯ Both the active participants (>10 posts) and passive participants of the study group showed statistically significant improvement in the scores and posted a similar number of intellectually thought-provoking posts. The students' responses to the questionnaire also indicated that they liked the new method of instruction. Conclusion This pilot study shows that smartphone-based learning methods can supplant the traditional methods of teaching for pathology postgraduates.
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The future of Indian students who return as 'foreign medical graduates' (FMG) after training in certain countries is often uncertain. We collected data from newspapers, government resources and agencies involved in handling this issue. We analysed the current status of medical education in India, the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS) and some neighbouring countries. ⋯ Of 38 150 FMGs who took the examinations conducted by the National Board of Examinations from 2015 to 2018, 18.9% passed the FMG examination mandatory for registration to practise medicine in India. The National Medical Commission is trying to solve this issue by removing the age bar for entry to MBBS and recommending lowering of fees for MBBS in government quota. Seeking graduation in medical colleges outside India may not be advisable for those from the middle/ low-income group of India.
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Case Reports
An unusual presentation of conjunctival aspergillosis as a polyp in an immunocompetent child.
Fungi are a part of normal ocular flora and usually do not cause clinical infection in the absence of predisposing factors. We report a 7-year-old healthy boy from a rural area of India, who presented with a gradually increasing mass in the left eye. Excisional biopsy of the mass was performed, and pathological examination revealed multiseptate hyphae with acute-angle branching consistent with aspergillosis.