The Impact of the COVID-19 Pandemic on Quality Education of the Medical Young Generation.

(1) Generating the need to impose social distancing to reduce the spread of the virus, the COVID-19 pandemic altered the ways in which the teaching process normally happens. The aim of our study was to determine the impact of online teaching on medical students during this period. (2) Our study included 2059 medical, dental and pharmacy students from the University of Medicine and Pharmacy "Grigore T. Popa", Iasi, Romania. We used a modified metacognition questionnaire after translation into Romanian and validation. Our questionnaire included 38 items, and it was divided into four parts. Academic results and preferences regarding the on-site or online courses, information regarding practical training, self-awareness in terms of one's feelings such as anger, boredom and anxiety and also substance use linked to online teaching, and contextualization of the relationship with colleagues, teachers, friends and family were among the most important points evaluated. A comparison was made between preclinical and clinical students. A five-item Linkert-like scale was used for rating the answers in the last three parts that evaluated the impact of the SARS-CoV-2 pandemic on the educational process. (3) Preclinical medical students, compared to preclinical dental students, obtained statistically significant improvements in their evaluation results, with fewer failed exams (p < 0.001) and with similar results being obtained by comparing dental with pharmacy students. All students obtained statistically significant improvements in their academic results during the online evaluation. A statistically significant increase in anxiety and depression with a p-value of <0.001 was registered among our students. (4) The majority found it difficult to cope with this intense period. Both teachers and students found it difficult to adjust on such short notice to the challenges posed by the new concept of online teaching and learning.

COVID-19 Pandemic Affects Children's Education but Opens up a New Learning System in a Romanian Rural Area.

(1) Background: In the context of the COVID-19 pandemic, the educational system in Romania faced major challenges. Online knowledge development was necessary and mandatory during this time; (2) Methods: our study included a group of 140 preadolescents and used a phenomenology qualitative method to investigate if the novel online teaching, implemented in a hurry during the pandemic without any previous teacher training, managed to replace face-to-face teaching; (3) Results: The students have expressed their joy for online courses, as long as they are kept interactive. Even though they feel nervous and worried when it comes to evaluation, the students claim they feel capable to learn all of the learning materials. Most of them are pleased by classes and do not get bored during them, feeling constantly motivated to actively participate in dialogue; (4) Discussions: Despite the lack of teaching-method standardization, our learning providers succeeded in accomplishing their tasks during online courses. Even in remote rural areas, they managed to assure the means for these children to access and take part in online courses; (5) Conclusions: our learning system must offer teachers the possibility to emphasize online education using adequate training programs aiming to develop technical and online pedagogical skills.

Epidemiology of Adverse Outcomes in Teenage Pregnancy-A Northeastern Romanian Tertiary Referral Center.

Background: Despite being a very well-documented subject in the literature, there are still conflicting results regarding teenage pregnancies and their fetal outcomes. Methods: We conducted a retrospective, comparative cohort study that included 1082 mothers aged less than 18 years, compared to 41,998 mothers aged over 18 years, who delivered in our tertiary referral center between January 2015 and December 2021. To check for significant differences between the two groups, the chi-qquared or Fisher's test for categorical variables were used. Results: We detected statistically significant higher rates of fetal malformation, premature birth, FGR and SGA fetal growth conditions, preeclampsia, condylomatosis and vaginal infection with E. coli in our cohort of teenagers. In this subpopulation of teenagers, the rate for premature birth at less than 32 weeks of gestation was 3.26-fold higher and 3.25-fold higher for condylomatosis, and these results referred to the cohort of adult patients (>18 years old) that gave birth in the same interval of time. Conclusions: Teenage pregnancies still remain a major health problem that burdens all countries worldwide regardless of their income. It needs solutions initially to prevent pregnancy in this young age segment and last but not least to improve both maternal and fetal outcomes.

Primary Clear Cell Adenocarcinoma of the Uterine Cervix in a 14-Year-Old Virgin Girl: Case Report.

Cervical cancer is rare in adolescent and pediatric populations, with adenocarcinoma being the most commonly reported. Clear cell adenocarcinoma of the uterine cervix accounts for only 4% of all adenocarcinoma cases, and about two-thirds are associated with intrauterine diethylstilbestrol (DES) exposure. We report the case of a 14-year-old virgin girl who presented with a 1-month-long history of abnormal vaginal bleeding and lower abdominal pain. Transabdominal pelvic ultrasound examination revealed the presence of an irregular, homogeneous cervical mass that was 7 cm in size. Therefore, a magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) scan was performed to establish the origin of the tumor and its relationship to adjacent pelvic organs. Furthermore, a vaginoscopy was performed to identify the tumor, and a cervical biopsy was performed. Immunohistochemical and anatomopathological studies resulted in the diagnosis of non-HPV(Human Papilloma Virus)-related clear cell adenocarcinoma of the cervix. Following the oncological examination, she was admitted for radiotherapy. The patient had no maternal history of DES exposure in utero. Even though the number of cases in the literature is low, most of the virgin girls diagnosed with clear cell adenocarcinoma of the cervix have a fatal prognosis because of the delay in making a correct diagnosis.

State-of-the-Art Review on Immersive Virtual Reality Interventions for Colonoscopy-Induced Anxiety and Pain.

BACKGROUND: Colonoscopy related fear impairs the current gold standard screening of colorectal cancer. Compared to other minimally invasive procedures for cancer screening, colonoscopy-induced anxiety exceeds the procedure through bowel preparation. Immersive virtual reality's (iVR) role in alleviating the complex stress-pain relationship encountered during medical procedures is directly proportional to the rising affordability of state-of-the-art Head-Mounted-Displays (HMDs). OBJECTIVE: to assess the effect of iVR on patients' colonoscopy-induced anxiety and pain. MATERIALS AND METHODS: A systematic search was conducted in PubMed, Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trials, Web of Science, Embase and Scopus databases up to January 2022. Clinical trials evaluating anxiety as an outcome were included without language restriction. RESULTS: Four clinical trials were included: three on the patients' intraprocedural anxiety and one on patient education. Intraprocedural iVR interventions for colonoscopy-induced anxiety and pain revealed a similar effect as conventional sedation, while a statistically significant reduction was reported for non-sedated patients. iVR patient education improved the quality of bowel preparation and reduced patient anxiety before colonoscopy. CONCLUSIONS: The current research highlights the need to use high-end HMDs and appropriate interactive iVR software content for colonoscopy-induced anxiety. Methodological frameworks regarding the eligibility of participants, double-blinding and randomization of iVR studies can facilitate the development of iVR implementation for anxiety and pain management.