The structure and function of a new clinical skills and medical informatics laboratory (SCIL) in a developing country--a two year institutional experience.

OBJECTIVE: To combine clinical skills and medical informatics learning by offering a combined 'SCIL' rotation to third year medical students and to determine its long-term impact. METHODS: A combined clinical skills and medical informatics laboratory (SCIL) was set up at our institution with international collaboration. Nine months to one year after formal third year SCIL rotations were conducted, a questionnaire rated on (1-5) Likert Scale was administered to the inaugural class undergoing this rotation. RESULTS: The rotation was rated positively in terms of both acquisition of clinical skills as well as medical informatics skills. (overall rotation rating: 3.32 +/- 0.53) CONCLUSION: Our results have shown the positive long-term impact on undergraduate medical students of a combined clinical skills and medical informatics rotation.

Preliminary experience with a new medicine morning report format incorporating multimedia and up-to-date.

To determine the impact of multimedia and up-to-date on internal medicine resident learning in morning report (MR), we converted our traditional medicine morning report to 'Up-to-date' programme incorporated and multimedia supported format which includes computer, multimedia projector and up-to-date CD ROM. A questionnaire was administered three months after the change and rated on a Likert scale. Preliminary experience demonstrated of a favourable overall resident and faculty perception and acceptance of the change.

Is there a need for establishing a formal nephrologist-directed primary care program in dialysis units?

We have introduced an annual timetable format for addressing the "primary care" needs of the hemodialysis population. For 102 patients enrolled, fourteen interventions adapted for the dialysis population from the US Preventive Services Task Force recommendations were implemented successfully in 65% areas in our pilot year, which include important features like annual history and physical examination, breast examination, mammography, pap smear, lipid profile, adult specific immunization and stool occult blood. Flexible sigmoidoscopy program was unsuccessful in our pilot year.