Attributes of an effective clinical teacher: a survey on students' and teachers' perceptions.

OBJECTIVE: To identify the attributes of effective clinical teacher, using a self-filled survey questionnaire, that students and faculty value most, and to compare the opinion of student and faculty regarding the same. STUDY DESIGN: Cross-sectional study. PLACE AND DURATION OF STUDY: The Aga Khan University Hospital (AKUH), Karachi from October 2006 to January 2007. SUBJECT AND METHODS: Clinical faculty at AKUH and students in clinical years were included in this survey after taking their written informed consent. Data were collected through a structured questionnaire administered to all participants. Responses were compared. RESULTS: A total of 119 students in clinical years (3, 4 and 5) and 89 faculties involved in clinical teaching responded to the questionnaire. The most important attributes in faculty's and students' perspective were knowledge, interest in teaching and clinical competency. In students and faculty perspective, the fourth and fifth attributes were good communication skills and being non-judgmental. CONCLUSION: Students in clinical years and clinical teachers valued knowledge, interest in teaching and clinical competency as the most important attributes for an effective clinical teacher. There were various areas of agreement and disagreement between faculty and students about attributes of effective clinical teacher.

Prevalence and demographics of anxiety disorders: a snapshot from a community health centre in Pakistan.

BACKGROUND: The developing world is faced with a high burden of anxiety disorders. The exact prevalence of anxiety disorders in Pakistan is not known. There is a need to develop an evidence base to aid policy development on tackling anxiety and depressive disorders in the country. This is the first pilot study to address the prevalence of anxiety disorders and their association with sociodemographic factors in Pakistan. METHODS: A cross-sectional study was conducted among people visiting Aga Khan University Hospital (AKUH), a tertiary care facility in Karachi, Pakistan. The point prevalence of anxiety amongst the sample population, which comprised of patients and their attendants, excluding all health care personnel, was assessed using the validated Urdu version of the Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale (HADS). The questionnaire was administered to 423 people. Descriptive statistics were performed for mean scores and proportions. RESULTS: The mean anxiety score of the population was 5.7 +/- 3.86. About 28.3% had borderline or pathological anxiety. The factors found to be independently predicted with anxiety were, female sex (odds ratio (OR) = 2.14, 95% CI 1.36-3.36, p = 0.01); physical illness (OR = 1.67, 95% CI 1.06-2.64, p = 0.026); and psychiatric illness (OR = 1.176, 95% CI 1.0-3.1, p = 0.048). In the final multivariate model, female sex (adjusted odds ratio (AOR) = 2, 95% CI 1.28-3.22) and physical illness (AOR = 1.56, 95% CI 0.97-2.48) were found to be significant. CONCLUSION: Further studies via nationally representative surveys need to be undertaken to fully grasp the scope of this emerging public health issue in Pakistan.

Knowledge, awareness and practices regarding dengue fever among the adult population of dengue hit cosmopolitan.

BACKGROUND: The World health Organization (WHO) declares dengue and dengue hemorrhagic fever to be endemic in South Asia. Despite the magnitude of problem, no documented evidence exists in Pakistan which reveals the awareness and practices of the country's adult population regarding dengue fever, its spread, symptoms, treatment and prevention. This study was conducted to assess the level of knowledge, attitudes and practices regarding dengue fever in people visiting tertiary care hospitals in Karachi, Pakistan. METHODS: A cross-sectional pilot study was conducted among people visiting tertiary care hospitals in Karachi. Through convenience sampling, a pre-tested and structured questionnaire was administered through a face-to-face unprompted interview with 447 visitors. Knowledge was recorded on a scale of 1-3. RESULTS: About 89.9% of individuals interviewed had heard of dengue fever. Sufficient knowledge about dengue was found to be in 38.5% of the sample, with 66% of these in Aga Khan University Hospital and 33% in Civil Hospital Karachi. Literate individuals were relatively more well-informed about dengue fever as compared to the illiterate people (p<0.001). Knowledge based upon preventive measures was found to be predominantly focused towards prevention of mosquito bites (78.3%) rather than eradication of mosquito population (17.3%). Use of anti-mosquito spray was the most prevalent (48.1%) preventive measure. Television was considered as the most important and useful source of information on the disease. CONCLUSION: Adult population of Karachi has adequate knowledge related to the disease 'dengue' on isolated aspects, but the overall prevalence of 'sufficient knowledge' based on our criteria is poor. We demonstrated adequate prevalence of preventive practices against the disease. Further studies correlating the association between knowledge and its effectiveness against dengue will be helpful in demonstrating the implications of awareness campaigns.