Towards behavioural sciences in undergraduate training: a core curriculum.

There is strong evidence to link biological, behavioural, psychological, and social variables to health, illness and disease. But this knowledge has not been successfully incorporated into standard medical practice. There is a general accord that a simple disease-based model of clinical practice is inadequate and that there is need to change the approach of doctors to include a better understanding of behavioural issues. The need to integrate Behavioural Sciences as an integral component of medical training is well recognised. PMDC initiated these efforts in 2005 but since then little progress has been made towards developing a core curriculum. This aim of the present article is to initiate a concerted effort towards this direction in Pakistan. We have outlined specific objectives keeping the recommended domains for BS in mind. In addition, knowledge and skills-based learning outcomes have also been defined.

A review of current evidence regarding the ICD-11 proposals for diagnosing PTSD and complex PTSD.

The World Health Organization's proposals for posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) in the 11th edition of the International Classification of Diseases, scheduled for release in 2018, involve a very brief set of symptoms and a distinction between two sibling disorders, PTSD and Complex PTSD. This review of studies conducted to test the validity and implications of the diagnostic proposals generally supports the proposed 3-factor structure of PTSD symptoms, the 6-factor structure of Complex PTSD symptoms, and the distinction between PTSD and Complex PTSD. Estimates derived from DSM-based items suggest the likely prevalence of ICD-11 PTSD in adults is lower than ICD-10 PTSD and lower than DSM-IV or DSM-5 PTSD, but this may change with the development of items that directly measure the ICD-11 re-experiencing requirement. Preliminary evidence suggests the prevalence of ICD-11 PTSD in community samples of children and adolescents is similar to DSM-IV and DSM-5. ICD-11 PTSD detects some individuals with significant impairment who would not receive a diagnosis under DSM-IV or DSM-5. ICD-11 CPTSD identifies a distinct group who have more often experienced multiple and sustained traumas and have greater functional impairment than those with PTSD.