Distribution and academic significance of learning approaches among pre-clinical medical students at Trinity School of Medicine, St Vincent and the Grenadines.

PURPOSE: Different students may adopt different learning approaches: namely, deep and surface. This study aimed to characterize the learning strategies of medical students at Trinity School of Medicine and to explore potential correlations between deep learning approach and the students' academic scores. METHODS: The study was a questionnaire-based, cross-sectional, observational study. A total of 169 medical students in the basic science years of training were included in the study after giving informed consent. The Biggs's Revised Two-Factor Study Process Questionnaire in paper form was distributed to subjects from January to November 2017. For statistical analyses, the Student t-test, 1-way analysis of variance followed by the post-hoc t-test, and the Pearson correlation test were used. The Cronbach alpha was used to test the internal consistency of the questionnaire. RESULTS: Of the 169 subjects, 132 (response rate, 78.1%) completely filled out the questionnaires. The Cronbach alpha value for the items on the questionnaire was 0.8. The score for the deep learning approach was 29.4± 4.6, whereas the score for the surface approach was 24.3± 4.2, which was a significant difference (P< 0.05). A positive correlation was found between the deep learning approach and students' academic performance (r= 0.197, P< 0.05, df= 130). CONCLUSION: Medical students in the basic science years at Trinity School of Medicine adopted the deep learning approach more than the surface approach. Likewise, students who were more inclined towards the deep learning approach scored significantly higher on academic tests.

Facebook use and its effects on the life of health science students in a private medical college of Nepal.

BACKGROUND: Facebook, a popular social networking site, has been used by people of different ages and professions for various purposes. Its use in the field of medical education is increasing dramatically. At the same time, the pros and cons of facebook use among the health science students has attracted the attention of educators. The data regarding its use and the effect on the life of Nepalese health science students has not yet been documented. Therefore, this study is carried out to evaluate the effect of facebook use on social interactions, behaviour, academics, and the health of students in a medical college of Nepal. RESULTS: A cross-sectional descriptive study conducted among medical, dental, nursing and allied health science students using self-administered questionnaire. The study showed that 98.2 % of participants were facebook users. Among 452 respondents, 224 and 228 were male and female respectively, with a mean age of 20.2 ± 1.2 years. The main reason for using facebook was to remain in contact with family and friend (32 %), while its use for the academic purpose was only 5 %. However, 80.8 % of students acknowledged ease in acquiring academic materials from others, through facebook. One-fourth of the students acknowledged that they are using facebook late at night on a regular basis, while surprisingly 4.2 % of the students admitted accessing facebook during the classroom lectures. Almost two-third of the users, further admitted that facebook has had a negative impact on their studies. Burning eyes (21 %), disturbed sleep (19 %), and headache (16 %) were the most common adverse health effects reported by the facebook users. Many students (71.4 %) tried and most of them (68.7 %) succeeded, in reducing time spent on facebook, to allow for increased time devoted to their studies. CONCLUSION: The widespread use of facebook among the health science students, was found to have both positive and negative effects on their academics, social life, and health.

Comparison of antinociceptive effect of the antiepileptic drug gabapentin to that of various dosage combinations of gabapentin with lamotrigine and topiramate in mice and rats.

INTRODUCTION: Newer anticonvulsants have a neuromodulatory effect on pain perception mechanisms in a hyperexcitable and damaged nervous system. AIM: This study was designed to study the analgesic effects of gabapentin alone and in combination with lamotrigine and topiramate in experimental pain models. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Adult albino mice (n=490) weighing 20-30 g and rats (n=130) weighing 100-200 g were injected intraperitoneally with gabapentin, lamotrigine, and topiramate alone and in different dose combinations. The hot-plate method, tail-flick method, capsaicin-induced mechanical hyperalgesia, and formalin assay were used to assess the antinociceptive effects. RESULTS: Of the three antiepileptic drugs, when given separately, gabapentin was more efficacious than either topiramate or lamotrigine in all the pain models. Combination of 25 mg/kg gabapentin with 25 mg/kg topiramate was more efficacious (P<.05) than 50 mg/kg gabapentin alone in the capsaicin-induced mechanical hyperalgesia test. Similarly, 50 mg/kg gabapentin with 50 mg/kg topiramate or 5 mg/kg lamotrigine was more efficacious (P<.05) than 50 or 100 mg/kg gabapentin alone in late-phase formalin-induced behaviors. CONCLUSIONS: Combination of gabapentin with either lamotrigine or topiramate produced better results than gabapentin alone in capsaicin-induced mechanical hyperalgesia test and in late-phase formalin-induced behaviors.

Polymorphonuclear leukocyte function in type-2 diabetes mellitus patients and its correlation with glycaemic control.

Infection is an important cause of morbidity and mortality in diabetic patients. Chronic hyperglycaemia impairs host defense mechanism such as cell mediated immunity, polymorphonuclear leukocyte (PMNL) function, antibody formation etc. PMNL serves as bodies first line of defense against various infections. The present study was undertaken to establish a correlation between impaired PMNL function, blood glucose levels and its improvement with good glycaemic control with glibenclamide and glimepiride, with special reference to parameters such as respiratory burst and O2(-) and H2O2 production by diabetic neutrophils.

Antinociceptive effect of amitriptyline in mice of acute pain models.

Tricyclic antidepressant drugs induce antinociceptive effect and suggest that their analgesic action could be related to the monoaminergic activity of the drugs. The analgesic activity of amitriptyline was observed in mouse models of acute pain. Mice were divided into different groups and were given amitriptyline in different doses alone and in combination with morphine. Reaction time in Hot-Plate and Tail-Flick tests was observed. Results showed that amitriptyline had antinociceptive effect in acute pain state in experimental models. Amitriptyline in combination with morphine had better analgesic effect than the morphine alone in Hot-Plate test.