RESUMEN
BACKGROUND: Lack of patient contact in the pre-clinical prosthodontics curriculum makes it difficult for the students to comprehend and correlate the series of complex steps involved in complete denture fabrication. Early clinical exposure in the second year of the undergraduate program will facilitate a smooth transition of dental students from pre-clinics to clinics, thereby helping to mitigate the lacunae existing in the present curriculum. MATERIALS AND METHODS: A non-randomized prospective educational interventional study was conducted among 50 second-year dental students. Early clinical exposure in the form of clinical demonstration for complete denture steps of border molding and jaw relation was given subsequent to the completion of didactic and laboratory sessions. Pre- and post-multiple-choice question tests were conducted to explore students' knowledge. Student perception towards early clinical exposure was assessed using a self-administered anonymous questionnaire, while faculty perception was gauged with the help of in-depth interviews. RESULTS: A statistically significant difference was observed when pre- and post-multiple-choice question test mean scores were compared, showing an overall improvement in students' knowledge following early clinical exposure. Students and faculty held a positive perception towards the program and found it to be useful in enhancing the overall learning experience of the students. Faculty expressed their concern regarding limited manpower, paucity of time, and difficulty in integrating early clinical exposure into the present timetable. CONCLUSION: Early clinical exposure can be integrated into the traditional pre-clinical prosthodontics curriculum with appropriate time and manpower allocation. Faculty sensitization and training workshops need to be conducted before implementing this program.
RESUMEN
Background: COVID-19 was declared as a Public Health Emergency of International Concern on 30th January 2020. Compared to the general population, healthcare workers and their families have been identified to be at a higher risk of getting infected with COVID-19. Therefore, it is crucial to understand the risk factors responsible for the transmission of SARS-CoV-2 infection among health workers in different hospital settings and to describe the range of clinical presentations of SARS-CoV-2 infection among them. Methodology: A nested case-control study was conducted among healthcare workers who were involved in the care of COVID-19 cases for assessing the risk factors associated with it. To get a holistic perspective, the study was conducted in 19 different hospitals from across 7 states (Kerala, Tamil Nadu, Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, Maharashtra, Gujarat, and Rajasthan) of India covering the major government and private hospitals that were actively involved in COVID-19 patient care. The study participants who were not vaccinated were enrolled using the incidence density sampling technique from December 2020 to December 2021. Results: A total of 973 health workers consisting of 345 cases and 628 controls were recruited for the study. The mean age of the participants was observed to be 31.17 ± 8.5 years, with 56.3% of them being females. On multivariate analysis, the factors that were found to be significantly associated with SARS-CoV-2 were age of more than 31 years (adjusted odds ratio [aOR] 1.407 [95% CI 1.53-1.880]; p = 0.021), male gender (aOR 1.342 [95% CI 1.019-1.768]; p = 0.036), practical mode of IPC training on personal protective equipment (aOR 1. 1.935 [95% CI 1.148-3.260]; p = 0.013), direct exposure to COVID-19 patient (aOR 1.413 [95% CI 1.006-1.985]; p = 0.046), presence of diabetes mellitus (aOR 2.895 [95% CI 1.079-7.770]; p = 0.035) and those received prophylactic treatment for COVID-19 in the last 14 days (aOR 1.866 [95% CI 0.201-2.901]; p = 0.006). Conclusion: The study was able to highlight the need for having a separate hospital infection control department that implements IPC programs regularly. The study also emphasizes the need for developing policies that address the occupational hazards faced by health workers.