Can medical students recognize depression? A survey at the Zagreb School of Medicine.

OBJECTIVE: The objective of this study was to investigate medical students' knowledge and attitudes towards depression. METHODS: Students attending their final year at Zagreb School of Medicine completed a set of standardized questionnaires, including attitudes towards psychiatric medication, attitudes towards depression, and personality inventory. RESULTS: In total, 199 students completed the questionnaire (response rate 77 %). Most medical students were only partially able to correctly identify major symptoms of depression, but did suggest referral to mental health specialists as the most appropriate course of action. They recognized social and biological causes of depression. Degree of correct identification of symptoms of depression correlated positively with non-stigmatizing attitudes towards depression and negatively with stigmatizing attitudes towards depression. CONCLUSION: Students' attitudes toward depression may influence their recognition of symptoms of depression. Incorporation of these findings in development of undergraduate medical curricula may improve students' recognition of depression.

Positive identification by a skull with multiple epigenetic traits and abnormal structure of the neurocranium, viscerocranium, and the skeleton.

Wormian bones are small ossicles appearing within the cranial sutures in more than 40% of skulls, most commonly at the lambdoid suture and pterion. During the skeletal analysis of an unidentified male war victim, we observed multiple wormian bones and a patent metopic suture. Additionally, the right elbow was deformed, probably as a consequence of an old trauma. The skull was analyzed by cranial measurements and computerized tomography, revealing the presence of cranial deformities including hyperbrachicrania, localized reduction in hemispheral widths, increased cranial capacity, and sclerosis of the viscerocranium. Besides unique anatomical features and their anthropological value, such skeletal abnormalities also have a forensic value as the evidence to support the final identification of the victim.