Measuring Students' Perceptions of Educational Environment in the PBL Program of Sharjah Medical College.

BACKGROUND: Students' perception of their educational environment has a significant impact on their behavior and academic progress. The recent worldwide usage of innovative problem-based learning (PBL) medical programs requires major changes in medical schools and their environments. Therefore, measuring students' perceptions of the complex PBL environment has become a critical necessity as a determinant of students' academic success and as a part of attaining the quality standards of education. Ours being a new medical college employing the PBL curriculum, it was important to measure the students' perception of the educational environment in order to identify the strengths and weaknesses of the curriculum and to plan for any future improvements. AIM AND OBJECTIVES: The aim of this study was to evaluate students' perceptions in the preclinical phase of the PBL educational environment in the College of Medicine, Sharjah Medical College, United Arab Emirates, and to recommend remedial procedures. MATERIAL AND METHODS: In this cross-sectional study, the English version of the Dundee Ready Education Environment Measure (DREEM) inventory was submitted to 250 students in years 1, 2, and 3. The data were analyzed using the SPSS 20 software, and significance was taken at P ≤ 0.05. The survey was performed in a mid-semester week, ie, in March 2014. No ethical issues were encountered during the process of this study. RESULTS: Two-hundred and fifty students responded to the questionnaire (100% response rate). The overall DREEM score was 113.4/200 (56.7%). First-year students expressed higher overall significant level of perception (119.4/200) than second-year (107.4/200) and third-year (112.7/200) students. In addition, first-year students perceived their learning, teaching, and academic climates as more significant than the other two batches. The scores obtained in the five domains were as follows; 28/48 in perception of learning, 26/44 in perception of teaching, 18/32 in academic self-perceptions, 27/48 in perceptions of atmosphere, and 15/28 in social self-perceptions. First-year students achieved the highest score (18.7/32) in the academic self-perception, and second-year students achieved the lowest (16.5/32). The total score was significantly higher in female students than in male students (115.9 vs 108.1). CONCLUSIONS: The present study revealed that the PBL environment is generally perceived positively by our medical students. Female students exhibited higher perception than male students. Nevertheless, areas such as curriculum overload and inadequate student support still require further fine-tuning and remedial measures.

Ischaemic stroke as the first presentation of occult squamous cell cancer.

A 39 years old female presented with sudden onset of left sided weakness and CT scan brain confirmed an ischaemic stroke. Extensive investigations looking for the underlying cause were un-rewarding. She presented few days later with confusion and fever and was found to have multiple new cerebral infarcts, disseminated intravascular coagulation, rectal mass and liver metastases. Biopsy of metastatic liver lesion identified the primary tumour to be of squamous cell origin. Such a rare presentation as ischaemic stroke of a very rare squamous cell carcinoma of rectum has not been reported before.

Effect of low lead exposure on gestational age, birth weight and premature rupture of the membrane.

OBJECTIVE: To find out the effect of prenatal exposure to low lead from cosmetics on gestational age, premature rupture of the membrane and birth weight. METHODS: The study was carried out in the mountainous Aseer region, Southwest of Saudi Arabia where the air is thought to be clean and free of lead pollution due to the absence of petroleum smelting and other heavy industries. The region is famous as a holiday resort for tourists from Arabia and the gulf countries. All 176 pregnant women included in the study were of singleton pregnancies of gestational age 27 weeks or more who attended the antenatal outpatient clinic of the main maternity hospital. On the day of delivery 4 milliliters of venous blood from each singleton parturient was placed in a heparinized non-silica containing tube and stored at -20 degrees C prior to analysis. RESULTS: Ninety-four (70.1%) women out of 134 had maternal blood lead concentration < 200 microg/L and only 40 women had > 200 microg/L. The mean difference in gestational age was 10.5 days, showing a non significant difference (P=0.152). Ninety-three women (72.7%) out of a total of 128 who had blood lead concentration <200 microg/L gave birth to infants weighing an average of 2.87 kg while 35 women who had blood lead level > 200 microg/L gave birth to infants weighing an average of 2.99 kg. The mean difference was 0.12 kg which is non-significant (P=0.261). Regarding premature.rupture of the membrane a total of 127 women with maternal blood lead levels above 200 microg/L showed no significant differences (P=0.64). The Chi-square test of the relationship between the birth weight (kg) and the levels of blood lead below 150 microg/L was not significant while the relationship between the birth weight (kg) and the levels of blood lead above 200 microg/L resulted in very slight differences in the values of infants' birth weight. CONCLUSION: The detected low lead exposures from cosmetics does not produce statistically significant effects on the three pregnancy outcomes; gestational age, premature rupture of the membrane or birth weight. However, the importance of low lead exposure from the 100% lead sulfide eye cosmetic "kohl" is emphasized".