Ali Tayyab

Reducing postoperative pterygium recurrence: comparison of free conjunctival auto-graft and conjunctival rotation flap techniques.

OBJECTIVE To compare the recurrence of pterygium between free conjunctival auto-graft and conjunctival rotation flap following simple surgical excision of pterygium. STUDY DESIGN Quasi-experimental study. PLACE AND DURATION OF STUDY Shifa Foundation Community Health Clinic, Shifa College of Medicine, Islamabad, from January to November 2012. METHODOLOGY Fifty seven cases aged above 18 years, with a pterygium corneal encroachment of ³ 2 mm which was responsible for visual disability or was cosmetically undesirable were recruited for the study and randomly assigned to conjunctival auto-graft group and conjunctival rotation flap group. Cases with a history of glaucoma or glaucoma suspect, prior pterygium surgery, pterygium with concurrent ocular surface and lid disease, conjunctival inflammation and scarring, pseudo-pterygium or collagen vascular disease were excluded. After simple pterygium excision conjunctival auto-graft group (n=26) cases received a free conjunctival flap was transplanted, while conjunctival rotation flap group (n=31) cases received a conjunctival rotation flap. All cases were followed-up for 6 months after surgery for recurrence and complications. Frequency distribution and significance of association of recurrence using Fishers exact test and Mann-Whitney U-test was carried out using Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS) version 20. RESULTS The median (and inter-quartile range) age and surgery duration in conjunctival auto-graft group and conjunctival rotation flap group were 60 (51.50-63.00) and 57 (45.00-60.00) years, 28.50 (27.00-30.50) and 16.00 (15.00-17.00) minutes respectively. Recurrence was seen in 2 (7.96%) and 3 (9.76%) cases in auto-graft and rotation flap groups respectively. No significant difference was seen in postoperative complications between the two groups (p=0.60). CONCLUSION The surgical time for conjunctival rotation flap procedure is less as compared to free auto-graft, while their recurrence and complications are comparable.

Differences In Empathy Levels Of Medical Students Based On Gender, Year Of Medical School And Career Choice

OBJECTIVE To measure mean empathy scores of Pakistani medical students and to explore any association of empathy scores with gender, medical school year and future career choice. STUDY DESIGN Cross-sectional survey. PLACE AND DURATION OF STUDY Shifa College of Medicine, Shifa Tameer-e-Millat University, during the academic year 2015-2016. METHODOLOGY The student version of Jefferson Scale of Physician Empathy (JSPE) was distributed to the students electronically via the student portal. Response that were completed in full were included in the study. Descriptive statistics was used to analyse student demographic data. The student score on the JSPE was reported as the mean (out of 7) of each item. Independent samples t-test was employed to check the significant differences between genders. Empathy score with advancing year of study was investigated using ANOVA. ANOVA with post-hoc Tukeys test was used to study the relationship between career choice and empathy score. RESULTS The response rate was 70.94%. The mean score was 4.51 ±0.69. Females obtained greater, but statistically insignificant (p=0.08) empathy score (4.58) as compared to the male students (4.45). No statistically significant difference was seen between scores on the survey across the five academic years (F=0.88, p=0.47). Students who selected medicine and allied as career choice showed a significantly higher empathy score than those who opted for surgery. The internal consistency reliability (Cronbachs alpha) was 0.78. CONCLUSION There were low levels of empathy in Pakistani medical students. Students with interest in medicine and allied showed higher empathy scores compared to surgical or technical specialties. No association of empathy scores with gender and medical school year was observed.

Relationship Between Student Performances In Non-cognitive Skills In Multiple Mini Interview And Integrated Practical Examination

OBJECTIVE To investigate the relationship between the performances of students in non-cognitive skills in Multiple Mini Interview (MMI) and Integrated Practical Examination (IPE) of the first year of medical school. STUDY DESIGN Cross-sectional observation study with statistical support. PLACE AND DURATION OF STUDY Shifa College of Medicine/Shifa Tameer-e-Millat University, Islamabad between December 2015 and March 2016. METHODOLOGY Student performance in communication skills, domain of the 8-station Multiple Mini Interview, was compared with their scores in communication skills in the first Integrated Practical Examination taken at the end of first block. Descriptive statistics were calculated for student demographics, scores in communication skills in MMI as well as IPE. Pearsons Correlation was calculated to investigate the relationship between the two scores. A p-value of <0.05 was taken as significant. RESULTS The mean score in MMI was 130.38 ±9.90 as compared to a score of 79.96 ±19.74 in the IPE. This relationship has a statistically significant (p<0.001) positive correlation, with a Pearsons correlation of 0.52. CONCLUSION Student performance shows a positive correlation in non-cognitive skills between Multiple Mini Interview and Integrated Practical Examination.