IntroductionOur study was meant to assess the knowledge, attitude, and barriers towards research in medical students of Pakistan. By assessing the factors, we aim to increase the role of medical students in research, which will eventually help developing countries like Pakistan to achieve self-reliance in health care.MethodsUndergraduate and postgraduate students of medicine, dentistry, and pharmacy schools of Dow University of Health Sciences, Karachi, were enrolled from February-March 2018 in a cross-sectional, descriptive study using questionnaires to provide details of the parameters of attitude to the knowledge of and barriers towards research for each individual. All data were coded for each of the parameters. Data analyses were performed by one-way analysis of variance (ANOVA)/Tukey and Student’s t-test, Pearson’s correlation, and Chi-squared tests.ResultsA total of 850 questionnaires were received. The overall mean scores of students on attitude, knowledge, and barriers were 69.27 ± 13.44, 70.39 ± 15.67, and 72.46 ± 13.46, respectively; 81.8% of students’ scores fell above the middle of the maximum score for knowledge, but 84.5% of attitude scores came in at below the middle of the maximum score. Undergraduate students had a more positive attitude to research than postgraduate students (69.20 ± 11.10 vs 64.23 ± 10.98; p = 0.002). Male students had a better attitude than females (72.97 ± 20.54 vs 67.09 ± 21.56; p = 0.010). Barriers highlighted by students most significantly included a lack of funding support and preference for instruction over research.ConclusionStudents showed good knowledge of research, but their attitude was not up to the mark. The barriers highlighted suggest a need for a change in the strategies for research. Attention should be paid to inculcate research as part of the student curriculum and to make available incentives, information, and mentors to solve the problems most students face in the field of research.

BackgroundFew studies have explored factors affecting preference of medical students towards general practice as a career choice. We conducted a survey in Karachi across various public and private sector medical colleges to examine factors associated with students’ general practice career aspirations in Karachi, Pakistan.MethodsFrom January to March 2018, we distributed a 21-item questionnaire to final year medical students in eight medical schools. The survey asked students about their top three career preferences from 19 specialty fields, their demographics and their career priorities. Multivariable logistic regression was used to determine the effect of each item.ResultsA total of 1400 responses were obtained. The top five specialty fields chosen by students with their numbers were: internal medicine, 898 (64.2%); general practice, 337 (24.1%); pediatrics, 449 (32.1%); surgery, 380 (27.2%); and emergency medicine, 243 (17.4%). The “intent to inherit existing practice” and “other academic or professional experiences prior to medical school” had a positive association with choosing general practice while “having a physician parent’’ had a negative association among the medical students demographics after adjusting for other covariates in the multivariable logistic regression. Medical students who ranked “clinical diagnostic reasoning”, “community-oriented practice”, “involvement in preventive medicine”, and “frequent patient communication” as highly important were more likely to choose general practice, whereas, “access to advanced medical fields”, “mastering advanced procedures”, and “depth rather than breadth of practice” were less likely to be associated with general practice aspiration.ConclusionThe study’s results depicted limited interest of family medicine as a career option in graduating students, and pointed out the factors that likely influence the choice of general practice as a career are clinical diagnostic reasoning, community-oriented practice and preventive medicine.

IntroductionHypertension is one of the leading causes of mortality worldwide. Fifty-four percent of strokes and forty-seven percent of cardiovascular deaths are caused by suboptimal control of blood pressure. Economically developing countries like Pakistan are heavily burdened with an ever-rising epidemic of cardiovascular disease and stroke morbidity and mortality. Therefore, urgent steps are required to treat, as well as modify, risk factors for cardiovascular disease, including hypertension.PurposeThe objective of this study was to ascertain the knowledge of hypertension and other sociodemographic variables and their impact on controlling blood pressures in the hypertensive population belonging to the low socioeconomic strata.MethodsThis cross-sectional study was conducted in the general medicine and cardiology outpatient clinics of a tertiary care charity hospital. Three-hundred thirty-five hypertensive patients of age >24 years were selected and informed consent was obtained. Hypertension-related knowledge was assessed using the Modified "Hypertensive Knowledge-Level Scale (HK-LS)" via a 15-20 min interview. Secondary variables in the questionnaire included social demographics, medical history, and assessment of body mass index (BMI) and blood pressure average values, which were measured during the interview. Knowledge was recorded based on the 33-point modified HK-LS scale, whereas secondary variables were not counted toward the assessment of knowledge.ResultsThe frequencies of low, moderate, and high levels of hypertension-related knowledge were recorded as 2.1%, 79.4%, and 62%, respectively. Among 335 patients, (57.3%) were male, the mean age was 52.5 ± 11.5 years, and 63.6% were professionally active. Median systolic blood pressure (SBP) and diastolic blood pressure (DBP) in hypertensive patients were 140 and 86 mmHg, respectively. Sixty-nine percent of patients reported existing comorbidities, 54% had diabetes, 20.7% had cardiovascular disease, and 24% reported renal disease. No significant association was observed between the levels of knowledge of hypertension and gender, blood pressure (BP) status, professional activity, and age groups (p=0.877, p=0.863, p=0.125, and p=0.400, respectively).ConclusionThe majority had adequate knowledge of hypertension but only 64.8% had controlled BP status. This depicts not a lack of knowledge and awareness but rather a lack of prevention of risk factors related to hypertension. Thus, further studies are advised to look into the preventive strategies employed by patients to control their BP and assess their effectiveness.

A chronic, progressive disorder Steroid Resistant Nephrotic Syndrome (SRNS) accounts for 10-20% of all children with Nephrotic Syndrome. It is a heterogeneous disorder comprised of persistent edema, proteinuria, hypoalbuminemia and hyperlipidemia. Treatment for steroid-resistant nephrotic syndrome (SRNS) is challenging and children who suffer from SRNS require aggressive treatment to achieve remission. Calcineurin inhibitors have been used more in an empirical manner than on the basis of clear rationale. It was in 1984 when cyclosporine was first considered for the treatment of steroid resistant nephrotic syndrome. Cyclosporin is a calcineurin inhibitor that suppresses immune response by downregulating the transcription of various cytokine genes. Till now many studies have been conducted to determine dosages, duration of therapy, side effects and advantages of cyclosporine. Treatment of SRNS remains a difficult challenge in pediatric nephrology. Treatment should be individualized according to the underlying histopathology, and clinical and environmental conditions of the children. There is an urgent need to distinguish as soon as possible those patients who may benefit from prolonged immunosuppressive treatment from those who will not benefit from such treatment and who will just suffer from its major side effects. The emerging evidence that the majority of genetic forms of SRNS should receive symptomatic treatment only, should also be clinically tested and studies baring its significance should be evaluated in the future.

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Background and Aims: Chronic Hepatitis C virus is the leading cause of morbidity and mortality. Conversion to liver fibrosis and decompensated liver cirrhosis is common if left untreated. Direct-acting Antiviral agents (DAA) may help in liver fibrosis associated burden. Considering the fact, this study aims to determine the comparative effect of combination therapy (Sofosbuvir and Daclatasvir vs. Sofosbuvir and Ribavirin) on liver fibrosis improvement using noninvasive marker AST platelet ratio index (APRI) score. Methods: A retrospective cross-sectional study was conducted on secondary data of patients who visited a private gastroenterology clinic during the year of 2017 and 2018 in Karachi, Pakistan. Our sample comprised of a total of 300 patients who presented for the first time to the clinic from various provinces. Results: Among all, 163 (54.3%) patients were treated with Sofosbuvir and Daclatasvir while 137 (45.6%) treated with Sofosbuvir and Ribavirin. The overall mean age and SD of patients was 41.1 ± 13.4 years and among them 64.6% (n = 194) were males. In both groups, treatment response showed negative HCV viral load after treatment, p <0.001. Levels of hemoglobin were significantly reduced in patients treated with Sofosbuvir and Ribavirin, 12.8gm/dL (11.5-14.2) vs. 11.4gm/dL (10.8-12.8), p value 0.03. Levels of total bilirubin significantly improved in patient received Sofosbuvir and Daclatasvir, 1.2mg/dL (0.4 - 1.8) vs. 0.6mg/dL (0.2 - 0.6), p value 0.001. Patients who treated with Sofosbuvir and Daclatasvir had significant improvement in APRI score (pre-treatment 1.26±0.17 vs. post-treatment 0.63±0.09, p value <0.001) in comparison with who treated with Sofosbuvir and Ribavirin (pre-treatment 0.92 ± 0.07 vs. post-treatment 0.43 ± 0.05, p value <0.06). Conclusion: In present study, we report that the value of APRI improved significantly after treatment with DAA particularly those who treated with Sofosbuvir and Daclatasvir, which may indicate that regression of fibrosis is achievable after removal of the causative agent.