Undergraduate medical studentsChoice of specialty a b s t r a c t Background: Empathy is essentially a desirable quality among clinicians and can be developed during medical education. Studies from outside India have shown that higher empathy is related to better competency and choice of specialty may be related to empathy levels in them. Change in empathy levels among undergraduate medical students with progressive training has been often ascribed to reasons such as curriculum content, timing of clinical rotations. Gender differences in empathy levels also vary among different countries. Since many of such factors differ in India there is a need therefore to understand empathy and its correlates among medical students in India.Method: A cross sectional study was undertaken in a large medical college among the undergraduates of first, third, fifth, seventh and ninth semesters to measure their empathy levels. The evaluation was done using the Jefferson's Scale for Physician's Empathy-Student version.Results: The study revealed highest empathy at entry level and a significant fall by seventh semester (p ¼ 0.002). Female students had significantly higher empathy levels than male students (p ¼ 0.012) across all semesters. The variance in empathy scores according specialty chosen is not statistically significant (p ¼ 0.2468). Conclusion:The progressive decline in empathy levels with years in medical college here is seen much later than in western studies. Female students are more empathetic than male students. The relation of mean empathy scores and choice of specialty is inconclusive and at variance from other studies.ª 2014, Armed Forces Medical Services (AFMS). All rights reserved.* Corresponding author. Tel.: þ91 9657167900 (mobile). E-mail address: sribuj@yahoo.com (R. Shashikumar).Available online at www.sciencedirect.com ScienceDirect journal homepage: w ww.el sevier.com/locate/mjafi m e d i c a l j o u r n a l a r m e d f o r c e s i n d i a 7 0 ( 2 0 1 4 ) 1 7 9 e1 8 5

Context:Adolescents constitute about 20% of our population and increasingly more of them are initiating sexual activity at an early age. Several behaviors associated with adolescence like masturbation, expression of masculinity/femininity, lifestyle habits like attending late night parties, and consumption of alcohol have been variously implicated in initiating sexual activities. Sexual abuse can also lead to premature sexualization. In view of few worthwhile studies from India that have dealt with these issues this study was undertaken.Aims:To elicit information from two co-education schools adolescent boys and girls on matters related to pubescence, sexual experiences, and sexual health.Settings and Design:Study subjects involved students from class IX to XII in two co-education schools. Consent of parents was taken to administer the questionnaire to their wards.Materials and Methods:A total of 586 out of 1580 students completed a self-reporting questionnaire on matters related to sexuality. Statistical Analysis EpiInfo6 Software was used.Results:Significant association was found among those holding the view that having sex proves their masculinity, being sexually abused, masturbation among boys, and sexual activity. A significantly large number of boys and girls are unaware of role of alcohol on sexual activity and that pregnancy can be caused by single intercourse.Conclusions:This was probably the first such comparative study from India. Mechanisms need to be evaluated to help adolescents understand their sexual attitudes and situations that are likely to provoke sexual activity. Therefore, not only more detailed and longitudinal studies are needed to understand these relations in a better perspective, but also a well-planned educational program for adolescents is a need of the hour.

Background:In our society, adherence to feminine traits by the female gender had been culturally promoted and socially desired. A few studies, however, entertained the possibility that healthy men and women have some common attributes in their gender orientation. Androgyny and masculinity were found related to positive mental health.Materials and Methods:A cross-sectional study was conducted to assess the level of masculinity and femininity and its relationship with the perception of stress and various psychopathology including anxiety and depression.Results:Masculinity scores of the participants negatively correlated while femininity scores positively correlated with the scores on General Health Questionnaire, Beck's Depressive Inventory, Beck's Anxiety Inventory, and Perceived Stress Scale.Conclusion:Androgyny is psychoprotective. Empowerment-oriented psychological approaches aimed to encourage psychological androgyny, and masculinity might be therapeutic.

Delusional parasitosis is an uncommon psychotic illness. Patients often report to dermatologists and physicians for treatment and are brought to psychiatric attention only for associated psychological distress. One such case is discussed in this report.

Tobacco-alcohol amblyopia is rare, however, extremely disabling complication seen in patient with alcohol dependence syndrome, which if not addressed properly and at the right time may lead to persisting deficits. We here report a patient of alcohol-dependence syndrome who presented with significant diminution of vision bilaterally in the background of excess alcohol consumption.

Munchausen syndrome is rare factitious disorder which entails frequent hospitalization, pathological lying and intentional production of symptoms for sick role. Management requires collateral history taking, sound clinical approach, exclusion of organicity and addressing psychological issues. A case which presented with unusual symptoms of similar dimension is discussed here. The case brings out finer nuances in evaluation and management of this entity.

Dementia is characterized by progressive and mostly irreversible memory loss. Other neuropsychiatric disorders affect cognition in varying manner. Are all people affected with such disorders manifest clinically in similar manner or does our brain have some reserve to tolerate insults? Relevant researches over the last two decades were scrutinized to understand brain reserve, appreciate the conceptual change in the same over years, and how the same can be improved for better cognition and memory over the year. Literature evidence suggests that the cognitive reserve (CR) is a dynamic and functional concept. There is adequate evidence to suggest that enriched environment and various other measures are likely to improve CR across all age. Improving CR may delay or reverse the effects of aging or brain pathology.

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