No abstract

Medical education is increasingly laying emphasis on a curriculum based on cognitive, psychomotor, and affective domains of learning which were originally proposed nearly 50 years ago. These reforms are framed around best standards of care, error management and patient safety, patient autonomy, and resource allocation. There is a worldwide shift in the method of medical education towards experiential ('hands-on') medical learning; however, applying this concept to real patients is less acceptable to society and is subject to legal and ethical issues.Simulation is the artificial representation of a complex real-world process with sufficient fidelity with the aim to facilitate learning through immersion, reflection, feedback, and practice minus the risks inherent in a similar real-life experience. Medical simulation offers numerous potential strategies for comprehensive and practical training, and safer patient care. It is a technique, rather than just a technology that promotes experiential and reflective learning. It is also a key strategy to teach crisis resource management skills. Simulation can benefit the individual learner, the multidisciplinary team, and the hospital as a whole. In this review, the authors discuss the role of simulation in five situations namely undergraduate teaching, postgraduate training, continuing medical education, disaster management, and military trauma management and dwell upon the experience of medical simulation in the Armed Forces. MJAFI 2012;68:167-172

The HAI rates in our ICU are less than other hospitals in developing countries. The incidence of VAP is comparable to other studies. Institution of an independent formal infection control monitoring and surveillance team to monitor & undertake infection control practices is an inescapable need in service hospitals.

Short-term improvement in leg pain and sensory deficits was observed in patients with sciatica due to a herniated nucleus pulposus with both epidural bupivacaine and steroids. All long-acting steroids had no statistically significant difference between their efficacy in pain relief but methylprednisolone and triamcinolone were more effective by the second injection as compared to dexamethasone which required a third injection in a significant number of cases. Differences between methylprednisolone and triamcinolone were insignificant. Complications were negligible and temporary.