Christian Ezeala

Scientists continue to investigate the use of Kigelia Africana plant parts for the management of diabetes. However, there is still little published information discussing active antidiabetic principles, especially in the fruit. Further, there is limited information discussing the mechanism by which the plant extract provides its antidiabetic activity. While studies have showed that the plant stem bark’s extract has a large therapeutic index, there is no published information discussing the mutagenic properties of the plant.

Aim: To propose a strategy for improvement of undergraduate students' learning environment based on analysis of their perceptions. Methods: Medical, Pharmacy and Physiotherapy undergraduate students participated in the study. The study used a quantitative descriptive design, based on the Dundee Ready Educational Environment Measure (DREEM) inventory. The University of South Africa and University of Zambia Ethics Committees provided ethical approval. Using stratified random sampling, participants were drawn from the Ridgeway Campus of the University. They responded to a demographic section and the 50 DREEM items. Data analysis included descriptive statistics on demographics, total and subscales DEEM scores and mean scores on individual items. Cronbach's alpha and confirmatory factor analysis provided reliability and validity indices of the dataset. Specific issues derived from individual items' scores were used to propose a strategy. Results: Total participants were 488 including 239 from Medicine, 135 from Pharmacy and 74 from Physiotherapy. Response rate was 95.5%. Mean total score was 119.3/200. Scores within subscales of perception of learning, perception of teachers, academic self-perception, perception of atmosphere, and social self-perception were 29.87/48, 26.29/44, 20.96/32, 27.26/48 and 14.86/14, respectively. Four strategic issues emerged from six items with mean scores below 2.0/4.0: lack of adequate social support for stressed students, substandard teaching and mentoring, unpleasant accommodation and inadequate facilities. Strategic objectives were raised and strategic options recommended from literature. Conclusion: Strategic planning in medical and health professions education should consider learners' concerns by analysing their learning environments.

Background: Many studies show that learners’ perception of the educational environment influence their learning outcomes. In healthcare education, skills acquisition correlates positively with perception of the learning environment. This is true of both undergraduate and postgraduate education and cuts across the healthcare disciplines. In Zambia, only few studies analyzed the psychological, pedagogical, technological, and sociocultural environments in which medical doctors are trained. Aims: This study’s aims were to determine undergraduate medical students’ perception of their learning, teachers, social environment, learning atmosphere, and their academic ability at the University of Zambia and what they think could be done to improve the quality of the learning environment. Methods: The study used quantitative design and employed the Dundee Ready Educational Environment Measurement (DREEM) questionnaire. It also included demographic questions and an open-ended question “What three things would you like to change about the School?” to obtain their views on quality improvement. Participants were drawn from year 3 to year 7 medical students of the School of Medicine at Ridgeway Campus. The study was approved by Ethics Committee of the Department of Health Studies of the University of South Africa and University of Zambia Biomedical Research Ethics Committee. All participants were well informed of the study details. Participants were selected from consenting students through stratified random sampling according to their year of study. Dean of the School of Medicine authorized the study. Completed copies of the questionnaire were sorted and analyzed quantitatively by one-way ANOVA, while responses to open-ended question where analyzed thematically. The quantitative results from the DREEM were interpreted using the DREEM authors’ rubric. Results: Calculated sample size was 240. Total number of respondents was 239 giving a response rate of 99.6 %. Ages of the participants were 24.6 ± 3.5; 143 were males and 93 females. The students rated the overall learning environment as “more positive than negative.” Specific concerns expressed included lack of social support for stressed students, lack of pleasant accommodation, authoritarian attitude of teachers, and overemphasis on factual learning. Open-ended data supported these DREEM findings and included these themes: i. Providing better accommodation, ii. Promoting effective teaching methods, iii. Improving assessment strategies and security of assessment instruments, iv. Providing counselling and recreational facilities, and v. Improving students: staff ratio by reducing enrollment or engaging more staff. Conclusion: Participants rated their learning environment as positive, however many issues needed improvement. Since many medical schools have similar context to University of Zambia, these results could be generalized and used for strategic planning. The study recommends that a). each medical school should compulsorily provide good quality accommodation for all her medical students; b). each medical school should provide resident counsellors for her students; c). medical education curricular should be designed to espouse student-centered learning and avoid factual overload, and teaching faculty should be trained and retrained in effective teaching and assessment methods.

Background : The root of Steganotaenia araliacea is used for assisting labour in folk medicine. Recent reports indicate that the root could possess uterotonic substances.  Objectives : The study aimed to evaluate three methods for the extraction of uterotonic principles from the root of S. araliacea growing in Zambia. Methods : Roots of the plant were collected from Chongwe District of Zambia. The air-dried roots were size-reduced, and the powdered material extracted with hot ethanol, hot distilled water, and cold distilled water. The solvent extracts were concentrated and dried at 110 0C. Solutions of the hot aqueous and cold aqueous extracts were prepared in distilled water and used for organ bath experiments to demonstrate uterotonic activities using strips of pregnant rat uterus. The frequencies and amplitude of contractile forces were recorded. The amplitudes were plotted against log concentration of extract with GraphPad Prism software, and the EC50 values determined. Results ...

Background: Students’ perceptions of their learning environments influence their approaches to learning and the learning outcomes, and reflect a programme’s effectiveness. In Africa, literature on the learning environments of medical and health sciences education is scanty, and the issues impinging on effective education are not well documented. The objective of this study was to determine learners’ perceptions of the issues in the learning environment of undergraduate physiotherapy education at the University of Zambia. Methods: Undergraduate physiotherapy students in years 2 to 5 were stratified according to level of study and randomly sampled. They were provided written information about the study, and consenting students were allowed to complete the DREEM questionnaire unassisted. Completed questionnaires were rated using a recommended guideline and their responses analysed quantitatively. Global, subscale, and item mean scores were calculated, and Cronbach’s alpha was determine...

The use of portfolios in health professions education has increased dramatically over the years. The enthusiastic acceptance of this principle is in part born out of the ever-growing interest in outcomes-based education in all divisions of health science. Portfolios not only stimulate professional development and reflective learning, they also provide opportunity for self-direction, and avenues for faculty feedback. Portfolios have also been recommended for the assessment of professional development in medical education, and several reports document their successful use in the assessment of competence at both undergraduate and postgraduate levels. To stimulate engagement and to assess professional development during clinical laboratory training, portfolio development and assessment was proposed for final-year students for the Bachelor of Medical Laboratory Sciences and the Diploma in Medical Laboratory Technology, Kampala International University, Uganda, in 2008. This article repor...

Methods: Years 2 and 3 students participated in the study. Before the pandemic, they used the exercises for on-site classes. They used Cyber Patient, Organ bath, Virtual Cat, and Virtual Rat software to conduct pharmacokinetics, pharmacodynamics, autonomic, cardiovascular, and neuropharmacology exercises. Through Moodle, they received instructions and resources; and the tutors accessed and rated their reports. To determine their readiness and perception of the exercises, the study conducted a cross-sectional survey using a questionnaire that included a demographic section, a section on ICT readiness, and a section on perception of the exercises. Statistical analysis included mean scores, t-test, Cronbach's coefficient, and principal components. Results: Sample size for both classes (total enrolment = 191) was 128. Seventy-eight students participated (45 from year 2 and 33 from year 3). Response rate was 60.94 %, mean age 21.7 (SD = 4.0); 74.4 % had no formal ICT training, 92.3 %...

Portfolio assessment is increasingly used in competency-based health professions education. However, this method of assessment is not commonly used in Medical Laboratory Sciences. This study evaluated the adoption of portfolio assessment in medical laboratory sciences in Uganda. The objectives included to determine acceptance of portfolio assessment, if it promoted feedback, reflection, and student engagement. Eighteen final year students developed portfolios of learning during their clinical laboratory training. These were examined as part of exit examinations using a rubric that considered documentation, reflection, evaluation, presentation, and decision. The study used questionnaire to gather information about participants’ views of the process.  Results show that the participants received the process very well and that it encouraged feedback and students’ engagement. However, it should not be used as a sole method of assessment. The study concludes that assessment of learning po...

Background: Ocimum fimbriatum Briq. var. fimbriatum is used traditionally in Zambia for its aphrodisiac effect, but there is no scientific evidence to support this use. Therefore, this study aimed to validate the aphrodisiac effects of the plant's root extract in rats. Study Design: This was an experimental study in which sixty Wister rats (30 males and 30 females) were separated into 5 groups of 12 rats and treated with different doses of the extract. Methods: The root extracts were administered at single oral doses of 100, 200, and 400 mg/kg to 30 male rats. Distilled water and sildenafil served as controls. Female rats were treated with 0.1 mg/kg diethylstilbesterol and paired to the male rats. Mounting frequency, intromission, ejaculation, and latency periods were monitored using recording cameras. Recordings were analyzed visually and expressed as mean ± standard error. Results: The root extract produced significant dosedependent increases in mounting, intromission, and eja...

Background: Processes for selection of candidates into medical schools vary globally. Knowledge of the predictive validity of a selection method is important for policy revision. Aim: To survey the practices used by medical schools to select students and their predictive validity. Methods: Search terms developed from the research problem were used to search Google Scholar, PubMed, and Educational Resources Information Centre (ERIC). These were “medical school,” “predictive validity,” “success,” “academic achievement” “admission criteria,” and “student selection.” Retrieved articles were screened for relevance and sorted according to countries of publication. Authors narratively reviewed the articles from each country and collated the findings. Best practices were recommended for African-based medical schools. Results: Articles retrieved from 14 countries were included in the review. USA, Canada, UK, Australia, and New Zealand operate centralized medical school admission programs and...

Purpose: This study was conducted to determine whether a computer simulation of practical exercises in undergraduate medical pharmacology led to the realization of the intended learning outcomes.Methods: The study was a descriptive analysis of laboratory classes carried out using computer simulation programs. Five programs were used to teach practical pharmacology to undergraduate medical students at the Mulungushi University School of Medicine and Health Sciences. The study period was January 2018 to December 2019. The computer programs included a pharmacokinetics simulator (CyberPatient), organ bath simulator (OBSim), AutonomiCAL for simulating autonomic pharmacology, and Virtual Cat and Virtual Rat (RatCVS) for simulating cardiovascular pharmacology. Students utilized these programs during their pharmacology laboratory classes, wrote reports, and answered relevant clinical questions.Results: The 5 programs provided easy and precise platforms for students to explore concepts and d...

It aimed to compare the study skills of two groups of undergraduate pharmacy students in the School of Medicine, University of Zambia using the Study Skills Assessment Questionnaire (SSAQ), with the goal of analysing students’ study skills and identifying factors that affect study skills. A questionnaire was distributed to 67 participants from both programs using stratified random sampling. Completed questionnaires were rated according to participants study skill. The total scores and scores within subscales were analysed and compared quantitatively. Questionnaires were distributed to 37 students in the regular program, and to 30 students in the parallel program. The response rate was 100%. Students had moderate to good study skills: 22 respondents (32.8%) showed good study skills, while 45 respondents (67.2%) were found to have moderate study skills. Students in the parallel program demonstrated significantly better study skills (mean SSAQ score, 185.4±14.5), particularly in time m...

Drug and chemical induced toxicity constitute significant contributors to Emergency Department admissions in hospitals. The aim of this presentation is to show the current evidence on the usefulness of garlic and garlic-derived products in the prevention of chemical induced toxicity using data from published studies. To achieve this aim, a systematic review of primary literature was conducted with the question “Does garlic prevent chemical induced toxicity?” Selected databases, including Google Scholar beta, PubMed, and Microsoft Academic Search, were searched with keywords based on the above question. Only primary literature was included, thus excluding reviews, opinions, and letters. The results show that several studies reported that garlic extracts effectively protected against drug and chemical induced toxicity. Some of the models reported include drug induced hepatotoxicity, drug and chemical induced nephrotoxicity; reproductive toxicity and teratogenicity, gut lesions, genoto...

Writing an abstract for a medical journal article could be a daunting task for inexperienced authors. This paper provided a guide to good abstract writing for medical science articles using examples published in a range of journals. By giving a definition of a good abstract, it highlighted the purposes, features, and structure of a good medical science abstract, and illustrated these with examples culled from articles published in peer reviewed journals. The unique features of each section were stressed as well as the need for brevity, objectivity, comprehensiveness, logical organization, good grammatical writing, and compliance with journal's specifications with respect to word length and structure. The need for thoroughness in the revision of the abstract was equally emphasized. The authors believe that this paper could serve as a good guide to new and aspiring medical science authors.

The effect of modest supplementation of vitamin E (α-tocopherol) on lipid peroxidation product, malondialdehyde (MDA), and reduced glutathione (GSH), was investigated in type 2 diabetic Nigerian patients. Written and informed consent to participate in this study was obtained from 80 type 2 diabetic patients. 50 randomly selected type 2 diabetic patients were supplemented with vitamin E capsule orally (1000 i.u / day ) and 30 age-matched patients to placebo for 2 months. Fasting blood was collected from each patient before and after vitamin E or placebo supplementation. Levels of Reduced glutathione (GSH ) and malondialdehyde (MDA) were determined. Hyperglycemia correlated with reduced blood GSH and increased malondialdehyde levels in type 2 diabetes. Vitamin E supplementation significantly increased GSH levels ( P<0.05 ) and lowered MDA levels ( p<0.05 ) which are markers of oxidative stress and this may reduce the risk of microvascular and macrovascular complications associat...

Serum thyroxine (T4) and thyroid stimulating hormone (TSH) were studied in 38 patients confirmed to be infected with HIV-1 virus and the results compared with values observed in age matched healthy subjects. The mean serum total T4 in the majority of the patients, 103 +/- 32 nmol/L, was similar to values observed in the controls, 102 +/- 21 nmol/L, p > 0.05. However, 22.2 pc of the HIV-1 infected patients had total serum T4 values that were significantly lower than values in the controls, 36 +/- 12 nmol/L, p < 0.001. Since hypothyroxinemia has been associated with increased mortality in critical illness, we suggest that assessment of thyroid function may be helpful in the management of some patients with AIDS.

Abstract: Platelet dysfunction is one of the major mechanisms underpinning cardiovascular diseases in diabetes mellitus. The researchers hypothesize that a significant proportion of Nigerian diabetic patients have altered platelet activation and adhesiveness which could predispose to thrombotic disorders. To evaluate platelet adhesiveness in type 2 diabetic Nigerians as a measure of platelet dysfunction. A total 50 patients (30 males and 20 females) aged 30-70 years with established diagnosis of type 2 diabetes on their first visit to diabetes clinic of Abia State University Teaching Hospital, Aba in Eastern Nigeria and 30 apparently healthy age-matched controls (15 males and 15 females) were recruited into this study. Blood samples were collected from the diabetic patients and controls after an overnight fast for determination of platelet counts and platelet adhesiveness and results compared. The mean platelet count of the patients, 234 +/- 77x109 L-1 was not significantly differen...

Secondary education in Fiji ends with the Form 7 examination. Predictive validity for academic success of Form 7 scores which form the basis for admission into the Bachelor of Medicine Bachelor of Surgery programme of the Fiji School of Medicine was examined via ...

Page 1. Received: 24.1.2007 Accepted: 19.8.2007 Journal of Research in Medical Sciences September & October 2007; Vol 12, No 5. 235 Original Article Glucose lowering effect of leaf extracts of Viscum Album in normal and diabetic rats ...