Coronavirus disease-2019 (COVID-19) is the viral pandemic with the propensity of having several systemic manifestations. As with other viral diseases, it has been associated with varied cutaneous manifestations and they range from maculopapular eruptions, vascular lesions to the chickenpox-like lesions. However, the co-occurrence of COVID-19 and varicella has been rarely reported.

Introduction: Informed consent gives patient assurance and faith by providing information on diagnostic and therapeutic methods, risks, cost, complications, and alternative treatment options.  This study aims to determine the adequacy of information provided in preoperative informed consent in everyday practice. Method: A cross sectional study was conducted among 388 patients undergoing surgery at Patan Hospital from November, 2016 to April, 2017. Respondents’ characteristics with Adequacy of information scale (AOI scale) were evaluated. Frequency, percentage, mean and standard deviation were calculated for descriptive study while Student t-test and ANOVA test was applied for assessing association between categorical variables. P value less than 0.05 was considered statistically significant.  Result: Among participants 52.6% were females and 47.4% males with mean age of 40.69 years. Most of the patients were literate and with higher education. Male patients, exhibit a statistically significant higher AOI scale (p value <0.001) then females. Illiterates and people with higher education had statistically significant lower mean AOI scales (p value <0.001) compared to literates. A high mean AOI scale was associated with active involvement of both the surgeon and the patient in the decision-making process (p value <0.0001). Even among patients satisfied with consent process mean AOI scale was low (4.30=53.75%). The mean AOI scale did not differ significantly amongst patients of different ages, marital status, religion or caste. Conclusion: There is a need of improving the preoperative informed consent process as adequacy of information provided is still lacking. Keywords: Adequacy of information scale (AOI scale), informed consent, Patan Hospital, patient satisfaction

Background: Residents need to show their proficiency in clinical and teaching skills. A good amount of their time during residency is spent teaching their juniors. Moreover, once they graduate, their roles will be clinician and teacher. Therefore, the “Resident as a teacher” module was included in the curriculum of the general practice residency program at Patan Academy of Health Sciences. This study was designed to evaluate the change in the teaching skills of residents after going through the module. Methods: This was a qualitative study where three groups were interviewed. The first group was residents who underwent ‘Resident as Teacher Training’ and were involved in teaching their juniors. The second group was junior residents who were involved as learners and the third group was faculties. The questionnaire was used for interviewing and the thematic analysis was done and the findings of these three groups were analyzed.Results: There was a total of 25 general practice residents who were interviewed. The residents who were involved in teaching (N=11) stated that the training program increased their confidence 8(72.7%) and communication skills 8(72.7%). The residents who were learners (N=9) stated that they are more comfortable with the seniors in teaching and learning sessions. Faculties (N=5) stated that residents interacted well. Barriers to effective teaching were, difficult to manage time for preparation and supervision by faculty. Conclusions: General practice residents who went through the Resident as Teacher module stated that they were confident and had improvement in their teaching skills.Keywords: General practice resident; Nepal; postgraduate program; resident as a teacher; student as a teacher.

Background The services rendered by hospitals during the pandemic may not be efficient. This might impact the satisfaction of patients seeking healthcare. The aim of this study is to assess the satisfaction level of patients other than those with COVID-19 during the pandemic with different services provided by the hospital. Method A quantitative, analytical and cross-sectional study was carried out in a multidisciplinary hospital. Valid questionnaire, derived from PSQ III and PSQ 18, was used for data collection from 250 outpatients. Ethical approval was obtained. Systematic random sampling was done to enrol patients into the study after taking their consent. Descriptive analysis was performed using frequency, proportion, median and inter-quartile range. Mann–Whitney U test and Kruskal–Wallis test were carried out to find the association between overall satisfaction and different socio-demographic and other variables. Statistical significance was set at p-value < 0.05. Result Almost two-thirds of the respondents visiting the hospital during the pandemic were female (male: 35.6% and female: 64.4%). More than half (50.4%) of the patients reported that access to the hospital was feasible. Of the patients reporting dissatisfaction, most of them (86.4%) considered the establishment of separate COVID-19 hospitals as the best option. The median satisfaction score for the overall satisfaction of patients towards different service domains was 54.0 (45–60). Almost all respondents (95.6%) found that services were easily available. Patient satisfaction score was significantly associated with expenditure ( p < 0.001). Satisfaction score was also significantly associated with the time spent in the hospital by the patients ( p < 0.001). Conclusion Majority of the patients reporting to the multidisciplinary hospital were satisfied with the provisioning of treatment and different services during the COVID-19 pandemic. Relatively lesser satisfaction was reported for the provision of maintenance of social distance, availability of hand washing/sanitisation, overall hospital cleanliness and cost of treatment. Moreover, satisfaction among patients was associated with their perceived fear of the pandemic.

Recent report of increased influenza B virus infection, particularly the clinical profiles and treatment challenges imposed like that of influenza A, underscores the importance of continuing influenza B virus surveillance. This is, especially in resource limited country, early detection of influenza virus, its clinical presentation and complications would be vital in minimizing the public heath burden imposed by this virus.Journal of Patan Academy of Health Sciences. 2014 Dec;1(2):52-54