Background: The purpose of this study is to evaluate antimicrobial prescribing behaviors in the dermatology outpatient department. Methods: This multi-centered, cross-sectional study was conducted at dermatology outpatient department of three tertiary care hospitals in Chittagong division, Bangladesh during the period October, 2021 to April, 2022. Results: During the study period, 463 prescriptions were obtained. Over half of the participants were female (57%) and between the ages of 21 to 40 years. The majority of patients were diagnosed with eczema (19%), acne (17%), and scabies (15%). Most commonly prescribed antimicrobials was Azithromycin (22%), followed by Permethrin (16%) and Erythromycin (7%). In most cases, antimicrobials were recommended for more than two weeks (60%). Nearly half of the antimicrobials (53 %) were recommended as combination of systemic and topical route. Conclusion: Current study found that dermatologists frequently recommended broad-spectrum antimicrobials for extended periods of time, which may lead to antimicrobial resistance. There is a need for continuing medical education on the appropriate use of antimicrobials, which will result in the effective management of skin diseases.

The effectiveness of topical application of ethanol extract of Azadirachta indica (neem) daily for 12 weeks was examined in patient of palmar arsenical keratosis. The mean (± SD) score of size of nodules of patients (n=14) using salicylic acid alone before and after treatment were 14.6 ± 4.6 and 10.5 ± 4.5 respectively (28.1% improvement). The mean score of size of nodules of patients (n=15) using salicylic acid plus A. indica (ethanol extract) before treatment was 14.7 ± 4.6 which was decreased to 3.1 ± 2.2 after treatment (79% improvement). The perception score of salicylic acid-treated group was 2.1 whereas it was increased to 4.7 in A. indica plus salicylic acid-treated group. Based on palmar nodular size and patients perception it can be concluded that topical use of ethanol extract of A. indica is effectively in palmar arsenical keratosis. Article Info

The Arial Khan is an important distributary river of the Ganges River within Bangladesh. The river is meandering, and channel shifting and bend migration are common. This study investigates the bend‐scale morphology of 37 characteristic bends of the river using Landsat imageries, river bathymetries, and hydrological data. The morphological changes of the river are correlated with the temporal shifting of its offtake, which in turn is linked to the dynamic behavior of the river in terms of sinuosity, bend geometry, and bend migration. Alterations in the offtake location, bed elevation, and in‐front bar formation are found to control the flow to the river. The sinuosity varies from 1.62 to 1.95 and is linked to the shifting of its offtake. The lifetimes of the bends increase from upstream to downstream with an average lifetime of 24 years. The radii of the bends vary from upper to lower reaches with an average radius of 921 m. The upper reach is more migration prone, and its average migration rate (108 m/year) is more than twice the other two reaches. A higher migration rate of 70–80 m/year is found for the river during 1981–1999 compared to the rates of 45–50 m/year for the rest of the study periods (1972–2021). An envelope curve depicting the relation between the relative curvature of a bend and its migration rate for the river is also developed. The overall morphology from 1972 to 2021 indicates that a significant increase in sinuosity and a reduction in river width and aspect ratio have occurred. The migration rate has declined slightly and the frequency of bend cutoffs has reduced notably in recent years. Nonetheless, due to the high rates of migration, there exists potential future threat to riverbank erosion in some critical bends, and hence damages to land, property, structure, and project on the vulnerable banks.

Background: Undergraduate research opportunities teach students not only how to conduct research, but they too learn problem-solving aptitudes. Participating in research also increases students' interest is being involved and making special contributions to the academic field. Therefore, the aim of our study was intended to assess the attitude and perceived barriers toward research among the medical undergraduates of Bangladesh. Methods: A cross-sectional questionnaire survey was conducted among third, fourth, and fifth year students across medical colleges in Bangladesh, during the month of July, 2020 to December, 2020. A Google-linked questionnaire was disseminated to the students via different social platform and the responses were received through Google drive. Result: The questionnaire survey received responses from 1279 students, with 94% claiming to be familiar with the scientific method. 82.7% of students mentioned they could design and execute a research project as well as can write scientific articles. More than half of the respondents (66.4%) expressed an interest in participating in research. Almost all respondents (96.7%) agreed that research is beneficial as it aid critical thinking and policy implementation. 79.8% of respondents opined that education on research methodology should be required in the medical curriculum. Majority of the respondents reported that lack of time and priorities to do research work because of compact academic tasks (89.1%), insufficient guidance (86.6%), lack of familiarities with research methodology (87.5%) and statistical analysis (85.2%) are the barriers of research. Conclusion: Our findings indicated that Bangladeshi medical students have a positive attitude toward research and that research methodology should be taught in undergraduate medical education. In order to increase participation in research, the challenges identified by students should be addressed.

Background: Bangladesh, A country with scintillating beauty of nature burdened with a dense population. Along with infectious diseases, tropical diseases are also prevalent here with a higher trend of non- communicable diseases as a result of industrialization. Practicing and prescribing as a doctor is a quite challenging profession here particularly when to deal with vast rural populations in a low resource facility. Medical education system is well developed in Bangladesh which follows traditional curriculum of teaching learning. Students are not accustomed with problem-based learning as it does not exist in curriculum. In order to confront with diverse disease pattern and overloaded population in this arduous backdrop of Bangladesh, problem- based learning can be a very effective tool for preparing medical students as an efficient, self- directed and insightful prescriber. This study was a primary step to introduce problem- based learning (PBL) to medical students of Bangladesh to evaluate the effectiveness of PBL in context of Bangladesh. Methods: Around 117 students of 4th year from 6 different medical colleges were randomly assigned for this study. Among them, half of the students attended PBL session for three days on a topic of Pharmacology and other students participated traditional lecture class. Following classes, odds ratio of performance was determined. MCQ, SAQ and total scores of assessment were compared. Comparison of scores was also done between male and female students of PBL group. Results: PBL students performed better than the LBL students. Odds ratio of their assessment performance was 252.08; with 95% confidence interval and lower range 53.89 and upper range 1179.28. The odds ratio showed strong association between PBL and student performance in Bangladesh context. Mean of total score was 30.7 ± 4.3 in PBL group and 17.2 ± 4.8 in LBL group. Total score was significantly higher (p= 0.000) in PBL group. Mean SAQ score in PBL and LBL group was 17.2 ± 2.2 and 5.3 ± 1.9 respectively which was extremely significant (p= 0.000). MCQ score mean was 13.4 ± 3.4 in PBL group versus 11.8 ± 3.7 in LBL group which was significantly higher in PBL group (p= 0.02). Among PBL group, total score and SAQ score was significantly higher in female students over male students. Conclusion: Significant findings of this study revealed PBL as an effective tool in Bangladesh context. Thereby, it is recommended from this study to take approaches for further study and initiative to incorporate PBL in curriculum as well. Bangladesh Journal of Medical Education Vol.12(1) 2021: 22-31