Psychological stress is prevalent in medical schools and is associated with depression. The personal and social sacrifices young medical apprentices have to make in order to sustain a fine academic outcome in an exceedingly competitive education sets them under enormous strain. The estimated prevalence of depression among private medical students has been 19% in United States, 49% in India, and 60% in Pakistan. Pakistan boasts highest prevalence of depression globally among undergraduate private medical students. Additionally a lack of any prior study in this institution, this study aimed to find prevalence of depression in the undergraduate private medical college of Lahore. Setting: The subjects were students of Shalamar Medical and Dental College, Lahore a private institution, in a metropolitan urban population. Study Design: Cross sectional study based on systematic random sampling technique. Methods: A modified, self-administered, structured questionnaire based on Goldberg's depression scale was distributed to a sample of 240 subjects during March 2014, till October 2014. Higher total scores refer to higher depression levels. Prior to the initiation of research permission was sought from the institution's ethical review committee. The data entry and analyses were done in SPSS for Windows version 20.0. Results: The response rate was 80%. The age of students (n= 164) averaged 21.1 ±1.4 years. The prevalence of depression among undergraduate medical students of our setting was almost 63% (n= 122). Thirty one percent (n=59) were possibly mildly depressed, 9% (n=17) borderline depressed, 19% (n=37) mild to moderate cases, 20% (n=39) moderate to severe cases and 3 % (n=6) were severely depressed students. Almost 85% (n= 40) of the students from second year suffered from depression the highest prevalence among all undergraduate medical years. A substantial 41% (n= 36) and 42 % (n= 37) of students suffering from depression admitted to the use of taking stimulants like amphetamines and caffeine respectively. Conclusion: The prevalence of depression is highest among the students of second academic year. Terminal illness of a family member and effect of law and order situation of the country also compromise the mental health of undergraduate medical students.

Background: Infection control, which is considered to be the backbone of dentistry, has become a particularly essential piece of dental training because both the dentists and patients are at an expanded danger of cross-contamination. Dental clinical settings represent a high organic hazard of spreading a wide scope of microorganisms. The objective of this study is to gather information of different dentists regarding their practice of standard cross infection protocols and how can they improve the same in their private practices. Materials and Methods: This cross-sectional study was conducted in dental clinics of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, KPK from January 2020 to July 2020 by distributing a questionnaire among dentists. It was a pre-designed questionnaire that was circulated in Google forms through Whatsapp and emails. The questionnaire was divided into 2 sections. Data was compiled and statistical tests were applied using the Statistical Package for Social Sciences SPSS® ver.23.0 Results: Regarding cross infection control measures, maximum dentists seem to have knowledge of cross infection control techniques. A significant difference was found (p= 0.05) between male & female dentists in disposing dental waste from clinical set up properly. A significant difference was also found between male & female dentists about rubber dam isolation (p=0.02). Conclusion: The result of this study showed that practice of dentists in KPK is not up to standard protocols of cross infection control. In this way, the need of great importance is to authorize and execute better proportions of infection control to improve dental practice in KPK. Key words: Infection control, Dental practice, Sterilization

Psychological stress is prevalent in medical schools and is associated withdepression. The personal and social sacrifices young medical apprentices have to makein order to sustain a fine academic outcome in an exceedingly competitive education setsthem under enormous strain. The estimated prevalence of depression among private medicalstudents has been 19% in United States, 49% in India, and 60% in Pakistan. Pakistan boastshighest prevalence of depression globally among undergraduate private medical students.Additionally a lack of any prior study in this institution, this study aimed to find prevalence ofdepression in the undergraduate private medical college of Lahore. Setting: The subjects werestudents of Shalamar Medical and Dental College, Lahore a private institution, in a metropolitanurban population. Study Design: Cross sectional study based on systematic random samplingtechnique. Methods: A modified, self-administered, structured questionnaire based onGoldberg’s depression scale was distributed to a sample of 240 subjects during March 2014,till October 2014. Higher total scores refer to higher depression levels. Prior to the initiation ofresearch permission was sought from the institution’s ethical review committee. The data entryand analyses were done in SPSS for Windows version 20.0. Results: The response rate was80%. The age of students (n= 164) averaged 21.1 ±1.4 years. The prevalence of depressionamong undergraduate medical students of our setting was almost 63% (n= 122). Thirty onepercent (n=59) were possibly mildly depressed, 9% (n=17) borderline depressed, 19%(n=37) mild to moderate cases, 20% (n=39) moderate to severe cases and 3 % (n=6) wereseverely depressed students. Almost 85% (n= 40) of the students from second year sufferedfrom depression the highest prevalence among all undergraduate medical years. A substantial41% (n= 36) and 42 % (n= 37) of students suffering from depression admitted to the use oftaking stimulants like amphetamines and caffeine respectively. Conclusion: The prevalence ofdepression is highest among the students of second academic year. Terminal illness of a familymember and effect of law and order situation of the country also compromise the mental healthof undergraduate medical students.