Background:Traditional methods of educating medical students are no longer sufficient in the current era largely influenced by multimedia. Simulation-based techniques may play a pivotal role in bridging this educational gap.Aim:This study was conducted to explore the perception of medical students towards simulation based learning (SBL).Subjects and Methods:This cross-sectional study was conducted in May 2013 in a private medical college in Mangalore, Karnataka, India. A total of 247 participants from fourth, sixth, eighth semester and internship were chosen by convenience sampling method. Attitudinal data on perception towards SBL were collected using a self-administered questionnaire with responses in a 5-point Likert's scale.Results:The mean age of students was 21.3 (standard deviation 1.9) years, and males constituted 55.5% (137/247). Most participants 72.5% (179/247) had favorable perceptions of SBL, with scores of92–118 out of a possible 118 points. Favorable perception towards SBL was seen significantly more among female students (P = 0.04) and senior MBBS students of sixth and eighth semesters (P = 0.05). Nearly, all students (90.7%; 224/247) agreed that simulation supports the development of clinical skills. As many as 29.6% (73/247) agreed that real patients might be replaced with simulated patients in practical examinations.Conclusion:SBL was perceived as favorable by a large number of participants in this study indicating a bright prospect for its implementation in the medical curriculum.

INTRODUCTION: Targeting the huge burden of adolescent anemia, the Weekly Iron and Folic acid Supplementation (WIFS) was launched by the Government of India. Few studies have been done to assess the effective functioning of the program since its inception. The present study was done to assess the knowledge WIFS among adolescents of Madhya Pradesh and the associated factors. MATERIALS AND METHODS: A cross-sectional study was done in a total of six districts (3 districts where the national adolescent program was implemented and 3 districts where it was not) of Madhya Pradesh. Multistage stratified random sampling technique was used for the enrollment of 3213 adolescent boys and girls, and a prestructured and validated tool was used to collect paperless data. Ethical approval and consent from the participants were obtained. Statistical analysis was performed using SPSS v21. RESULTS: It was observed that the knowledge of WIFS was more among adolescent girls (29.3%) as compared to adolescent boys (14.1%). More of the adolescent girls received Iron and folic acid tablets as compared to adolescent boys (60.8% girls vs. 24.1% boys). Mostly, the adolescents got Iron tablets from school followed by Anganwadi and PHC/CHC. Girls, rural location, literacy, below poverty line status, knowledge of anemia, adolescents who got iron and albendazole tablets, and adequate consumption of iron tablets (>4) were associated with higher knowledge of WIFS. CONCLUSION: The knowledge of WIFS was found to be less in adolescent boys. There is a hint of the fact that effective execution of the program among its beneficiaries leads to an automatic increased knowledge of the program, at least among the beneficiaries. Thus, an indirect but significant indirect finding is that the nationwide WIFS program needs to be put to greater focus among the adolescent boys, apart from its major focus on the female gender among most age groups.

Introduction: Although increased taxation on sugar-sweetened beverages (SSBs) and warning labels on their packaging have been successful in other countries, India has not implemented these. It is imperative to understand the user perspectives before implementation, regarding which almost no information exists. Objectives: To assess the awareness and perceptions of people regarding taxation and health warnings on SSB packaging, and to determine the factors associated with these. Methodology: This cross-sectional study was conducted in the general out-patient clinic of a public tertiary care hospital in Bhopal, India, between April and November 2018. Patients and accompanying persons ≥15 years of age and attending the clinic were included. Severely ill patients were excluded. Exit interviews were conducted after the clinical consultation using a pre-tested semi-structured interview schedule. Data were analyzed using IBM SPSS version 21. Results: Out of the 503 participants interviewed, three-fourths had never heard of taxes on SSBs and had never seen any health warning on SSB packaging. Most participants (96.6%) wanted some health warning to be present on the packaging. Majority of them (69.3%) wanted both textual and pictorial warnings. Close to half of those who wanted a pictorial warning to be present opined that it should occupy <25% of the surface area of the packaging. Multivariable analysis showed that participants aged <25 years and females were not in favor of tax increment. Conclusion: Government policies should also focus on user perspectives and preferences before deciding to increase tax on SSBs or introducing mandatory health warnings on SSBs.