For which entrustable professional activities must medical students be prepared if unsupervised patient care without further training is an expectation? An international Global South study.

Introduction: Training medical students requires objectives that are often translated into frameworks of competencies. Since the introduction of entrustable professional activities (EPAs), these tasks or 'units of professional practice', originally conceived for postgraduate training, define what residents must be prepared to do unsupervised. Nowadays, EPAs are also applied to undergraduate training, with the prospect of entering residency.

The clinicopathological landscape of thyroid cancer in South Africa-A multi-institutional review.

Background: In South Africa (SA), data on the incidence of thyroid cancer is limited. Papillary thyroid carcinoma is by far the most common malignancy in developed countries; however, a preponderance of follicular thyroid cancer in developing countries, despite iodized salt, has been observed. The aim of this study was to describe the national landscape of thyroid cancer in SA with reference to pathological subtypes, surgical outcomes, and treatments offered.

Entrustable Professional Activities in Postgraduate General Surgery Training: A Scoping Review.

Objective: To provide an overview of the current use of Entrustable Professional Activities (EPAs) in postgraduate general surgery training internationally.

Background: Entrustable Professional Activities (EPAs) were introduced to connect clinical competencies and the professional activities to be entrusted to trainees on graduation. The popularity of EPAs as a framework for assessment is growing globally, including in general surgery.

Palpable breast lumps: An age-based approach to evaluation and diagnosis.

A palpable breast lump is a common presentation of breast disease to a general practitioner. Fortunately, investigation of most of these lumps will lead to a benign diagnosis. It is essential to have a clear and systematic approach when investigating a palpable breast lump to avoid over investigation with the resultant increase in healthcare cost and anxiety.

Reference standards for facial measurements in early third trimester South African fetuses, and the effect of maternal and fetal characteristics.

Fetal alcohol spectrum disorder (FASD) is a major problem worldwide and dysmorphic facial features may be a prenatal biomarker for FASD. Deviations from normal facial development cannot be explored before establishing the normal variation in a specific population, since ethnic differences may exist. Main objective: to establish reference standards for 23 facial measurements on 3D ultrasound volumes obtained between days 196 and 224 of gestation in healthy unexposed South African fetuses from an area with historically high alcohol consumption prevalence and a population group with no existing normative values.

Effect of Nutritional Intake on the Body Composition of HIV-Exposed and HIV-Unexposed Preterm and Low Birth Weight Infants.

Background: Human breast milk (HBM) is considered inadequate in meeting protein requirements, especially for very low birth weight (VLBW) infants, which could affect body composition.

Objectives: The primary objective was to determine the effect of HBM on body composition of HIV-exposed and unexposed preterm VLBW and extremely low birth weight infants. The secondary objectives were to ascertain the effect breast milk fortification and days nil per os (NPO) have on body composition.

Logistical factors associated with adverse outcomes following emergency surgery in an acute care surgical unit.

Purpose: The Acute Care Surgical Unit at Groote Schuur Hospital was established in 2010 and is the first of its kind in Africa. The aim of this study was to describe the outcomes of emergency surgical cases, as well as determine the logistical factors associated with adverse outcomes following surgery within the unit.

Methods: This study was a retrospective audit which reviewed the folders of adult patients who underwent an emergency surgical procedure from July 2016 to July 2017.

The effect of maternal HIV status and treatment duration on body composition of HIV-exposed and HIV-unexposed preterm, very and extremely low-birthweight infants.

Background: There is an evidence gap regarding the relationship between HIV exposure, body composition (and the quality thereof) and preterm infants.

Aim: This study determined the body composition of HIV-exposed, preterm very low-birthweight (VLBW) and extremely low-birthweight (ELBW) infants and to assess the effect of maternal HAART duration on the body composition of this vulnerable population.

Methods: A descriptive cross-sectional study was conducted.

Effect of maternal position and uterine activity on periodic maternal heart rate changes before elective cesarean section at term.

Introduction: Because little is known about the effects of maternal position on periodic changes in the maternal heart rate (MHR) in late pregnancy, a prospective observational study was done at Tygerberg Academic Hospital in Cape Town. Pregnant women admitted for elective cesarean section were studied to determine the effect of changes in position on the maternal and fetal heart rates (FHR) and maternal blood pressure.

Material And Methods: Continuous transabdominal non-invasive recording of MHR, FHR patterns and uterine activity was done for 1 h in 119 women, using the AN24 device from Monica Health Care.

Probiotics Reduce Necrotizing Enterocolitis Severity in HIV-exposed Premature Infants.

Objective: To assess the effect of probiotics on the incidence of necrotizing enterocolitis (NEC) in premature infants born to human immunodeficiency virus (HIV)-positive and HIV-negative women.

Patients And Methods: HIV-exposed and HIV-unexposed premature infants were randomized to either the probiotic or the placebo group. The probiotic consisted of 1 × 10(9) colony-forming units, Lactobacillus rhamnosus GG and Bifidobacterium infantis per day.

Human milk oligosaccharides differ between HIV-infected and HIV-uninfected mothers and are related to necrotizing enterocolitis incidence in their preterm very-low-birth-weight infants.

The heavy burden of maternal HIV infection has resulted in a high prevalence of premature birth and associated necrotizing enterocolitis (NEC). Human milk oligosaccharides (HMOs) were recently associated with HIV infection and transmission through breastfeeding and were also shown to reduce NEC in an animal model, particularly the HMO disialyllacto-N-tetraose (DSLNT). The primary aim of this study was to verify differences in HMO composition between HIV-infected and HIV-uninfected women.

Probiotics, feeding tolerance, and growth: a comparison between HIV-exposed and unexposed very low birth weight infants.

Objective: The aim of this study was to compare the effect of administration of probiotics on feeding tolerance and growth outcomes of HIV-exposed (but uninfected) versus HIV non-exposed preterm infants. The null hypothesis of this study states that there will be no difference in the feeding tolerance and growth outcomes for both probiotic-exposed and unexposed premature very low birth weight infants.

Methods: A randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled trial was conducted during the period from July 2011 to August 2012.

Depression and anxiety in multisomatoform disorder: prevalence and clinical predictors in primary care.

Objective: Multisomatoform disorder (MSD) is characterised by > or = 3 medically inexplicable, troublesome physical symptoms, together with a > or = 2-year history of somatisation. The aim of this study was to evaluate the prevalence of depressive and anxiety disorders in a South African sample MSD, and to compare demographic and clinical outcomes in those patients with and without co-morbidity.

Methods: Fifty-one adult outpatients with MSD were recruited from primary care clinics in the Cape Town metropolitan area.

Rapid screening of the fermentation profiles of wine yeasts by Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy.

A rapid screening method for the evaluation of the major fermentation products of Saccharomyces wine yeasts was developed using Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy and principal component factor analysis. Calibration equations for the quantification of volatile acidity, glycerol, ethanol, reducing sugar and glucose concentrations in fermented Chenin blanc and synthetic musts were derived from the Fourier transform infrared spectra of small-scale fermentations. The accuracy of quantification of volatile acidity in both Chenin blanc and synthetic must was excellent, and the standard error of prediction was 0.

Obsessive-compulsive disorder and trichotillomania: a phenomenological comparison.

Background: Similarities between obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) and trichotillomania (TTM) have been widely recognized. Nevertheless, there is evidence of important differences between these two disorders. Some authors have conceptualized the disorders as lying on an OCD spectrum of conditions.