Dietary intake, body composition and micronutrient profile of patients on maintenance hemodialysis attending Kiruddu National Referral Hospital, Uganda: A cross sectional study.

Patients on maintenance hemodialysis are at a great risk for altered nutritional status, characterized by protein energy wasting and micronutrient deficiency due to medication interactions and dietary restrictions. This study determined the dietary intake, micronutrient profile and body composition of patients on maintenance hemodialysis at Kiruddu National referral hospital (KNRH), Uganda. A cross sectional study was done among adult CKD patients on maintenance hemodialysis therapy at KNRH.

Clinical associates and access to healthcare in the Eastern Cape province of South Africa.

Background:  Clinical associates (ClinAs) were introduced into South Africa as part of the remedy for the severe shortage of healthcare workers in rural areas. Walter Sisulu University (WSU) graduated 100 ClinAs between 2011 and 2014. These ClinAs were expected to be based at district hospitals where they would work under the supervision of doctors, reduce the workload of doctors and increase access to healthcare in the Eastern Cape.

The protective effect of aqueous extract of Typha capensis rhizomes on cadmium-induced infertility in rats.

Background Typha capensis is one of the medicinal plants commonly used to manage male fertility problems. The objective of the present study was to assess its fertility-promoting effects in a rat model of cadmium-induced infertility. Methods A total of 30 male Wister rats were randomly divided into five groups of six animals each.

Predictors of recovery in moderate to severe traumatic brain injury.

Objective: Traumatic brain injury (TBI) is a significant cause of morbidity and mortality worldwide. Clinical outcomes in TBI are determined by the severity of injury, which is dependent on the primary and secondary brain injury processes. Whereas primary brain injury lesions are related to the site of impact, secondary brain injury results from physiological changes caused by oxidative stress and inflammatory responses that occur after the primary insult.

Practice intentions at entry to and exit from medical schools aspiring to social accountability: findings from the Training for Health Equity Network Graduate Outcome Study.

Background: Understanding the impact of selection and medical education on practice intentions and eventual practice is an essential component of training a fit-for-purpose health workforce distributed according to population need. Existing evidence comes largely from high-income settings and neglects contextual factors. This paper describes the practice intentions of entry and exit cohorts of medical students across low and high income settings and the correlation of student characteristics with these intentions.

Medical Education in Decentralized Settings: How Medical Students Contribute to Health Care in 10 Sub-Saharan African Countries.

Purpose: African medical schools are expanding, straining resources at tertiary health facilities. Decentralizing clinical training can alleviate this tension. This study assessed the impact of decentralized training and contribution of undergraduate medical students at health facilities.

Defining Sub-Saharan Africa's Health Workforce Needs: Going Forwards Quickly Into the Past Comment on "Non-physician Clinicians in Sub-Saharan Africa and the Evolving Role of Physicians".

Recent proposals for re-defining the roles Africa's health workforce are a continuation of the discussions that have been held since colonial times. The proposals have centred on basing the continent's healthcare delivery on non-physician clinicians (NPCs) who can be quickly trained and widely distributed to treat majority of the common diseases. Whilst seemingly logical, the success of these proposals will depend on the development of clearly defined professional duties for each cadre of healthcare workers (HCW) taking the peculiarities of each country into consideration.

Prevalence of metabolic syndrome in adolescents living in Mthatha, South Africa.

Objective: Metabolic syndrome (MetS), defined as the clustering of three of five risk factors (hypertension, obesity, triglyceridemia, dyslipidemia and hyperglycemia), is being increasingly mentioned among children and adolescents despite there being no consensus on how it should be defined in this set of population. Furthermore, very few studies have focused on MetS in children and adolescents in sub-Saharan populations. This study, therefore, aimed at determining the prevalence of the MetS and contributing risk in adolescents living in Mthatha, South Africa.

Student Opinions on Factors Influencing Tutorials at Walter Sisulu University, South Africa.

INTRODUCTION Problem-based learning harmonized with education in and for the community is the cornerstone of the curriculum for the undergraduate medical degree at Walter Sisulu University, Mthatha, South Africa. In tutorials, students construct knowledge and learn to work collaboratively while interacting with one another in their search for solutions to a pedagogically modeled health issue based on a patient. Problems cover students' needs defined by the learning cycle of the second year medical curriculum, organized into four learning blocks.

[How do students who feel "not free to participate" perceived their tutorial sessions in problem based learning?].

Background: Verbal interactions are paramount to develop cognitive and social skills of students taught using problem based learning in small group tutorials. Responses to a questionnaire showed that 27% of second year medical students did not feel free to participate in their groups

Aim: To explore if these students may have different perceptions respect to their peers, regarding the functioning of their tutorials.

Material And Methods: The answer to the item "feel free to participate" was the criterion to allocate students in two groups, study (n = 25) and control (n = 66).

Prevalence of hypertension and pre-hypertension in 13-17 year old adolescents living in Mthatha - South Africa: a cross-sectional study.

Background: Hypertension is one of the most common risk factors for cardiovascular diseases (CVDs), yet not much effort is being invested in early diagnosis and control of the condition in susceptible children. The aim of this study was to,investigate the prevalence of pre-hypertension and hypertension in peri-urban school-attending adolescents and explore the relationship between blood pressure and selected anthropometric measurements.

Methods: A cross-sectional study of adolescents aged 13-17 years was performed.

24-Hour Measurement of Gastric pH in Rural South Africa.

Background. Previous studies have established norms of 24-hour gastric pH profiles for western countries. This study was designed to establish the pattern for a rural African population with a high incidence of oesophageal cancer.

Impact of selection strategies on representation of underserved populations and intention to practise: international findings.

Context: Socially accountable medical schools aim to reduce health inequalities by training workforces responsive to the priority health needs of underserved communities. One key strategy involves recruiting students from underserved and unequally represented communities on the basis that they may be more likely to return and address local health priorities. This study describes the impacts of different selection strategies of medical schools that aspire to social accountability on the presence of students from underserved communities in their medical education programmes and on student practice intentions.

Addressing social responsibility in medical education: the African way.

Indigenous sub-Saharan societies have, over the millennia, lived and socialised within the unwritten 'rules' of the 'Ubuntu' or similar philosophies that emphasises holistic 'humanness', and which is a form of 'social responsibility'. This article looks into some relevant social responsibility aspects of medical education in the South African context, with particular emphasis on how these aspects have been addressed. Apartheid was, by its very nature, incompatible with social responsibility for the majority of South Africans, but one medical school that was a non-complicit product of apartheid succeeded in fulfilling a socially responsible mission.

Molecular basis for maize as a risk factor for esophageal cancer in a South African population via a prostaglandin E2 positive feedback mechanism.

The incidence of squamous cancer of the esophagus varies up to a hundredfold in different regions of the world. In Transkei, South Africa, a particularly high incidence of the disease is observed. We have previously proposed an association between a maize-rich diet and elevated levels of intragastric prostaglandin E2 production (PGE(2)).

Investigation of the antinociceptive and anti-inflammatory properties of Heteromorpha arborescens (Apiaceae).

Heteromorpha arborescens belongs to the family Apiaceae. It is commonly known as the parsley tree. One of its uses in the Eastern Cape Province of South Africa is for the treatment of abdominal pains.

Medical schools in sub-Saharan Africa.

Small numbers of graduates from few medical schools, and emigration of graduates to other countries, contribute to low physician presence in sub-Saharan Africa. The Sub-Saharan African Medical School Study examined the challenges, innovations, and emerging trends in medical education in the region. We identified 168 medical schools; of the 146 surveyed, 105 (72%) responded.

Faculty of health sciences, walter sisulu university: training doctors from and for rural South african communities.

Introduction The South African health system has disturbing inequalities, namely few black doctors, a wide divide between urban and rural sectors, and also between private and public services. Most medical training programs in the country consider only applicants with higher-grade preparation in mathematics and physical science, while most secondary schools in black communities have limited capacity to teach these subjects and offer them at standard grade level. The Faculty of Health Sciences at Walter Sisulu University (WSU) was established in 1985 to help address these inequities and to produce physicians capable of providing quality health care in rural South African communities.

Facilitating the integrated small-group tutorial in a medical programme--the University of Transkei (Unitra) experience.

Context: The Unitra (now Walter Sisulu University) medical programme is problem- and community-based, offered in a small-group tutorial setting under a tutor. The first 3 years of the programme are integrated horizontally and vertically. The hypothetico-deductive format, with progressive disclosure, is utilised in the tutorial process.

Problem-based learning improves the academic performance of medical students in South Africa.

Objectives: To compare the academic performance of students on the previous, classical, discipline- and lecture-based, traditional curriculum with that of subsequent students who followed an innovative, problem- and community-based curriculum.

Methods: This was a retrospective study that analysed the records of students who enrolled on the doctor training programme between 1985 and 1995, and the records of students who graduated from the programme between 1989 and 2002.

Outcomes: The educational outcomes assessed were the attrition and graduation rates on the traditional curriculum and those on the innovative curriculum.