Unmet Need of Antenatal Screening for Asymptomatic Bacteriuria: A Risk Factor for Adverse Outcomes of Pregnancy.

Recommended urine culture is unsuitable for screening pregnant women for asymptomatic bacteriuria due to long turn-around time, unaffordability, and user-unfriendliness. The objective of this review was to evaluate the suitability of various tests for this purpose. A PubMed-based systematic review of published articles irrespective of year and language was done.

Blending virtual with conventional learning to improve student midwifery skills in India.

India's state of Bihar has suboptimal quality of pre-service training for auxiliary nurse midwives. To address this, state government of Bihar implemented a blended training model to supplement conventional classroom teaching with virtual training. A 72-hour virtual training package with updated content on key maternal and newborn health practices was developed for final year students and broadcasted from one instructor location simultaneously to two auxiliary nurse midwives training centres.

Effectiveness of virtual classroom training in improving the knowledge and key maternal neonatal health skills of general nurse midwifery students in Bihar, India: A pre- and post-intervention study.

Background: In 2008-09, the National Health Systems Resource Center of India reported overall quality of nurse-midwifery education in Bihar as grossly sub-optimal. To address this, we implemented a competency-based training using virtual classrooms in two general nurse midwives (GNM) schools of Bihar. The students from remotely located nursing institutions were now able to see live demonstrations of maternal and newborn health (MNH) practices performed by a trained faculty on simulation models at instructor location.

Refractive error and vision-related quality of life in South Indian children.

Purpose: To understand the vision-related quality of life (QoL) of schoolchildren with uncorrected refractive error (URE).

Methods: A snapshot qualitative research design and homogeneous sampling strategy was adopted. Thirty-one, 27, and 22 eye care practitioners, children, and teachers participated in four, three, and two focus group discussions, respectively.

Making environmental health interesting for medical students-internet assisted facilitated collaborative learning approach.

Background: Topics on environmental health are usually neglected by students and it is necessary for them to learn this area with a public health perspective as environment plays a vital role in multi-factorial causation of diseases. Hence there is a need for alternative teaching/learning methods to facilitate students in acquiring the required knowledge.

Objectives: To increase the student interest and enhance their participation in acquiring knowledge in public health perspective of environmental health.

Parents' awareness and perception of children's eye diseases in Chennai, India.

Purpose: To report parents' awareness and perception of eye diseases in their children.

Methods: Thirty-five parents and 16 eye care practitioners either participated in in-depth interviews or focus group discussions. Data on parents' awareness and perception were collected using interview guides with unstructured questions.

Improving health of children in urban slums through an integrated model based approach-a case study from Chennai.

An integrated model based approach was used to improve health status of children in an urban slum. An urban slum was selected based on fixed criteria and health needs were assessed. The environmental conditions were improved.

Experiences from tsunami relief activity: implications for medical education.

A tsunami struck the coast of Tamilnadu and Pondicherry on 26 December 2004. Jawaharlal Institute of Postgraduate Medical Education & Research, (JIPMER) in Pondicherry played a vital role in providing medical relief. The experiences from the relief activities revealed areas of deficiency in medical education in regards to disaster preparedness.