Background: Medical education has undergone drastic changes from conventional face-to-face to online classes during the three phases of the pandemic.However, not many studies reflected the teacher's perspective.Therefore, this study is aimed at assessing the perception of medical teachers toward online teaching during the COVID-19 pandemic.Methodology: It was a cross-sectional questionnaire-based study containing the demographic description of the participants and the perception of the participants towards online teaching.Likert's scale for rating the answers was used for grading from one to five.These responses were entered into Microsoft Excel 2007 and analyzed accordingly.The data was expressed in frequencies and percentages.Results: Out of 47 participants having a mean age of 35.26 years and a mean teaching age of 6.5 years, Google Meet was the most utilized platform.85.10% were accustomed to the devices used and 76.59% to the software.76.59% felt the interaction with students was difficult.57.45% of them opined that students were not attentive and 81% felt difficulty in monitoring the students.51.06% of the teachers felt distracted during the classes.38.30% and 6% felt online classes were as good as physical classes in dispersing theoretical and practical knowledge, respectively.Enquiry 2022;10(3) Conclusion: The teachers were comfortable with teaching via an online platform and were accustomed to the technology.However, they felt that physical or face-to-face classes were better in comparison to online classes. Global Bioethics
BACKGROUND:Current advances in biomedical research have introduced new ethical challenges in obtaining informed consent in low and middle-income settings. For example, there are controversies about the use of broad consent in the collection of biological samples for use in future biomedical research. However, few studies have explored preferred informed consent models for future use of biological samples in Malawi and South Africa. Therefore, we conducted an empirical study to understand preferred consent models among key stakeholders in biomedical studies that involve collection of biological samples in Malawi and South Africa. The main objective of the study was to explore views of key stakeholders on current policies on informed consent in Malawi and South Africa. METHODS:This was a qualitative study involving in-depth interviews and focus group discussions. Thirty-four in-depth interviews and 6 focus group discussions were conducted with REC members, Funders, Policymakers, CAB members and Research Participants in Malawi and South Africa to gather their views on models of informed consent. The study was conducted in Cape Town, South Africa, and Blantyre and Lilongwe in Malawi. RESULTS:Most key stakeholders preferred broad consent and tiered consent to specific consent. Some participants expressed a strong preference for specific consent to other models of informed consent in biomedical research. Few participants did not have any preference for a consent model, opting for any consent model which provides adequate information about the proposed research and what their national consent regulations require. Finally, very few participants preferred blanket consent to other informed consent models. CONCLUSIONS:This study aimed to help fill the gap in the scientific literature on key stakeholder views on consent models for future use of biological samples in Malawi and South Africa. The findings of the study have provided some evidence that may support policies on permissible consent models for future use of biological samples in sub-Saharan Africa considering the differences in informed consent regulations and guidelines. Finally, the findings can inform ongoing discussions on permissible consent models to be used for future use of biological samples.
Medical Ethics are codified or non-codified principles which are governing the norms of dealing patients.The digital era has revolutionized the field of medicine and raised diversified medical ethical concerns.The aim of granter systematic review analysis was to find out the ethical problems in the digital era regarding medicine and the mutual consensus and differences of the authors to solve them for a brighter future medicine.The PRISMA diagram methodology was adopted to complete the research article.The total 18 article were revised in systematic analysis.The methodological framework of the included research study these were qualitative case studies, interrogator reviews, thematic review literatures, mixed method analysis and multi-site studies involving the semi structured interviews.The analysis has concluded that the digital era is facing the numerous ethical concerns of privacy, transparency, credibility and medical legal responsibility of medical professionals.However, by solving this ethical concern the digital era contributes more effectively in medicine.
Economic and political/governmental infrastructural factors are major contributors to the economic development/growth of all sectors of a country, such as in the area of healthcare systems and clinical research, including the pharmaceutical industry.But what is the interaction between economic, and political/governmental infrastructural factors and the development of healthcare systems, especially, the performance of the pharmaceutical industry?Information from selected articles of a literature search of PubMed and by using Google Advanced Search led to the generation of five categories of infrastructural factors, and were filled with data from 41 African Countries using the World Health Organization data repository.Median changes over time were given and tested by Wilcoxon signed-rank test and Friedman test, respectively.Analysis of factors related to availability of healthcare facilities showed that physicians and pharmacies were significant increased, with insignificantly decreased number of hospital beds.Healthcare Financing by the Government showed notable differences.Private health spending decreased significantly unlike Gross National Income.Analysis of infrastructural factors showed that stable supply of electricity and the associated use of the Internet improved significantly.The low level of data on the expansion of paved road networks suggests less developed medical services in remote rural areas.Healthcare systems in African countries improved over the last two decades, but differences between the individual countries still prevail and some of the countries cannot yet offer an attractive sales market for the products of pharmaceutical companies.
Background: Mental health disorders are a significant global public health issue, especially in Pakistan, India, and Bangladesh, with depression and anxiety being the most common.Improving mental health knowledge and attitudes among healthcare professionals, including physicians, is crucial.The study aims to investigate the knowledge and attitude of Pakistani physicians towards mental health to identify gaps in understanding and develop effective interventions and policies to improve mental health services and reduce stigma.Methodology: This study analyzed data from a survey of 536 physicians in Pakistan to evaluate their knowledge and beliefs about mental health.The study was conducted in Pakistan Institute of Health Science Islamabad.The quantitative data was taken from the doctors after having their written informed consent.The quantitative data was taken by using the Mental Illness: Clinician's Attitude scale (MICA-4).The study used a cross-sectional design, and the data analysis involved descriptive statistics and frequency calculations.The main findings were presented using tables.Results: The demographic analysis shows the frequency and percentage of participants in a study based on their age, gender, and designation.The majority of participants were male (65.1%) and in the age group of 30-40 years (68.5%).The majority of participants were postgraduate residents (55.0%).The survey in Pakistan found limited interest in mental health among physicians, with many believing severe mental illness is irreversible.Negative perceptions of mental health and fear of admitting to a mental illness were also common.There was a misbelief that severe mental illness leads to dangerous behavior.Opinions were divided on who knows more about the lives of people with mental illness.This research study of Pakistani physicians revealed their attitudes towards mental health and identified areas for improvement in mental health care and reducing stigma. Conclusion:The current study of 536 physicians in Pakistan revealed knowledge gaps and misconceptions regarding mental health issues, including recovery of severe mental illness, stigma, and knowledge of health and social care staff.The findings suggest a need for training and education programs to improve the quality of care for individuals with mental health issues in Pakistan.
The ethics of vulnerability is a complex and multifaceted topic that involves considerations of power dynamics, consent, trust, and the responsibility of individuals and institutions to protect and support those who are vulnerable.The key points to consider when discussing the ethics of vulnerability are power imbalances as vulnerability often arises in situations where there are power imbalances between individuals or groups.When individuals choose to be vulnerable, they should do so with informed consent.This means they understand the potential risks and benefits of being vulnerable and have the capacity to make autonomous decisions.Vulnerability often involves sharing personal information or experiences with others.It is crucial to establish a relationship of trust and ensure that the confidentiality of shared information is maintained.Individuals and institutions have a responsibility to provide support and assistance to those who are vulnerable.This includes creating safe spaces, offering resources and services, and actively working to mitigate harm.While vulnerability can be challenging, it is important to empower individuals to exercise their agency and make decisions that are in their best interest.Respecting the autonomy and selfdetermination of vulnerable individuals is a fundamental ethical principle.Ethical approaches to vulnerability should prioritize beneficence (promoting well-being) and justice (fair distribution of resources and opportunities).It is important to note that the ethics of vulnerability can vary across different contexts and cultures.Therefore, ongoing dialogue, critical reflection, and the inclusion of diverse perspectives are vital when addressing the ethics of vulnerability.
Globally, Germline Gene Editing is considered as a cheap, efficient and accurate innovative tool.Genome editing techniques in general have contributed to the therapy of challenging human diseases such as various types of cancer, neurodegenerative diseases, Duchenne muscular dystrophy, AIDS, Sickle cell anemia, Hemophilia, Autism spectrum disorder etc.But due to the various scientific achievements there is the need for regulations and ethical guidelines.Various ethical issues emerge which need to be addressed.In this review, the ethical aspects related to the new innovation are dealt with.Germline Gene Editing has associated advantages as well as disadvantages.It is observed that the advantages outweigh the disadvantages.Nevertheless, Germline Gene Editing is not considered practical enough and there is a need for stringent guidelines on the global level.The ethical guidelines taken by involvement of states, judiciary and public engagements will be necessary in future to decide whether somatic or germline gene editing is permissible.Gene editing in human somatic cells is conducted for therapeutic purposes but basic and clinical research is required.Germline Gene editing may pose health risks for the present and future generations.Therefore, requires in-depth research, debates and clarifications of regulations and guidelines.Thus, it is also imperative and important to understand the scope and future approach pertaining to this new innovative technique.
The Nijmegen method of ethical case deliberation is one of the ways of reflecting, clarifying, evaluating and making decisions about moral problems, conflicts and dilemmas in the clinical settings.It is a hybrid concentration of relevant ideas from different normative ethical traditions applied to the clinical practices.As a team multidisciplinary based deliberation, the method involves a professional ethicist serving as both a critical tutor and a facilitator in the process of deliberating and arriving at most ethical decision in clinical dilemmas.In such process, the Nijmegen method is not a democratic replacement of the decision and responsibility of the healthcare team.Rather it helps to motivate rational decision and reasoned responsibility in healthcare through consensus building which does not attenuate moral uprightness.The Nijmegen method is part of the healthcare process and aims at improving communication among patient, family and the healthcare team as well as enriching the decision-making process.It is a promising method in resolving moral dilemmas in healthcare especially in multicultural societies.Besides enhancing the quality and transparency of the decision-making process, ethical case deliberation on the ward using the Nijmegen method has prospect of serving as a baseline in guiding through similar dilemmas in the future.
Human vulnerability has come to light in recent years because today's individualistic and hedonistic society has not been able to ignore the fact that it is weak compared to nature and that science, although powerful, cannot completely avoid human suffering.Martha Nussbaum provides us with an informative reflective basis from which we can see that individual and collective suffering should lead us, through solidarity and altruism, to attempts to subsidize the social effects of suffering.We should not only understand suffering, but also remedy it, and one way to do so is found in politics.Vulnerability and justice are necessary approaches in our society.
Background: Bioethics is an important part of nursing care, especially in dealing with end-stage patients like in the Cancer Hospital.Although nurses undergo suitable training in which Bioethics is part of their training, there is a lack of Ethical components in the working environment.Hence, there should be continual improvement in their knowledge and skills.Methodology: An intervention study was conducted through an interactive half-day workshop on the ICN Code of Ethics 2012.The success of this workshop was later evaluated using a post-session semi-structured questionnaire.50 nursing staff members who were willing to participate in the study were included.A pre-Test was taken before the half-day workshop.An interactive half-day workshop was conducted on the International Council of Nurses (ICN) code of ethics of nurses, 2012.Results: After the workshop, the perception of the nursing staff members on the conduct of the workshop was taken by using a semi-structured and validated questionnaire and evaluated.Their knowledge was analyzed post-session.Statistically significant improvement in their knowledge was observed.The participants were well satisfied with the conduct of the workshop as observed post-session. Conclusion:
Despite decades of existence of universal declaration of human rights, all goals and principles that aim to respect human rights have not been fully esteemed and achieved in many nations.For instance, global discrimination continues to appear almost in all sectors, and it is still a grave problem that deserves optimal attention.Worldwide numerous people do not get what they deserve due to certain kinds of discrimination.In healthcare sectors unequal treatment exists and it reduces the quality of life for many people.In 2002, the United Nations under the leadership of Kofi Annan launched a Global health initiative.Global health has been regarded as a collection of problems, but also, a field of study and practice concerned with improving health of all people and achieving health equity worldwide through addressing transnational problems.It could be possible to optimize the health status of the world's population via synergizing healthcare bioethical principles with global health initiative but also with other commitments.Could such be achieved if unequal treatment continues to exist in healthcare sectors?Some indicators that violate healthcare bioethical principles have been described in various contexts.It is truism that the existence of unequal treatment in healthcare settings also indicates the violation of healthcare bioethical principles.However, no researchers have addressed unequal treatment as an indicator for violation of healthcare bioethical principles.Unequal treatment happens at all levels of healthcare sectors.This synthesis article describes how unequal treatment is an indicator for violation of healthcare bioethical principles at Micro-level, Meso-level, and Macro-level of healthcare sectors.
Background: Cadaveric dissection provides as for student to learn the detailed structure of human anatomy; thus, body donation program is pertinent in ensuring the continuation of dissection class.The objectives of this study were to assess the student knowledge, attitude, practice on body donation and to validate the questionnaire that assesses knowledge, attitude and practice during dissection.Methodology: A cross sectional study was conducted on 264 undergraduates medical and dental students in B.P. Koirala Institute of Health Sciences, Nepal, who had attended regular dissection classes for one year.Ethical approval was obtained from Institutional Review Committee-IRC/1455/018.A non-probability purposive sampling technique was applied to sample the study subjects.A questionnaire consisting of 32 items was distributed to the students on day-1 and day-15 of intervention and the data was analyzed using Paired 't' test.A bivariate correlation was done for intra class correlation of each domain and Cronbach's alpha was calculated for each domain.Results: Religion, lack of awareness program, insecurity of being mishandled were found to be main barriers which discouraged for body donation in future.98 % student claimed that the dissected body needs to be handled respectfully to maintain the dignity of person after death.Attitude and practice were positively correlated (r= 0.17, p<0.01).Factors affecting practice and attitude were significant (p<0.05) and positively correlated (r=0.814).There was significant relation between knowledge, attitude and practice (p =0.018, 0.004, 0.000) at 95 % C.I.The intra class correlation scores of each domain during test and retest were 0.83, 0.72, 0.60 and correlated significantly (p<0.05).The questionnaire designed was reliable for knowledge, attitude, practice domain with Cronbach's alpha of 0.68, 0.70, and 0.60 respectively.Conclusion: Overall knowledge, attitude and practice on body donation was acceptable among the students involved in this study.A validated questionnaire was developed which can be used to collect the opinion on whole body donation for academic purposes.
