Nutritional status of a population or an individual could be assessed by clinical,biochemical and anthropometric means.It is widely used in the monitoring of growth and assessment of the nutritional status of children...Nutritional status of a population or an individual could be assessed by clinical,biochemical and anthropometric means.It is widely used in the monitoring of growth and assessment of the nutritional status of children and adults.Even though a large number of anthropometric studies is done in Nepal and Sri Lanka,on various projects related to the nutritional aspects,but only few have been done on anthropometry and due to lack of information on anthropometric data of Nepalese and Sri Lankan medical students,the present study was initiated at Nepal Medical college and Faculty of Medicine,University of Peradeniya,Sri Lanka.The aim of the study was to measure height and weight of medical students of Nepal Medical College and Faculty of Medicine,University of Peradeniya.A total of 1228(males 681;females 547)medical students participated in the study.The ratio of male to female was 1.24:1.The height was measured,to the nearest 0.1 cm without shoes,using a measuring tape affixed to the wall.The weight was recorded using weighing scale,with minimum clothes and without shoes to the nearest 0.1kg.Two tail unpaired t’test was performed to compare mean values.The percentile values were obtained using Microsoft excel for Windows 98.The age of the students varied from 18-26 years with a mean±SD of 20.77±1.17 and 20.90±1.10 in males and females respectively.The heights of the male and female medical students werel.65±0.08 and 1.61±0.08 and the weight was 59.70±9.26 and 55.54±9.16 respectively.The percentile values obtained for height and weight were compared with National Centre for Health statistics(NCHS) standards.The 50th percentile value of males height and weight corresponded to the 20th percentile and below the 20th percentile values respectively of the NCHS standard.The 50th percentile value of female’s height and weight corresponded to less than 10th and 15th percentiles respectively.The height and weight of only 9 males and 8 females were above the 50th percentile value of NCHS standards.The study reveals that the Nepalese medical students and Sri Lankan medical students are underweight and shorter compared to western standards.展开更多
Background: The north-east (NE) region of Sri Lanka observed a critical health workers’ shortage after the long-lasting armed conflict. This study aimed to explore medical students’ attitudes towards working in the ...Background: The north-east (NE) region of Sri Lanka observed a critical health workers’ shortage after the long-lasting armed conflict. This study aimed to explore medical students’ attitudes towards working in the NE and to identify factors determining such attitudes. Methods: A semi-structured, self-administered questionnaire survey was conducted in two medical schools, one in the NE and the other near the capital, in October 2004. Data were qualitatively analysed using the framework approach. Results: Three main themes were identified: 1) Professional motives and career plans;2) Students’ perceptions of the healthcare situation in the NE;and 3) Students’ choice of the NE as a future practice location. It was found that familiarity with the difficulties faced by the NE people was a major motivation for medical students to work in the NE in the future. For NE students, familiarity was linked to their sense of belonging. For non-NE students, their personal experience of the NE familiarized them with the difficult situation there, which positively influenced their willingness to work there. Demotivations to work in the NE were poor working and living conditions, fewer opportunities for postgraduate education, language differences, insecurity, and fear of an unpleasant social response from the NE communities. Conclusions: NE local medical students had a sense of belonging to the NE and compassion for the Tamil people as members of the ethnic group. They were willing to work in the NE if their concerns about difficult working and living conditions and postgraduate education could be solved. Non-NE students who were familiar with the NE situation through their personal experience also showed a willingness to work there;thus, early exposure programmes in medical education might help to increase the health workforce in the NE. It is also expected that non-NE physicians working for the NE people would facilitate reconciliation and the rebuilding of trust between two ethnic groups.展开更多
文摘Nutritional status of a population or an individual could be assessed by clinical,biochemical and anthropometric means.It is widely used in the monitoring of growth and assessment of the nutritional status of children and adults.Even though a large number of anthropometric studies is done in Nepal and Sri Lanka,on various projects related to the nutritional aspects,but only few have been done on anthropometry and due to lack of information on anthropometric data of Nepalese and Sri Lankan medical students,the present study was initiated at Nepal Medical college and Faculty of Medicine,University of Peradeniya,Sri Lanka.The aim of the study was to measure height and weight of medical students of Nepal Medical College and Faculty of Medicine,University of Peradeniya.A total of 1228(males 681;females 547)medical students participated in the study.The ratio of male to female was 1.24:1.The height was measured,to the nearest 0.1 cm without shoes,using a measuring tape affixed to the wall.The weight was recorded using weighing scale,with minimum clothes and without shoes to the nearest 0.1kg.Two tail unpaired t’test was performed to compare mean values.The percentile values were obtained using Microsoft excel for Windows 98.The age of the students varied from 18-26 years with a mean±SD of 20.77±1.17 and 20.90±1.10 in males and females respectively.The heights of the male and female medical students werel.65±0.08 and 1.61±0.08 and the weight was 59.70±9.26 and 55.54±9.16 respectively.The percentile values obtained for height and weight were compared with National Centre for Health statistics(NCHS) standards.The 50th percentile value of males height and weight corresponded to the 20th percentile and below the 20th percentile values respectively of the NCHS standard.The 50th percentile value of female’s height and weight corresponded to less than 10th and 15th percentiles respectively.The height and weight of only 9 males and 8 females were above the 50th percentile value of NCHS standards.The study reveals that the Nepalese medical students and Sri Lankan medical students are underweight and shorter compared to western standards.
文摘Background: The north-east (NE) region of Sri Lanka observed a critical health workers’ shortage after the long-lasting armed conflict. This study aimed to explore medical students’ attitudes towards working in the NE and to identify factors determining such attitudes. Methods: A semi-structured, self-administered questionnaire survey was conducted in two medical schools, one in the NE and the other near the capital, in October 2004. Data were qualitatively analysed using the framework approach. Results: Three main themes were identified: 1) Professional motives and career plans;2) Students’ perceptions of the healthcare situation in the NE;and 3) Students’ choice of the NE as a future practice location. It was found that familiarity with the difficulties faced by the NE people was a major motivation for medical students to work in the NE in the future. For NE students, familiarity was linked to their sense of belonging. For non-NE students, their personal experience of the NE familiarized them with the difficult situation there, which positively influenced their willingness to work there. Demotivations to work in the NE were poor working and living conditions, fewer opportunities for postgraduate education, language differences, insecurity, and fear of an unpleasant social response from the NE communities. Conclusions: NE local medical students had a sense of belonging to the NE and compassion for the Tamil people as members of the ethnic group. They were willing to work in the NE if their concerns about difficult working and living conditions and postgraduate education could be solved. Non-NE students who were familiar with the NE situation through their personal experience also showed a willingness to work there;thus, early exposure programmes in medical education might help to increase the health workforce in the NE. It is also expected that non-NE physicians working for the NE people would facilitate reconciliation and the rebuilding of trust between two ethnic groups.
