Background: The lower socioeconomic status and long distance to eye care facility of the rural dwellers in many communities in developing countries accounts for the increase in the number of preventable and avoidable causes of blindness compare to developed countries of the world. It is widely believed that the best option to reduce blindness and visual impairment in these communities is to bring eye care services to their doorsteps in the form of outreach programs this has been practiced successfully in India and other Asian countries. Aims: To assess the pattern of eye diseases presenting at a free eye outreach in a rural community of Nigeria. Materials and Methods: A retrospective study was carried out on the findings of 3-day outreach programs at Zuru General Hospital, in Zuru Emirate of Kebbi State, Northwestern Nigeria. The following information was extracted from patient's folders: sociodemographics, diagnosis, treatment offered the patient, and distance of the patient house to the eye outreach center. The data were analyzed by SPSS version 18 (2006 Statistical Package for the Social Sciences, Chicago, Illinois, USA). Results: There were 458 patients seen at the outreach of which 197 (43%) were males and 261 (57%) were females. More than half of the patients 236 (52%) were 50 years and above, followed by age group of 34–50 years 99 (21.6%). The majority of the patients 128 (27.9%) were homemakers, followed by civil servants 125 (27.2%), and farmers 112 (24.5%). Most of the patients 188 (41%) covered a distance of 3–5 km before reaching the outreach center. The predominant ocular diseases seen were cataract 148 (32.3%), glaucoma 84 (18.3%), and refractive error 82 (17.9%). Conclusion: There were more females seen at our free eye outreach and majority of participants were 50 years and above. Cataract, glaucoma, and refractive error were the main reasons why patients presented at the outreach center. Efforts at improving the ocular health of this community should be focused on reducing the burden of cataract, glaucoma, and refractive error.

Background: The methods of instruction in pharmacy education are crucial and are meant to suit the professional development and encompass the advanced variety of services and functions provided by the pharmacists to serve individual patients. The aim of this study was to determine the students' opinions on the adopted and preferred methods of instruction in Pharmacy College in National University, - Sudan. Method: A questionnaire was distributed to 166 pharmacy students, who belonged from the second to fifth year batches. All retrieved questionnaires were analyzed. Results: Interactive lecturing was dominant (51%). The preferred language of instruction was combined English and Arabic (71%). A cocktail of traditional and electronic aids was used and was the preferred lecture delivery method (73.5%). Surprisingly, only (15.6%) agreed that attending lectures improves understanding and final grades and this synchronized with their opinion in the lecturers because their lectures are not clearly outlined or presented in an easy way and even they are not concerned with their understanding and participating in the lectures. Block system is the preferable system by 76% of students, based on its characteristics and unexpectedly they preferred to be examined by the end of the block and not by the end of the semester (76.5% vs. 23.5%), respectively. About 55.4% of students agreed that problem-based learning (PBL) is very useful and skill-gaining technique, whereas 27.8% disagreed and 16.9% were neutral. Majority of students (144 [86.7%]) confirmed that tutorials are useful learning methods. Involvement of PBL and tutorials should be expanded. About 70% of students disagreed that they depend on handouts in studying and 63.2% of them use references. Conclusion: Adopting an interactive method of lecturing will enable an active role of students in the learning process. Selecting bilingual type of instruction media enhances the knowledge as well as attracting students' contribution. Application of intellectual and entertainment activities to the curriculum helps in motivation and increases the durability of the block system pressure.

Background: The multiple-choice questions (MCQs) part of the final exam in internal medicine at the College of Medicine, King Khalid University is composed of 100 questions of the one best answer type with four options. Although some basic forms of item analysis have been carried out by the department of internal medicine before, the data generated has not been used regularly to assess the quality of the questions or for feedback for the purpose of quality improvement. Aim: The aim of this study was to assess the quality of MCQs used in the final exam in internal medicine during the 1^st week of January 2013. Methods: The total number of the students of this batch was 58, and the total number of MCQs was 100. Item analysis was done using Microsoft Excel 2007. The parameters obtained included difficulty index, discrimination index, point biserial correlation, and reliability of the exam using Kuder-Richardson formula (KR-20), in addition to analysis of distractors.Results: The mean difficulty of the questions was 0.55 (STD = 0.2) and the mean discrimination index was 0.24 (STD = 0.2) with 41 questions having values below 0.20. Regarding point biserial correlation, the mean was 0.16 (STD = 0.12). KR-20 was found to be 0.79; indicating good reliability and the student scores were believed to be reliable. From the 300 distractors assessed, 41% were nonfunctioning. The mean number of functioning distractors per item was 1.76. Conclusion: The MCQs exam was quite reliable, and the difficulty of the questions was reasonable. The discrimination power of most of the questions was acceptable; however, a relatively high proportion of the questions had unacceptable discrimination index values.

Background: Cancer is the first cause of the death among the people with 65–75 years age, and about 60% of cancers are diagnosed at age over 70. In this study, the impact of comprehensive geriatric assessments (CGAs) on the quality and the length of life in disabled elderly cancer patients were evaluated. Patients and Methods: In an interventional study, 70 patients with cancer were randomly divided into two treatment and control groups. The patients were evaluated during a 6-month study using CGA test. Results: The patient's mean age was 4.2 ± 67.1 years. It was shown that CGA intervention had no impact on physical activity tests, including instrumental activities of daily living and activities of daily living, but a significant improvement was shown in patient's psychological status using geriatric depression test. Conclusions: The results of the current study showed that CGA interventions have a positive effect on the quality of the life of the elderly cancer patients.

Snakebite remains a public health problem in rural communities of tropical Africa and Asia. Globally, rare snakebite presentations are increasingly been reported presumably from the intensity of efforts by researchers in this domain to showcase this recently classified neglected tropical disease. Most venomous snakebite morbidity and mortality in Nigeria are caused by Echis ocellatus (carpet viper) and occur in the lower and upper limbs. Limb affectation has been associated with human activity at the time of bite. Our index patient is a child engaged in pastoral activity with a rare posterior neck viper bite following a fight in a rural Nigerian community. Challenges of diagnosis, availability of affordable and appropriate anti-snake venom, inadequate education of those engaged in high risk occupations, and the dearth of specific effective first aid for neck bites were encountered.

Incidence of abdominal trauma is on an increasing trend but abdominal content herniation due to blunt trauma is rare. Traumatic disruption of the abdominal wall has only about 50 reports worldwide, and only one from India. We report here a case of 65 year old male who underwent blunt trauma due to bull horn injury and presented with a swelling in the left lumbar quadrant of anterior abdominal wall, without as much as an abrasion on the overlying skin. We conclude that a low impact, prolonged presentation, case of traumatic abdominal wall hernia can be managed electively by open anatomical repair.