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"Long case" examination has long been practised as part of the clinical component assessment in many medical schools in Malaysia. The most important aspect of an evaluation is its validity, which should meet the criteria for a good evaluation. Under-sampling, unobserved, unstructured rating and case specificity are all issues with the type of long case examination that is currently used in Malaysia, and they can all have an impact on its overall validity. The validity of the current conduct of the long case examination can be argued especially from the aspect of testing the "show how" and "does" component. Long case examination can be improved by increasing the number of cases, observing the examination and providing a more objective rating. However, this solution may lead to some logistic issues. In conclusion, the approach to planning for a long case examination should consider the utility of the examination which is the sum of validity, acceptability, reliability, feasibility and educational impact. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Burnout is associated with stress and mental health issues among medical students. Based on the previous studies, emotional intelligence (EI) has been proven to be protective against burnout. This cross-sectional study was conducted from December 2019 to January 2020 involving 182 medical students from a public university in Terengganu, Malaysia. The objective was to determine the level of EI among medical students and its relationship with burnout. They were requested to answer an online questionnaire that consisted of the Universiti Sains Malaysia Emotional Quotient Inventory (USMEQ-i) and Copenhagen Burnout Inventory (CBI). The mean score for students' EI and burnout were calculated. The relationship between EI and burnout was analysed using Pearson correlation. Further analysis was done using simple linear regression. The findings show that more than half of the medical students had a high EI score (n = 105, 57.5%). The overall mean (SD) score of EI was 2.85 (0.52) which is also in the high category. The social competence domain score was noted to be higher than the personal competence domain. Burnout had a fair negative correlation with EI and it was statistically significant (r = -0.395, p < 0.001). An increase in one unit of the EI score will decrease the burnout score by 12.25 units. Thus, EI was significantly and negatively correlated with burnout among medical students. As it may play a role in helping medical students cope with stress and prevent burnout, training in EI is essential for their future professional development. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Backgrounds: The study aimed to survey for FD in a primary care setting in a population known to have an extremely low prevalence of Helicobacter pylori (H. pylori) infection, with the hypothesis that in such a population, dyspepsia should have been relatively less common.Methods: The Rome III FD Diagnostic Questionnaire was translated into the Malay language and later tested for reliability. A prospective cross-sectional survey was then performed involving 160 Malay patients attending primary care clinic after informed consent. Patients positive for symptoms of FD were subjected to upper endoscopy and exclusion of H. pylori infection. Univariable and multivariable analyses were used to test for associated risk factors.Results: The back-translated questionnaire was similar to the original English version and was reliable (Cronbach Alpha-coefficient 0.85). Of the 160 surveyed subjects, 19 of them (11.9%) had symptoms of FD. With exclusion of erosive diseases (3/160 or 1.9%) from endoscopy, 16 subjects or 10% had FD. None of the 19 subjects were positive for H. pylori infection. Epigastric pain syndrome was present in 11/16 (68.8%) and the rest, overlap with postprandial distress syndrome. With multivariable analysis, a married status (OR = 8.1; 95% CI 1.0-36.5) and positive psychosocial alarm symptoms (OR = 3.8; 95% CI 1.0-14.0) were associated with FD. Of those married subjects, females were more likely to have FD and psychosocial symptoms than men (6.3% vs. 1.9%), P = 0.04.Conclusions: FD was more common than one had expected among Malays attending primary care clinic in an area with low prevalence of H. pylori. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]