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Background: One of the expected competencies of physicians is clinical reasoning. Therefore, diagnostic thinking in medical students is important. The aim of this study was to investigate the effect of diagnostic thinking instructional program on medical students. Method: The research was quasi-experimental. The target group was medical students who spent their internship in the internal department. The sample size for each group was 20 participants. 20 interns in the three-month rotation of autumn 2018 were considered as control and 20 interns entering the department in the winter rotation of the same year were considered as the intervention group. Students were evaluated using Diagnostic Thinking Questionnaire (DTI). Data analysis was done with descriptive and analytical statistics. Results: The two groups did not differ in terms of the number of participants, age, grade point average and mean DTI score in the pre-test (P>0.05). The pre-test scores of two groups in the flexibility of thinking (P=0.09), memory structure (P=0.68), and the total score of diagnostic thinking (P=0.4) were not significantly different. The post-test scores of students in the sections of flexibility of thinking, memory structure, and the total score of diagnostic thinking of both groups did not change significantly compared to the pre-test scores (P>0.05). There was a significant relationship between only the two variables of grade point average and memory structure score in the post-test (r=0.46, P=0.004). Conclusion: The in-class diagnostic thinking instructional program did not affect students' diagnostic thinking in the absence of patients which is probably due to the lack of patient encounters. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Bckground: Adjuvant radiation therapy is commonly administered following breast-conserving surgery for breast cancer patients. Hypofractionated radiotherapy can significantly reduce the waiting time for radiotherapy, working load on machines, patient visits to radiotherapy departments and medical costs. Material/Methods: Fifty-two patients with operable breast cancer (pT1-3pN0M0) who underwent breast conservation surgery in Tehran Cancer Institute during January 2011 to January 2012, were randomly assigned to undergo radiotherapy in two arms (hypofractionated radiotherapy arm with 30 patients, dose 42.5 Gy in 16 fractions; and conventional radiotherapy arm with 22 patients, dose 50 Gy in 25 fractions). W compared these two groups in terms of overall survival, locoregional control, late skin complications and cosmetic results. Results: At a median follow-up of 52.4 months (range: 0–64 months), the follow-up rate was 82.6%. Overall, after 60 months, there was no detectable significant differences between groups regarding cosmetic results (p = 0.857), locoregional control or survival. Conclusions: The results confirm that hypofractionated radiotherapy with a subsequent boost is as effective as conventional radiotherapy, is well-tolerated and can be used as an alternative treatment method following breast conservation surgery., (Creative Commons Attribution License)