Biomedical subjects

L Bozekova

Publications and source records attributed to L Bozekova.

6 recordsLinked to original sources

PubMed2005

Experience with problem oriented teaching in pharmacology.

Pharmacology is one of the core subjects for further graduation in both preclinical and clinical area. Medical education is being performed either in the "classical" way (lecture based learning--LBL) or in a more advanced form, such as problem based learning (PBL). According to the Medline database, the interest in PBL is still increasing. At our department, the PBL has been introduced using the knowledge obtained at the the Mac Master University and University of Groningen. PBL in pharmacology requires well-qualified staff with clinical experience. A common character of PBL is the use of selected clinical cases as models and starting points to study certain topics with a student centred approach. In an interview we made on a sample of 88 students of our medical faculty in the last study year, 65.5% of them found the amount of information concerning pharmacotherapy not sufficient for their future clinical practice and 83.3% did not feel able to use the knowledge obtained. More than 90% of students did not see enough opportunities for pharmacotherapy training during clinical subject courses. These results are in support of our orientation of teaching towards the PBL. This type of teaching forces students to be active, trains their skills in communication and selection of knowledge, which is believed to enhance the long-term knowledge retention. By using the hybrid PBL-LBL model at our department we respect the principal proposal of medical education and attempt to improve skills in decision making in training of future medical doctors. (Tab. 3, Fig. 2, Ref. 13.)

Education, Medical↗

PubMed2005

The Slovak Drug Information (Druginfo) Centre during the period 1997-2004.

OBJECTIVES: The aim of the presented study was to evaluate the profile of users, the number and character of questions which were received during the period May 1997-December 2004. BACKGROUND: The drug information centre (Druginfo) has been established in Slovak Republic at the Department of Pharmacology in May 1997. Since 2002 Druginfo is a member of International Register of Drug Information Services of the Society of Hospital Pharmacists of Australia. Druginfo provides voluntarily free of charge drug information for healthcare professionals. METHOD: Druginfo receives questions addressed via phone, fax and e-mail. The questions were replied by consulting pharmacologists on duty. The data for this study were obtained from records which include list the received questions and the basic information about the questioners. RESULTS: The Druginfo received 495 questions during the period May 1997-December 2004. Questions were mostly from hospital physicians, followed by outpatient physicians and employees of the Faculty of Medicine. The most frequent specializations of the asking physicians were internal medicine, gynaecology-obstetrics, clinical pharmacology and general medicine. The most common topic was basic information about drugs, followed by questions concerning the use of drugs in pregnancy and lactation. According to the ATC classification the questions were most often related to antiinfective drugs, cardiovascular drugs and psychiatric drugs. CONCLUSION: The existence of Druginfo in Slovak Republic represents a possibility of an open access to independent drug information. (Fig. 3, Ref. 11.)

Drug Information Services↗

PubMed2005

Assessing skills in pharmacology in medical students.

The results of this pilot survey have shown the importance of evaluation of medical student knowledge in pharmacology using three independent parts of the examination. The final mark includes the results of a written test, oral examination and evaluation of seminar essay. We evaluated students with final grade A (n=76) and F (n=61) in relation to the results of tests and seminar essays. Most of the students with grade A (88.2 %) wrote the test in the upper range (90-99 %) and their seminar essay evaluations were grade A in 82.9 %. A significant correlation between the results in the test and the mark obtained in the seminar essay was found (r=0.22, p<0.05). Another group of students with grade F obtained low scores in the test (57.4 %), and a relatively large part of students got satisfactory results in test (42.6 %). In this group the quality of seminar essays was variable ranged from A to E. The evaluation showed that in students with final grade A were all three independent part of exam in agreement with final classification. The differences occurred in group of unsuccessful students who performed much better in written part than in the oral examination. The experience with the final assessment of medical student knowledge in pharmacology showed that the most important essay evaluation seems to be the oral form of exam. The results of seminar evaluations correspond satisfactory with the performance of students during the final exam and their effort may continue in diploma work, which is mandatory for all medical students (Tab. 2, Fig. 1, Ref. 2).

Curriculum↗

PubMed2004

Cost-effectiveness analysis of switching from intravenous to oral administration of antibiotics in elderly patients.

OBJECTIVE: The aim of the introduced work was to evaluate pharmacoeconomic advantages of timely switching from intravenous to oral administration of antibiotics (ATB). METHODS: The evaluated group was selected out of 2870 patients, who were hospitalised at the Clinic of Geriatric Medicine of the Faculty of Medicine of Comenius University in Bratislava from January 1st 1999 to December 31st 2001. In our retrospective study we analysed 96 patients with community-acquired pneumonia successfully treated by ATB. In 43 of them ATB were given intravenously and in 53 the therapy was switched, i.e. the intravenous administration was used at the beginning and oral administration when the condition improved. We applied a cost-effectiveness analysis to the pharmacoeconomic evaluation. The cost-effectiveness coefficient was calculated as the ratio of ATB price (Slovak Crowns) to the effectiveness criterion (number of asymptomatic days in month). RESULTS: According to the cost-effectiveness coefficient, the switch therapy was significantly less expensive in all evaluated ATB (except for pefloxacin) in comparison with intravenous administration: ampicillin-sulbactam 93.9 vs 168.1; cefuroxime 90.0 vs 123.3; amoxicillin-clavulanate 74.0 vs 116.3; ciprofloxacin 31.7 vs 54.1. CONCLUSIONS: A timely switching from intravenous to oral administration of ATB in a suitable patient is an effective way to save financial resources. (Tab. 5, Ref: 21.)

Administration, Oral↗

PubMed2002

Risks of antibiotic treatment.

Adverse effects of antibiotics can cause a failure of antibiotic treatment. The authors give a survey of antibiotic toxicity manifestations, according to the target organ systems, with emphasis on identification of at-risk patients and on possible prevention of particular adverse effects. Although antibiotics belong to relatively safe pharmaceuticals, many of them can be a cause of a serious damage to the human organism. Beta-lactam antibiotics are considered the least dangerous. A considerable number of adverse effects, especially the dose-dependent ones, are preventable on condition that the risk factors, as the patient's age, functional capacity of eliminating organs (kidney, liver), associated diseases and simultaneous administration of drugs, are considered. In conclusion, the clinically significant drug interactions of antibiotics are pointed out, being of increasing importance especially in patients with multiple diseases and polypragmatic manner of treatment. (Tab. 2, Ref. 48.)

Anti-Bacterial Agents↗

PubMed2001

Drug information center.

One of the most important prerequisities concerning the process of selecting drugs for rational pharmacotherapy is the availability of independent information about them. The first self-existent Drug Information Center (DIC) in Slovakia was established in May 1997 at the Department of Pharmacology, School of Medicine, Comenius University in Bratislava. The organization of DIC and its activities are similar to other analogous centers in other countries. DIC provides free drugs information to all medical professionals. The majority of inquiries are from hospital physicians followed by general practitioners and staff of the University. The most frequent questions involve basic information about drugs, pharmacotherapy during pregnancy and lactation, adverse drug reactions, registration of new drugs, drug action etc.

Drug Information Services↗