Purpose: Breast cancer is one of the most common cancers in women worldwide. Educational and awareness programs impact early practices of breast self-examination, resulting in the early detection of cancer and thereby decreasing mortality. The study aimed to assess the levels of knowledge and awareness of breast cancer and breast self-examination among medical and nursing students in Oman and to compare their knowledge, attitudes, and skills after a training program. Methods: This quasi-experimental study was carried out for female 90 medical and 80 nursing students in Oman in November 2019. A pre-test questionnaire was given before the training program and a post-test questionnaire was administered after the training program. Students’ knowledge, attitude, and skills regarding breast cancer and breast self-examination were compared. Scores for skills of practicing breast self-examination were compared between lecture and activity group and lecture-only group. Results: Pre-test and post-test data were collected from 170 female students. Significant improvements were observed in the post-test scores for students’ knowledge, attitude, and skills after the intervention (P<0.001). The mean scores for skills of practicing breast self-examination after the lecture and the activity were higher than those obtained after the lecture only (P=0.014 for medical students and P=0.016 for nursing students). Conclusion An educational training program on breast cancer and breast examination with an emphasis on skills can motivate participants to perform breast self-examination regularly, and may therefore help students to train other women to perform breast self-examination for the early detection of breast cancer.

Introduction: Music of varying tempo or beats have physiological as well as adverse effects on the body. This study throws light on the influence of upbeat music on properties of radial pulse, in healthy young adults. Methods: One hundred and seventy-five students between the age of nineteen and twenty-four years were included in this study. The experiment was conducted in a room, devoid of any external disturbances. Subjects were made to listen the chosen upbeat music for 4 minutes using a headphone. The radial pulse was measured before and immediately after the experiment. Data analysis was done by using SPSS software version 16.0.Results: In this study we observed that normal mean pulse rate was 76 per minute in males and 72 per minute in female young adults. Following the auditory stimulation with upbeat music, rise in pulse rate was observed in more than 70% of subjects. Whilst, 24% showed a decrease pulse rate and 5% showed no change in pulse rate. Increased pulse rate was associated with decrease in amplitude of pulse wave but no change in rhythm and character of the pulse when compared to resting state. Conclusion: This study indicates that the music can increase the pulse rate in the majority of the subjects but also decreases the pulse rate in few individuals. This study provides the preliminary evidence to promote the music therapy in many preventive programs for patients with depression, patients with depressed cardiac functioning and useful in improving daily performances.