OBJECTIVE: This study explored personal protective equipment (PPE) availability and PPE utilization among interventionalists in the catheterization laboratory, which is a highly contextualized workplace. METHODS: This is a cross-sectional study using mixed methods. Participants (108) completed a survey. A hyperlink was sent to the participants, or they were asked to complete a paper-based survey. Purposively selected participants (54) were selected for individual (30) or group (six) interviews. The interviews were conducted at conferences, or appointments were made to see the participants. Logistic regression analysis was performed. The qualitative data were analyzed thematically. RESULTS: Lead glasses were consistently used 10.2% and never used 61.1% of the time. All forms of PPE were inconsistently used by 92.6% of participants. Women were 4.3 times more likely to report that PPE was not available. PPE compliance was related to fit and availability. CONCLUSIONS: PPE use was inconsistent and not always available. Improving the culture of radiation protection in catheterization laboratories is essential to improve PPE compliance with the aim of protecting patients and operators. This culture of radiation protection must include all those involved including the users of PPE and the administrators and managers who are responsible for supplying sufficient, appropriate, fitting PPE for all workers requiring such protection.
Administrative Personnel ; Appointments and Schedules ; Catheterization ; Catheters ; Compliance ; Congresses as Topic ; Cross-Sectional Studies ; Eyeglasses ; Female ; Glass ; Humans ; Logistic Models ; Personal Protective Equipment ; Radiation Protection

Eosinophilic granulomatosis with polyangiitis (EGPA) is one form of antineutrophil cytoplasmic antibody (ANCA)-associated vasculitis. Identical to what has been called Churg-Strauss syndrome, EGPA exhibits both allergic and vasculitis features. EGPA was first described as a syndrome consisting of asthma, fever, eosinophilia, and organ involvement including heart failure, neuropathy, and kidney damage, by Churg and Strauss in 1951. On the basis of the 2012 Chapel Hill Consensus Conferences Nomenclature of Vasculitis, EGPA comprises three typical allergic components, including asthma, peripheral eosinophilia, and eosinophil-rich granuloma of the respiratory tracts. EGPA has three clinical and histological stages. The first is an allergic stage composed of asthma and sinusitis, and the second is an eosinophilic stage characterised by peripheral hypereosinophilia and intra-organ infiltration of eosinophils. The last is a vasculitic stage, including necrotising inflammation of small vessels and end-organ damage. In this review, we describe the classification criteria for EGPA and recommendations for the evaluation and management of EGPA with conventional and newly suggested drugs for EGPA. Also, we discuss a variety of clinical aspects such as predictive values for prognosis and associations with other Th2-mediated diseases and hepatitis B virus.
Antibodies, Antineutrophil Cytoplasmic ; Asthma ; Churg-Strauss Syndrome ; Classification ; Congresses as Topic ; Consensus ; Eosinophilia ; Eosinophils ; Fever ; Granuloma ; Granulomatosis with Polyangiitis ; Heart Failure ; Hepatitis B virus ; Humans ; Inflammation ; Kidney ; Prognosis ; Respiratory System ; Sinusitis ; Vasculitis

Prostate cancer is third common malignancy in men of old age (average 65 years) in Myanmar. Currently, serum PSA and bone scan are the markers of choice. Because of the evidence-based, promising success of ⁶⁸Ga-PSMA PET-CT and 177Lu-PSMA theranostics in prostate cancer worldwide, (99m)Tc-PSMA SPECT-CT imaging and ¹⁷⁷Lu-PSMA therapy has launched as a stepping-stone of theranostics in Myanmar with the available facilities. Twelve cases of prostate cancer patients were imaged with 600 MBq of (99m)Tc-PSMA I+S SPECT-CT. Four metastatic castration resistant prostate cancer (MCRPC) patients with abnormal result were treated with ¹⁷⁷Lu-PSMA. The protocol consists of 6–8 GBq of ¹⁷⁷Lu-PSMA, three successive doses at interval of 4–6 weeks. Post-therapy SPECT-CT imaging was done. All treated patients were improved by free of bone pain, and fall/rise in serum PSA level. Two patients with extensive skeletal metastases succumbed to complications. The results are well documented and present at the multidisciplinary conferences for clinical awareness. Theranostics in prostate cancer with available facilities is an additional boon to our health care professionals to upgrade cancer management in Myanmar. This paper provides the technology with cost effectiveness and benefit to prostate cancer patients of Myanmar.
Castration ; Congresses as Topic ; Cost-Benefit Analysis ; Delivery of Health Care ; Humans ; Male ; Myanmar ; Neoplasm Metastasis ; Prostatic Neoplasms ; Theranostic Nanomedicine

Resveratrol was first isolated in 1939 by Takaoka from Veratrum grandiflorum O. Loes. Following this discovery, sporadic descriptive reports appeared in the literature. However, spurred by our seminal paper published nearly 60 years later, resveratrol became a household word and the subject of extensive investigation. Now, in addition to appearing in over 20,000 research papers, resveratrol has inspired monographs, conferences, symposia, patents, chemical derivatives, etc. In addition, dietary supplements are marketed under various tradenames. Once resveratrol was brought to the limelight, early research tended to focus on pharmacological activities related to the cardiovascular system, inflammation, and cancer but, over the years, the horizon greatly expanded. Around 130 human clinical trials have been (or are being) conducted with varying results. This may be due to factors such as disparate doses (ca. 5 to 5,000 mg/day) and variable experimental settings. Further, molecular targets are numerous and a dominant mechanism is elusive or nonexistent. In this context, the compound is overtly promiscuous. Nonetheless, since the safety profile is pristine, and use as a dietary supplement is prevalent, these features are not viewed as detrimental. Given the ongoing history of resveratrol, it is reasonable to advocate for additional development and further clinical investigation. Topical preparations seem especially promising, as do conditions that can respond to anti-inflammatory action and/or direct exposure, such as colon cancer prevention. Although the ultimate fate of resveratrol remains an open question, thus far, the compound has inspired innovative scientific concepts and enhanced public awareness of preventative health care.
Cardiovascular System ; Colonic Neoplasms ; Congresses as Topic ; Delivery of Health Care ; Dietary Supplements ; Family Characteristics ; Humans ; Inflammation ; Veratrum

Since the residency training program in internal medicine changed from a four-year to a three-year program in 2017 in Korea, issues of an optimal training program for the gastrointestinal (GI) fellowship has arisen. Currently, the evaluation criteria for a GI fellowship in Korea include the following; 1) the total number of assigned patients during the training period, 2) the number of GI endoscopy procedures, 3) attendance at academic conferences, and 4) research presentations. However, competency-based training should be introduced in the GI fellowship training program. The current issues of GI fellowship training in Korea include the following; 1) reorganization of the GI fellowship education system and consideration of an optimal training period following the introduction of the three-year internal medicine residency training program, 2) development of a standardized, competency-based GI fellowship training program, 3) provision of a support program for instructors in GI fellowship education, 4) introduction of a mentor-mentee system, 5) introduction of an accreditation system for GI fellowship, 6) supplementation of a GI sub-specialty qualification system, and 7) provision of benefits to GI sub-specialists.
Accreditation ; Congresses as Topic ; Education* ; Endoscopy ; Fellowships and Scholarships* ; Gastroenterology ; Humans ; Internal Medicine ; Internship and Residency ; Korea*

This study focused on the socialist camp's North Korean medical support and its effects on North Korean medical field from liberation to 1958. Except for the Soviet assistance from liberation to the Korean War, existing studies mainly have paid attention to the ‘autonomous’ growth of the North Korean medical field. The studies on the medical support of the Eastern European countries during the Korean War have only focused on one-sided support and neglected the interactions with the North Korean medical field. Failing in utilizing the materials produced in North Korea has led to the omission of detailed circumstances of providing support. Since the review of China's support and the North Korea-China medical exchanges has been concentrated in the period after the mid-1950s, the impacts of China's medical support on North Korea during the Korean War period and the post-war recovery period have not been taken into account. In terms of these limitations, this study examined the medical activities by the Socialist camp of the Eastern European countries in North Korea after the Korean War. The medical aid teams from Hungary, Romania, Bulgaria, Czechoslovakia, Poland, and East Germany that came to North Korea in the wake of the Korean War continued to stay in North Korea after the war to build hospitals and train medical personnel. In the hospitals operated by these countries, cooperative medical care with North Korean medical personnel and medical technology education were conducted. Moreover, medical teams from each country in North Korea held seminars and conferences and exchanged knowledge with the North Korean medical field staffs. These activities by the Socialist countries in North Korea provided the North Korean medical personnel with the opportunity to directly experience the medical technology of each country. China's support was crucial to North Korea's ‘rediscovery’ of Korean medicine in the mid-1950s. After the Korean War, North Korea began to apply the Chinese-Western medicine integration policy, which was performed in China at that time, to the North Korean health care field through China's medical support and exchanges. In other words, China's emphasis on Chinese medicine and the integration of the Chinese-Western medicine were presented as one of the directions for medical development of North Korea in the 1950s, and the experiences of China in this process convinced North Korea that Korean medicine policy was appropriate. The decision-makers of the North Korean medical policies, who returned to North Korea after studying abroad in China at that time, actively introduced the experiences from China and constantly sought to learn about them. This study identified that a variety of external stimuli had complex impacts on the North Korean medical field in the gap between ‘Soviet learning’ in the late 1940s and the ‘autonomous’ medical development since the 1960s. The North Korean medical field was formed not by the unilateral or dominant influences of a single nation but by the stimulation from many nations and the various interactions in the process.
Asian Continental Ancestry Group ; Bulgaria ; China ; Congresses as Topic ; Czechoslovakia ; Delivery of Health Care ; Democratic People's Republic of Korea ; Education ; Germany ; Humans ; Hungary ; Korean War ; Learning ; Poland ; Romania ; USSR

BACKGROUND: This descriptive study aimed to examine the relationship between the 4C core competencies and work ability among dental hygienists.METHODS: From November 2018 to January 2019, data were collected-from 190 dental hygienists workong in dental clinics in Busan, Ulsan, and Gyeongsangnam province using structured questionnaires. For the general characteristics of the dental hygienists, frequency and percentage were calculated, and the level of the 4C core competencies and work ability of dental hygienists was calculated using means and standard deviations. A multiple regression analysis was conducted to analyze the effects of the 4C core competencies on work ability.RESULTS: The mean scores for the 4C core competency levels of the dental hygienists were as follows: communication ability 3.34, critical thinking ability 3.41, creative problem-solving 3.40, and collaborative self-efficacy 3.27. Meanwhile the mean score for work ability level was 3.65. The predictive factors influencing work ability were communication ability and cooperative self-efficacy (p<0.001), and the sub-factors of critical thinking ability that affect work ability were sound conferences (p<0.01), intellectual fairness (p<0.05), intellectual enthusiasm (p<0.05), and self-confidence (p<0.001). Finally, the sub-factors of creative problem-solving ability that affect work ability were planning and execution (p<0.01) and performance evaluation (p<0.05).CONCLUSION: The current study showed that education programs covering the core competencies of dental hygienists, rather than the existing theoretical education program, should be developed and implemented to enhance 4C core competencies that affect work ability.
Busan ; Communication ; Congresses as Topic ; Dental Clinics ; Dental Hygienists ; Education ; Humans ; Problem Solving ; Thinking ; Ulsan

The Korean Thyroid Association (KTA) is a multi-disciplinary organization founded by various Korean societies involved in thyroid disease. The KTA has become a foundation stone of the rapid development of the thyroidology in Korea by utilizing the characteristic of multi-discipline for the past 10 years. On February 16, 2008, the inaugural conference was held with great success. Since then, in a short period of 10 years, the number of lifetime members of the KTA reached 623. On March 29, 2012, the KTA became an approved organization by Korean Medical Association within the record time of 4 years after its establishment. In terms of patient care, mutual cooperation among experts in the various fields of thyroid disease have been promoted based on the KTA. On the academic side, the number of papers were awarded and published at international conferences or international academic journals has increased dramatically, and finally, the research on thyroid disease in Korea has reached the global level. The KTA is a multi-disciplinary society consisting of experts from various fields such as internal medicine, surgery, otolaryngology, nuclear medicine, radiology, and pathology. The reason why the KTA has achieved unparalleled growth is that all the KTA members, including senior professors who served as the president and vice president, and incumbent executives, have been harmonized and developed together. Here, we review the activities of the KTA for 10 years from its establishment, and present the future direction of the KTA.
Awards and Prizes ; Congresses as Topic ; Internal Medicine ; Korea ; Nuclear Medicine ; Otolaryngology ; Pathology ; Patient Care ; Thyroid Diseases ; Thyroid Gland

PURPOSE: Physicians' attitudes may have a strong influence on women's decision regarding prenatal screening options. The aim of this study is to assess the physicians' attitudes toward prenatal screening for fetal aneuploidy including non-invasive prenatal testing (NIPT) in South Korea. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Questionnaires were distributed and collected at several obstetrics-gynecological conferences and meetings. The questionnaire included 31 multiple choice and 5 fill-in-the-blank questions. Seven questions requested physicians' demographic information, 17 questions requested information about the NIPT with cell-free fetal DNA, and 12 questions requested information about general prenatal screening practices. RESULTS: Of the 203 obstetricians that completed the survey. In contrast with professional guidelines recommending the universal offering of aneuploidy screening, only 53.7% answered that prenatal aneuploidy testing (screening and/or invasive diagnostic testing) should be offered to all pregnant women. Physicians tended to have positive attitudes toward the clinical application of NIPT as both primary and secondary screening methods for patients at high-risk for fetal trisomy. However, for patients at average-risk for fetal trisomy, physicians tended to have positive attitudes only as a secondary screening method. Physicians with more knowledge about NIPT were found to tend to inform their patients that the detection rate of NIPT is higher. CONCLUSION: This is the first study to investigate expert opinion on prenatal screening in South Korea. Education of physicians is essential to ensure responsible patient counseling, informed consent, and appropriate management after NIPT.
Aneuploidy* ; Congresses as Topic ; Counseling ; DNA* ; Education ; Expert Testimony ; Female ; Genetic Testing ; Humans ; Informed Consent ; Korea ; Mass Screening ; Methods ; Practice Patterns, Physicians' ; Pregnant Women ; Prenatal Care ; Prenatal Diagnosis* ; Trisomy

PURPOSE: A standardized colonoscopy training program surgical residents is still unestablished. The aim of this study was to assess the current status of colonoscopy training for surgical residents and collect the opinions on the direction for future colonoscopy education. METHODS: A questionnaire survey containing 24 items was conducted by sending an email to 310 colorectal surgeons in 84 training hospitals across the country. RESULTS: One hundred fifteen staff surgeons (115 of 310, 37%) of 84 institutions returned fully completed questionnaires. Most surgeons were working at tertiary hospitals with more than 5 years of clinical experience. About half of the responding surgeons answered that they perform colonoscopy in clinical practice and the main purpose of colonoscopy was follow-up after colorectal resection. Only 9 of 84 hospitals (10.7%) had a regular program on colonoscopy training for surgical residents. Most of colonoscopy education was conducted irregularly in a form of staff lecture, conferences or hands-on workshops. According to the future directions, 72 of 115 surgeons (62.6%) answered judging competency in colonoscopy should be needed for professional qualification of the surgeon. About 50 cases of colonoscopy seem appropriate during the 4-year-training of surgical residency, especially during the third- and fourth-year. CONCLUSION: This survey shows colonoscopy education for surgical residents is still insufficient in Korea and that most surgeons feel that regular colonoscopy training is needed during the surgical residency period. There needs to be efforts to standardize the education program as well as various institutional and academic societal supports to achieve this goal.
Colonoscopy* ; Colorectal Surgery ; Congresses as Topic ; Education* ; Electronic Mail ; Follow-Up Studies ; Internship and Residency ; Korea* ; Surgeons ; Tertiary Care Centers