Philippe Manyacka Ma Nyemb

Abstract

Nowadays, we see in many medical students a real demotivation whatever the discipline involved. This has disastrous effects in the student world resulting in a lack of interest in courses on the one hand but also the abandonment of medical studies on the other.The objective of this work was to identify the motivation factors of anatomy students of first and second years, determine the different types of motivation, assess the degree of motivation, and make recommendations to improve the motivation of anatomy students particularly, and generally during medical studies.In this context, we conducted a cross-sectional and descriptive study with L2 and L3 medical students at Gaston Berger University in Saint-Louis in the 2021/2021 academic year.We collected 135 questionnaires from 153 students, giving a response rate of 88.2%. Most respondents were male. The overall degree of motivation was 77.85% with no significant difference between the two sexes.Motivation is probably the most important factor that teachers can target to improve learning. A better understanding of the determinants and indicators of motivation could, to some extent, improve medical student training.   Keywords: Motivation, Medical student, Anatomy, Improving learning.

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Abstract

Among medical students, stress has always been a major problem. Medical studies are known to be long, stressful, and difficult. The dropout rate is high in medical studies; it is often associated with chronic fatigue and a permanent state of stress. The objectives of our work were to determine the different aspects of stress, to assess the intensity of stress, to determine an association between perceived stress and socio-demographic characteristics; and to make recommendations to optimize our student’s performance. This was a cross-sectional and descriptive study aimed at determining the different aspects of stress experienced by license 2 and license 3 medical students at Gaston BERGER University during the teaching of anatomy. We proposed 29 questions with 5-level Likert scale responses. The response rate was 91.5% with a male predominance (sex ratio of 1.17). The minimum, average and maximum stress degrees were 4%, 54.52% and 100% respectively; the intensity was higher among female students (60%) than male students (50%); the youngest between 18 and 21 years old had a stress intensity of 50%; and 60% between 22 and 25 years old. Our study, which focused on the stress experienced by medical students during the “anatomy and organogenesis” teaching unit, highlighted many particularities. It appeared that stress is relatively common among medical students, and that most of them are moderately or highly stressed. We also found that the issue of stress is only rarely discussed with the teacher, or between students. Moreover, the existence of the “stress” factor and its poor management with students are directly correlated to academic performance.   Keywords: Stress, Medical student, Anatomy, Teaching improvement.

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Abstract

The term "Situs inversus" is a diminutive for "Situs inversus viscerum" which means in Latin: inverted position of the internal organs. It was first described in 1643 and has an incidence of approximately 1 /10,000 births. A mirror image of the original anatomical configuration represents the situs inversus totalis. Several authors described anomalies in the rotation and fixation of viscera during their development. These developmental anomalies are not necessarily the cause of functional problems. The clinical and surgical implications can be significant, as several authors reported a situs inversus totalis over the most conventional surgical procedures. The technical difficulties represent the main challenge. Because even though many patients are known to have situs inversus totalis, surgeons need an adaptation time to get used to the mirror image of viscera. Iatrogenic injuries and an increase in operative time are not uncommon. We report a case of situs inversus totalis in a 68-years-old patient, accidentally discovered during investigations for an adenocarcinoma of the prostate. We remind in detail the anatomical presentation and morphological aspects found in our patient. Several hypotheses have been mentioned to explain the pathogenesis of situs inversus. Even if the anatomical inversion of many organs has been genetically studied, it appears a predominance for the viscera whose positional abnormalities are the most obvious (heart, liver, stomach). For other naturally "symmetrical" organs the inverted position is much less obvious, if not controversial, as is the case with the brain. The term "situs inversus totalis" is used to describe the transposition of all organs of the body to the opposite side, its incidence is relatively low. Situs inversus totalis is a rare pathological condition, but with important clinical and surgical implications. Even if its discovery is most often fortuitous, hospital practitioners (especially surgeons and radiologists) must take this possibility into account, especially for patients awaiting surgery. Keywords: Situs inversus totalis, Developmental anomaly, Organ transposition, Fortuitous discovery.

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Abstract

Common mesentery is an anatomical abnormality resulting from a defect in the embryonic development of the digestive tract, resulting in a fetal disposition of the intestine in patients. It is mostly revealed during the neonatal period and in children with severe accidents of occlusion. At the anatomo-embryological level, the common mesentery is the consequence of malrotation and attachment of the primary intestinal loop during its embryological development. Attachment abnormalities may or may not be associated with rotation abnormalities (the latter favor them), and they are of 2 types: excessive attachments or attachments defects. We report the case of an 8-years-old female patient received in the emergency room for severe abdominal pain, inability to pass stools and gas, and bilious and incoercible vomiting for 2 days. The surgical exploration showed a volvulus of the small bowel with a 270? clockwise rotation, and the presence of a complete common mesentery and numerous mesenteric lymphadenopathies. The stomach and colon were distended, with adhesions between the colon and the small bowel, but no ischemia or intestinal perforation was noted. The operative procedures consisted of untwisting the volvulated loops in an anticlockwise direction(270?), a release of adhesions, an appendectomy. We also emptied the small intestine and repositioned it. Common mesentery is a rare pathological state and its incidence is poorly understood due to clinical latency. But a good knowledge of embryology, attentive listening to patients and an accurate reading of the various radiological examinations can lead us thinking about malrotation. The occurrence of occlusive accidents is the main frequent cause of discovery of this abnormality. Keywords: Common mesentery, Malrotation attachment abnormalities, Fetal disposition, Embryonic development.

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