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Background & Objective: Medical students form an integral part of future taskforce for the healthcare sector. We aimed to assess the impact of demographic charcateristics and COVID-19 pandemic affecting choice of speciality among medical graduates in Pakistan. Materials & Methods: A cross-sectional study was carried out on fresh medical graduates using two self-designed online questionnaire surveys before and after two months of house job, inquiring choice of specialty, reasons for choosing it, exposure to pandemic and its effect on choice of specialty using Chi-Square test. Results: Fifty nine percent of medical graduates had chosen field of speciality, significantly impacted by higher socioeconomic class (p=0.006), fathers with higher education (p=0.046) and advice about specialty selection (p=0.044). Internal medicine (20%), surgery (19%), obstetrics and gynaecology (O&G) (17%) and dermatology (13%) were most commonly selected. Age (p=0.027), female gender (p=0.009) and mothers with higher education (p=0.022) significantly affected choosing O&G, while advice to choose this specialty impacted choosing O&G (p=0.027) and dermatology (p=0.022). Better patient outcomes, challenging specialty, reputation/prestige and inspiration from a doctor were common reasons to choose a specialty. 9.1% changed their initial choice of specialty based on exposure to COVID-19 pandemic of whom majority switched to COVID unrelated fields, but it was not statistically significant. Conclusion: This study identifies that demographic, patient outcome and personal factors were primary determinants of specialty choice. COVID-19 pandemic did not significantly affect career choices among medical graduates.

Objective: To assess the efficacy and safety of IPL in patients with inflammatory Acne Vulgaris. Study Design: Quasi-experimental study. Place and Duration of Study: Department of Dermatology, Pakistan Air Force Hospital, Fazaia Medical College, Islamabad Pakistan, from Aug 2019 to Jan 2020. Methodology: Ninety patients with inflammatory facial acne were enrolled and received four Intense Pulsed Light (IPL) sessions at two weeks intervals with fluence 25J/cm2 and 420nm cut-off filter. The duration of treatment for each patient was two months. Clinical improvement was assessed using the Global Acne Grading System score (GAGs score). Results: Mean age of the patients was 18.5±3.3years, of which nine were males (10%), and 81 were females (90%). IPL was effective in 42(46.7%) patients with inflammatory acne vulgaris. The median GAGS score before treatment was 20(22–19), and after treatment was 10(12-9), with a significant p-value(

Objective: To determine the association between psoriasis and serum uric acid levels. Study Design: Case control study. Place and Duration of Study: Study was conducted at Department of Dermatology, Pakistan Air Force Hospital Islamabad, from Jan 2017 to Jul 2017. Material and Methods: This study involved 31 psoriatic subjects of both genders aged between 18-70 years. Subjects were matched with 31 healthy volunteers from PAF Hospital staff. Serum uric acid level was tested in all the study participants. Outcome variable was frequency of hyperuricemia among cases and controls. Results: The age of the subjects ranged from 18 years to 70 years with a mean of 39.47 ± 13.92 years. Majority (n=37, 59.7%) of the subjects were aged under 45 years. There were 35 (56.5%) male and 27 (43.5%) female subjects with a male to female ratio of 1.3:1. There were 20 (32.3%) obese subjects. Mean serum uric acid was significantly higher among cases (5.89 ± 1.28 vs. 4.76 ± 1.44 mg/dl; p=0.002) as compared to controls. Frequency of hyperuricemia was significantly higher among cases (25.8% vs. 6.5%; p=0.038; OR=5.043; 95% CI: 0.975 – 26.086) as compared to controls. Conclusion: Mean serum uric acid and frequency of hyperuricemia was found to be significantly higher among cases (25.8% vs. 6.5%; p=0.038) as compared to controls irrespective of age, gender and obesity status of patient.