A high prevalence of sleep disorder was found in this group of students, specifically female students. Analysis of the relationship between sleep disorder and academic performance indicates a significant relationship between abnormal ESS scores, total sleeping hours, and academic performance.

BACKGROUND:Tobacco consumption is associated with considerable negative impact on health. Health professionals, including future doctors, should have a leading role in combating smoking in the community.OBJECTIVES:The aims of the study were to assess the prevalence of smoking among medical students of newly established medical colleges in Riyadh city, the capital of Saudi Arabia, as well as to assess students' attitude, practice and their knowledge on the risk factors of tobacco consumption.METHODS:A cross-sectional, questionnaire-based study of students from two medical colleges in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia was carried out. The questionnaire used was anonymous, self-administered and developed mainly from Global Adult Tobacco Survey (GATS).RESULTS:A total of 215 students participated in this study. Forty students (19%) indicated that they smoke tobacco at the time of the study. All of them were males, which raise the prevalence among male students to 24%. Tobacco smoking was practiced by males more than females (P value <0.0001) and by senior more than junior students (<0.0001). About 94% of the study sample indicated that smoking could cause serious illnesses. About 90% of the students indicated that they would advice their patients to quit smoking in the future and 88% thought that smoking should be banned in public areas. Forty-four students (20%) thought that smoking has some beneficial effects, mainly as a coping strategy for stress alleviation.CONCLUSION:Despite good knowledge about the hazards of tobacco consumption, about 25% of the medical students in this study continue to smoke. The main reported reasons should be addressed urgently by policy-makers. Special efforts should be taken to educate medical students on the effective strategies in managing stress during their study as they thought that tobacco smoking could be used as a coping strategy to face such a stress.

General Surgery, ENT-Ophthalmology and Internal Medicine were the most preferred specialties, while Community Medicine, Forensic and Ob/Gyne, even for female students were least selected specialties. Proper information and counseling should be offered to students about the challenges and opportunities to select their future careers.

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The course outcomes achievement and suggestions given for improvements offer insight into the program which were encouraging and very useful. Encouraging "research culture" and work-based learning are probably the most powerful determinants for research promotion. These findings therefore encourage faculty development unit to continue its training and development in the research methodology aspects.

ObjectivesThis study was conducted to determine the prevalence of smoking, knowledge about the ill effects of smoking on health, and the influence of family members’ smoking habits among Saudi female students.MethodsThis is a type of cross-sectional study. A sample of 1,070 female students was selected by a nonrandom and convenient sampling method from five colleges (Medicine, Business and Administration, Computer Sciences, Education, and Languages and Translation) of King Saud University, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. A self-administrated questionnaire was used to determine the personal, social, and educational characteristics of the respondents. In addition, questions about their smoking types, status, duration of smoking, knowledge about the ill effects of smoking, daily cigarette consumption, and reasons for quitting smoking were included.ResultsThe students’ response rate was 85%. The prevalence of current smoking was 4.3% and 5.6% for cigarettes and water-pipes, respectively, whereas 3.9% of the participants were ex-smokers. The prevalence of current smoking was highest in the College of Business and Administration (10.81%) and lowest in the College of Medicine (0.86%). The majority (77%) of the smokers’ parents (current and ex-smokers) were also smokers. More than half (54%) of the smokers started their smoking habit for entertainment, and 44.4% of the participants did not know that smoking causes serious health problems. The most common factors for quitting smoking were health concerns (54%), religious beliefs (29%), and parent’s advice (17%).ConclusionThe study concludes that the prevalence of smoking varies in different subject streams and that family and friends have a great influence on individuals starting or stopping smoking. Extensive health education programs are needed to educate young women on the health hazards of smoking and help stop them from smoking.

Objectives:To determine preferences of patients regarding their involvement in the clinical decision making process and the related factors in Saudi Arabia.Methods:This cross-sectional study was conducted in a major family practice center in King Abdulaziz Medical City, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, between March and May 2012. Multivariate multinomial regression models were fitted to identify factors associated with patients preferences.Results:The study included 236 participants. The most preferred decision-making style was shared decision-making (57%), followed by paternalistic (28%), and informed consumerism (14%). The preference for shared clinical decision making was significantly higher among male patients and those with higher level of education, whereas paternalism was significantly higher among older patients and those with chronic health conditions, and consumerism was significantly higher in younger age groups. In multivariate multinomial regression analysis, compared with the shared group, the consumerism group were more likely to be female [adjusted odds ratio (AOR) =2.87, 95% confidence interval [CI] 1.31-6.27, p=0.008] and non-dyslipidemic (AOR=2.90, 95% CI: 1.03-8.09, p=0.04), and the paternalism group were more likely to be older (AOR=1.03, 95% CI: 1.01-1.05, p=0.04), and female (AOR=2.47, 95% CI: 1.32-4.06, p=0.008).Conclusion:Preferences of patients for involvement in the clinical decision-making varied considerably. In our setting, underlying factors that influence these preferences identified in this study should be considered and tailored individually to achieve optimal treatment outcomes.

BackgroundTeaching and learning of clinical skills for undergraduate medical students usually takes place during the clinical clerkship. Therefore, it is of vital importance to ensure the effectiveness of the rotations within this clerkship. The aims of this study were to develop an instrument that measures the effectiveness of the clinical learning environment, to determine its factor structure, and to find first evidence for the reliability and validity of the total scale and the different factors.MethodsThe Clinical Learning Evaluation Questionnaire (CLEQ) is an instrument, consisting of 40 items, which have been developed after consideration of the results of a qualitative study that investigated the important factors influencing clinical learning, both from the perspective of students, as well as teachers. Results of relevant literature that investigated this issue were also incorporated in the CLEQ. This instrument was administered to a sample of students (N = 182) from three medical colleges in Riyadh city, the capital of Saudi Arabia. The factor structure of the CLEQ (Principal component analysis, Oblimin rotation) and reliability of the factor scales (Cronbach’s α) were determined. Hypotheses concerning the correlations between the different factors were tested to investigate their convergent and divergent validity.ResultsOne hundred and nine questionnaires were returned. The factor analysis yielded six factors: F1 Cases (8 items), F2 Authenticity of clinical experience (8 items), F3 Supervision (8 items), F4 Organization of the doctor-patient encounter (4 items), F5 Motivation to learn (5 items), and F6 Self awareness (4 items). The overall internal consistency (α) of the CLEQ was 0.88, and the reliabilities (Cronbach’s α) of the six factors varied from .60 to .86. Hypotheses concerning the correlations between the different factors were partly confirmed, which supported the convergent validity of the factors, but not their divergent validity. Significant differences were found between the scores of the students of the three different schools on the factors Supervision and Organization of patient-doctor encounter.ConclusionsThe results of this study demonstrated that CLEQ is a multidimensional and reliable instrument. It can be utilized as an evaluation tool for clinical teaching activities, both by educators as well as students. Further research is needed into the validity of the CLEQ.