Assessment of Barriers to Knowledge Sharing Among Medical Students in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia

Background Knowledge sharing is a process by which information is exchanged between peers, colleagues, or, at a higher level, between institutions and organizations. This study aimed to assess the barriers to knowledge sharing among medical students at private and public-sector medical colleges in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. Methodology An online questionnaire was used to collect data from four medical colleges. Students were selected by non-probability convenience sampling. The English-language questionnaire included 12 questions related to knowledge sharing based on a Likert scale of one to five, with one denoting strongly disagreeing and five strongly agreeing. Out of the 520 questionnaires, 497 (96%) were received and analyzed using SPSS version 23 (IBM Corp., Armonk, NY, USA). Results A total of 497 respondents completed our questionnaire. Most were males (67.8%). Our results revealed that statements such as "afraid to provide the wrong information," "people only share with those who share with them," and "too busy/lack of time" were the most perceived barriers to knowledge sharing (mean = 3.95, 3.61, and 3.60, respectively). Furthermore, female opinions on statements such as "lack of relationship," "afraid to provide the wrong information," "do not know what to share," and "shyness to provide own opinions" were more dominant than male opinions. This difference was found to be statistically significant (p-values = 0.007, 0.020, 0.002, and 0.009, respectively). Conclusions Our study indicated that barriers such as "afraid to provide the wrong information" and "people only share with those who share with them" are important barriers that hinder the process of knowledge sharing. Moreover, most students agreed that "too busy/lack of time" and "lack of relationship" are barriers to knowledge sharing. In addition, statements such as "lack of relationship," "afraid to provide the wrong information," "do not know what to share," and "shyness to provide own opinions" were acknowledged as barriers by female students more than male students. There is a need in the curriculum to structure various types of activities that inspire and promote knowledge exchange among students. Further research is needed to validate our findings.

Collaboration with medical colleges and public health institutions for implementation of national health programs: The way forward

Health system strengthening is a much-needed priority to achieve the major public health goals of control, elimination, and eradication of various diseases. It depends on improving the country's ability to successfully perform essential functions while focusing on sustainability, equity, effectiveness, and efficiency. Medical colleges and public health institutions play an integral role in health system strengthening by educating and training the current and the future generations of health-care workforce with a vision to achieve the global standards in public health. This discussion focuses on the role of medical colleges and public health institutions in the success of various national health programs with a focus on challenges and improvement areas for the same.

General outpatient department in tertiary care institute: A model to be adopted by medical colleges

Context:

Teaching medical institutes and tertiary care hospitals in various cities are overcrowded and overburdened. The general outpatient department (GOPD) plays a vital role as screening OPD to triage patients who require secondary or tertiary care and refer them to appropriate OPD. Primary health care is initiated at the GOPD itself and the mechanism of referral is established.

Aim:

To study GOPD model and its services in the institute. To assess perception of patients towards it.

Settings and Design:

It was an observational study conducted in a medical college of Mumbai, Maharashtra for 1 month on persons attending the GOPD.

Materials and Methods:

Data and monthly reports were used for baseline comparisons and exit interviews of patients were taken using questionnaire.

Statistical Analysis Used:

Quantitative analysis was done using the proportions and means for the number of patients served daily by the GOPD and medicine OPD.

Results:

Around 44% of services were therapeutic in nature and it had contributed to a significant reduction in patient load into another specialist department. Nearly 30% cases needed referrals during the study period. Statistically, the significant value was obtained for patient satisfaction for consultation services from GOPD.

Conclusions:

A statistically significant value for patient satisfaction for consultation services from GOPD indicates that patients were in favor of such type of services.

Is There an Association between the Duration of Stay in the Medical Colleges and the Smoking Behavior among Medical Students? A Cross-sectional Study

Background:

Health-care providers must be at the forefront of tobacco cessation to ensure a downward shift in tobacco use. Medical schools constitute an important site for education and cessation efforts. Health-care professionals play a substantial role in influencing patients' lifestyle choices including tobacco cessation.

Objectives:

To examine the association between the duration of stay in the medical colleges and the smoking behavior among the medical students in Karnataka, India.

Materials and Methods:

One government and four private medical colleges were selected using stratified random sampling technique for this cross-sectional study. Sample size was 3288 medical students. A pretested self-administered questionnaire was used to collect data. SPSS version 12.0 was used for data analysis. The statistical methods used were frequencies, proportions, and Chi-square test.

Results:

Mean age of the study participants was 20.68 ± 2.05 years for males and 20.20 ± 1.91 years for females. Number of smokers among medical students after joining medical college increased 2.7 times. The duration of stay in the medical colleges was positively associated with the smoking behavior (P < 0.0001) among medical students, and the increase in the number of smokers reached up to 259.6% during internship.

Conclusion:

Smoking among medical students increases along with their stay in medical college.

Radiation Oncology research grants awarded by the Royal Australian and New Zealand College of Radiologists: Value for money?

INTRODUCTION

The Royal Australian and New Zealand College of Radiologists (RANZCR) and other medical colleges have provided research grants from their budgets for many years. This survey-based project aimed to determine whether the RANZCR Faculty of Radiation Oncology (FRO) is realizing value for money from its seed funding, and to compare this with grant activities of the other colleges.

METHODS

Eligible FRO grant recipients between 1999 and 2014 were surveyed regarding bibliometric data, subjective outcomes and factors considered important in completing their research projects. The other colleges were also approached via email and phone interviews.

RESULTS

A records search identified 26 eligible individuals who received 42 grants for 41 projects. The survey response rate was 100%, identifying 33 secondary grants, 65 conference presentations, 10 prizes and 69 publications associated with the FRO grants and consequential research. At least seven higher degrees also resulted. The funding process was very positively perceived by grant recipients, and the two factors identified as most important in project completion were local infrastructure and RANZCR funding. In 2015, FRO allocated AUD$150K for grants compared with $10K-$2.6M from 10 of the other 15 Australasian Medical Colleges. In general, appraisal of funding outcomes relative to expenditure has been only low level until recently.

CONCLUSIONS

This project has identified significant research output and subjective benefit from relatively modest FRO seed grants, implying a favourable cost-benefit ratio. Such outcomes monitoring needs to be more widely pursued within Australasian medical colleges.

LED fluorescence microscopy increases the detection of smear-positive pulmonary tuberculosis in medical colleges of India

In July 2012, light-emitting diode fluorescence microscopy (LED-FM) replaced conventional light microscopy using Ziehl-Neelsen stain in the detection of sputum-positive pulmonary tuberculosis in 190 microscopy centres of medical colleges operating under India's Revised National Tuberculosis Control Programme. We compared the performance of LED-FM (July-December 2012) to that of conventional microscopy (July-December 2011) across 190 sites. Of 222 658 patients examined using conventional microscopy, 28 042 (12.6%) were smear-positive, while of 224 714 examined using LED-FM, 33 552 (14.9%) were smear-positive, an additional yield of 5251 cases after adjusting for the increase in patients examined. We recommend replacing conventional microscopy with LED-FM in high workload microscopy centres in India.

Medical and biomedical research productivity from the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (2008-2012)

BACKGROUND

Biomedical publications from a country mirror the standard of Medical Education and practice in that country. It is important that the performance of the health profession is occasionally documented.

AIMS

This study aimed to analyze the quantity and quality of biomedical publications from the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA) in international journals indexed in PubMed between 2008 and 2012.

MATERIALS AND METHODS

PubMed was searched for publications associated with KSA from 2008 to 2012. The search was limited to medical and biomedical subjects. Results were saved in a text file and later checked carefully to exclude false positive errors. The quality of the publication was assessed using Journal Citation Report 2012.

RESULTS

Biomedical research production in KSA in those 5 years showed a clear linear progression. Riyadh was the main hub of medical and biomedical research activity. Most of the publications (40.9%) originated from King Saud University (KSU). About half of the articles were published in journals with an Impact Factor (IF) of < 1, one-fourth in journals with no IF, and the remaining one-fourth in journals with a high IF (≥1).

CONCLUSION

This study revealed that research activity in KSA is increasing. However, there is an increasing trend of publishing in local journals with a low IF. More effort is required to promote medical research in Saudi Arabia.

Notification of tuberculosis cases in India: Moving ahead in Revised National Tuberculosis Control Program

Tuberculosis (TB) is currently the leading cause of death from a curable infectious disease accounting for 8.7 million new cases and 1.4 million deaths in the year 2011. From the year 2012, TB is a notifiable disease in India which means that all cases of TB diagnosed by any means has to be reported to the public health authorities. This would help policy makers to make rational decisions with regard to strengthening of existing infrastructure and scaling-up of TB control activities in the country. Employment of multiple measures directed towards different stakeholders can be strategically implemented to intensify and fast-track the process of TB notification. In conclusion, the Indian Government's decision to specify TB as a notifiable disease is a historical and a much awaited step in the TB control activities. However to obtain the desired results, program managers along with the health care workers have to work in an integrated and collaborative manner so that the burden of TB can be reduced in years to come.

Do our medical colleges inculcate health-promoting lifestyle among medical students: a pilot study from two medical colleges from southern India

BACKGROUND

Behavioral risk factors are responsible for a substantial portion of chronic disease. Educating patients is a professional responsibility of medical practitioners. However, it has been observed that physicians did not practice what they preach. To study whether medical colleges inculcate health-promoting lifestyle among medical students during their stay in medical colleges.

METHODS

A cross-sectional study conducted in two conveniently selected medical colleges in southern India. Fourth year MBBS students were included in the study. A pre-tested self-administered multiple choice type questionnaire was used to collect data. Information was sought on the behavioral factors, namely smoking, alcohol use, junk food consumption, and physical activity, before joining the medical college and at the time of the study. SPSS version 10.0 was used to analyze the data. Frequencies, proportions, chi-square test.

RESULTS

Out of 176 respondents, 94 (53%) were males and 82 (47%) were females. The number of smokers had increased from 24 (13.6%) to 46 (26.1%) and the number of alcohol consumers from 34 (19.3%) to 77 (43.8%) since they joined medical college. The number of students doing any physical activity declined from 76 (43.2%) to 43 (24.4%) and their food habits became unhealthier during the same period.

CONCLUSIONS

The study reported an increase in health-risking behavior and a decline in health-promoting behavior among medical students during their stay in medical college.

Contribution of medical colleges to tuberculosis control in India under the Revised National Tuberculosis Control Programme (RNTCP): lessons learnt & challenges ahead

Medical college faculty, who are academicians are seldom directly involved in the implementation of national public health programmes. More than a decade ago for the first time in the global history of tuberculosis (TB) control, medical colleges of India were involved in the Revised National TB Control Programme (RNTCP) of Government of India (GOI). This report documents the unique and extraordinary course of events that led to the involvement of medical colleges in the RNTCP of GOI. It also reports the contributions made by the medical colleges to TB control in India. For more than a decade, medical colleges have been providing diagnostic services (Designated Microscopy Centres), treatment [Directly Observed Treatment (DOT) Centres] referral for treatment, recording and reporting data, carrying out advocacy for RNTCP and conducting operational research relevant to RNTCP. Medical colleges are contributing to diagnosis and treatment of human immunodeficiency virus (HIV)-TB co-infection and development of laboratory infrastructure for early diagnosis of multidrug-resistant and/or extensively drug-resistant TB (M/XDR-TB) and DOTS-Plus sites for treatment of MDR-TB cases. Overall, at a national level, medical colleges have contributed to 25 per cent of TB suspects referred for diagnosis; 23 per cent of 'new smear-positives' diagnosed; 7 per cent of DOT provision within medical college; and 86 per cent treatment success rate among new smear-positive patients. As the Programme widens its scope, future challenges include sustenance of this contribution and facilitating universal access to quality TB care; greater involvement in operational research relevant to the Programme needs; and better co-ordination mechanisms between district, state, zonal and national level to encourage their involvement.