Critical Thinking: Perception and disposition of students in a Medical College of Pakistan.

OBJECTIVE: To determine the perception and disposition of medical students towards critical thinking. METHODS: The cross-sectional study was carried out from July 1, 2015, to March 30, 2016, at Gujranwala Medical College, Gujranwala, Pakistan, and comprised undergraduate medical students. Student's perception about critical thinking was assessed through a self-administered questionnaire and the standard California Critical Thinking Disposition Inventory. Data was analysed using SPSS 21. RESULTS: Of the 228 students, 191(84%) were females and 37(16%) were males. Overall mean age was 21.02±1.56 years, and 142(62%) were in the clinical years of their studies. Mean inventory score was 273.3±20. Besides, 157(69%) students perceived critical thinking as a positive thought process, while 52(22.8%) had no idea about it, and 19(8.3%) took critical thinking as a negative process. CONCLUSIONS: Most medical students were found to have a positive perception but they were not disposed towards critical thinking.

Assessment of Primary Care Physicians' Expertise of Common Dermatological Conditions in the Jouf Region, Saudi Arabia: A Mixed Methods Study.

Primary care physicians (PCPs) are the first line of defense for the management of common dermatological conditions (DCs). This study aimed to assess how dermatological diseases are identified, managed, and referred to in primary healthcare centers (PHCs). This was a mixed methods study comprising a cross-sectional survey and semi-structured interviews recruited through PHCs across the Jouf region of Saudi Arabia. Sixty-one PCPs completed the data, and eight participants were interviewed. A survey based on a sample of 22 photographs of common DCs in the Kingdom was administered to the participants to answer questions about the correct diagnosis, appropriate management, referral strategy, and encounter rate. In our sampled population, the mean overall knowledge level on a scale of 10 was 7.08 (±1.3). Among participants that had good to acceptable scores, 51 (83.6%) were in the overall knowledge parameter, 46 (75.4%) in the diagnosis parameter, and 49 (80.3%) in the management parameter. PCPs with five years or more of experience were found to have significantly higher overall knowledge and management scores. Most of our PCPs demonstrated sufficient knowledge of common DCs and had good to acceptable scores in all parameters. However, educational and regulatory aspects of PCPs' clinical management were identified. Focused training, provision of workshops, and improving medical school curricula regarding common DCs are recommended.

Knowledge, attitude and practice towards bio-medical waste management among healthcare workers: a northern Saudi study.

Background: Health care workers (HCWs) involved in day-to-day care and other healthcare activities play a significant role in biomedical waste (BMW) management. The World Health Organization stated some of the causes for the failure of BMW management, namely, lack of awareness of the health hazards related to BMW and inadequate trained HCWs in BMW management. The present study assessed knowledge, attitude, and practice (KAP) towards BMW management among the HCWs in northern Saudi Arabia. Methodology: The present study assessed KAP through a self-administered and validated questionnaire. Using a multistage probability sampling method, 384 HCWs from different healthcare facilities participated in this survey. We performed binomial logistic regression analysis to find association between KAP subscales and sociodemographic characteristics. Spearman's correlation test was performed to find the strength and direction of correlation (rho) between KAP scores. Results: Of the population studied, high knowledge, attitude, and practice scores were found in 47.1%, 65.1%, and 49.5% of the HCWs, respectively. The present study found that knowledge score was significantly higher among the age group from 30 to 39 years (ref: age less than 30 years: AOR = 2.25, 95% CI [1.05-4.85], p = 0.04) and non- Saudi nationals (ref: Saudi: AOR = 2.84, 95% CI [1.63-4.94], p < 0.001) The attitude score towards BMW management was significantly lower among the HCWs working in tertiary care settings (ref: PHC: AOR = 0.38, 95% CI [0.12-0.69], p = 0.01). Regarding the practice score, the male categories had a significantly higher score (ref: female: AOR = 1.82, 95% CI [1.19 -2.99], p = 0.02), while pharmacist (ref: physicians: AOR = 0.39, 95% CI [0.18-0.58], p = 0.02) and lab technicians (ref: physicians: AOR = 0.31, 95% CI [0.11-0.53], p = 0.02) had a significant lower practice score. The test results revealed a weak positive correlation of knowledge with the attitude scores (rho = 0.249, p = 0.001), and a moderately strong positive correlation was found between attitude and practice scores (rho = 0.432, p = 0.001). Conclusion: This study suggests that a regular training program for the HCWs on BMW management is necessary through symposiums, role play, interactive lectures, and other feasible training methods. Furthermore, a multicentric prospective exploratory study is to be conducted in other regions of the KSA to understand the region-specific training needs of HCWs.

Prevalence and Risk Factors of Occupational Health Hazards among Health Care Workers of Northern Saudi Arabia: A Multicenter Study.

Health care workers (HCWs) working in different health care facilities are exposed to many hazards, especially during the COVID-19 pandemic. This questionnaire-based cross-sectional study aimed to assess the prevalence, pattern, and risk factors of occupational health hazards faced by 438 randomly selected HCWs from northern Saudi Arabia. The HCWs are commonly exposed to needle stick injuries (34.5%) under the biological hazards category; and work-related stress (69.6%) under the non-biological hazards categories. The significant associated factors were work setting (ref: Primary Health Center: Adjusted OR (AOR) = 2.81, 95%CI = 1.21-4.59, p = 0.017), smoking status (ref.: non-smoker: AOR = 1.73, 95%CI = 1.03-2.91, p = 0.039), and mean sleeping duration per day (AOR = 1.22, 95%CI = 1.04-1.43, p = 0.014) for biological, and smoking status (ref: non-smoker: AOR = 2.16, 95%CI = 1.09-3.29, p = 0.028), and mean sleeping duration per day (AOR = 1.35, 95%CI = 1.07-1.70, p = 0.013) for non-biological categories. This study revealed several risk factors and occupational health hazards that HCWs are exposed to during their work time. Periodic training and follow-up assessments regarding bio-safety measures for the HCWs should be implemented. Finally, future explorative studies are warranted on the feasibility of implementing rotation-based postings for the HCWs in different health care settings.