Practice of general pediatrics in Saudi Arabia: current status, challenges, and opportunities.

BACKGROUND: In Saudi Arabia, general pediatrics serves children until they are 14 years old. It has contributed to improving the health of Saudi children. METHOD: This study adopted a qualitative method and recruited pediatric physicians to investigate status, successes, challenges, and opportunities. Later, data were analyzed using thematic analysis and hermeneutic phenomenology. RESULTS: This study attracted 13 pediatric physicians for interviews. All participants appreciated the role of general pediatricians, but the trainees had a negative attitude regarding the general pediatrics specialty. They all agreed on providing primary care for all children and recommended that their first visit should occur earlier. Shortage of pediatricians, lack of community pediatricians, busy clinics, limited Arabic resources, and poor communication skills are significant barriers to children receiving adequate care. The majority of pediatricians favor extending the pediatric age to 18 years old. One pediatrician stated, "Youths between ages 14-18 years are lost, adults and we refuse to care for them…" Additionally, pediatricians have concerns about managing developmental delays and behavioral issues. They believe the current pediatric residency provides many opportunities for a brighter future. CONCLUSION: General pediatrics is well established in Saudi Arabia. To continue thriving, we need to address some challenges that pediatricians face and attract more residency graduates. The current pediatric residency programs can provide opportunities to address deficit areas.

Communication skills between physicians' insights and parents' perceptions in a teaching hospital in KSA.

OBJECTIVES: Communication between physicians and parents is the cornerstone of their relationship to reach a common goal of better child health. To deliver proper communication, a physician needs to learn certain skills that are not included in the curriculum of medical schools or paediatrics residency training in KSA. This study probed the physicians' attitude towards their styles of communication based on the parents' perception. METHODS: The data were collected from a randomly selected sample of physicians and parents from general paediatrics wards at King Saud University Medical City (KSUMC), Riyadh, KSA. We used a validated Criteria Cognitive Aptitude Test (CAT-T) questionnaire and a translated version of the CAT-T questionnaire for the physicians and parents, respectively. The data were then analyzed using variable qualitative and quantitative statistical methods. RESULTS: The data were collected from 63 physicians and 100 parents in the pediatric wards at KSUMC. We observed an increased level of confidence in communication skills (CS) among experienced physicians, while young physicians expressed concerns regarding their communication with parents concerning decision-making. The parents rated the physicians' skill of active listening as poor. However, the parents rated the physicians' introduction as higher than their own self-rating. In addition, the parents' satisfaction with the physicians' CS was inversely related to the parents' level of education. CONCLUSION: Our data suggests a clear discrepancy between the physicians' insights and the parents' perceptions about the CS. This finding emphasizes a need for further training among physicians to satisfy parents and in ultimately improving child health in the KSA.