Distance Electronic Learning Strategy in Medical Teaching During the COVID-19 Pandemic: Cross-Sectional Survey Study.

BACKGROUND: Teaching hospitals have been regarded as the primary settings where doctors teach and practice high-quality medicine, as well as where medical students learn the profession and acquire their initial clinical skills. A percentage of instruction is now done over the internet or via electronic techniques. The present COVID-19 epidemic has pushed distance electronic learning (DEL) to the forefront of education at all levels, including medical institutions. OBJECTIVE: This study aimed to observe how late-stage medical students felt about DEL, which was put in place during the recent COVID-19 shutdown in Jordan. METHODS: We conducted a prospective, cross-sectional, web-based, questionnaire-based research study during the COVID-19 pandemic lockdown between March 15 and May 1, 2020. During this period, all medical schools in Jordan shifted to DEL. RESULTS: A total of 380 students responded to a request to fill out the questionnaire, of which 256 completed the questionnaire. The data analysis showed that 43.6% (n=112) of respondents had no DEL experience, and 53.1% (n=136)of respondents perceived the DEL method as user-friendly. On the other hand, 64.1% (n=164) of students strongly believed that DEL cannot substitute traditional clinical teaching. There was a significant positive correlation between the perception of user-friendliness and the clarity of the images and texts used. Moreover, there was a strong positive correlation between the perception of sound audibility and confidence in applying knowledge gained through DEL to clinical practice. CONCLUSIONS: DEL is a necessary and important tool in modern medical education, but it should be used as an auxiliary approach in the clinical setting since it cannot replace conventional personal instruction.

Spectrum of uropathogens and their susceptibility to antimicrobials in pregnant women: a retrospective analysis of 5-year hospital data.

OBJECTIVE: Urinary tract infections (UTI) are common during pregnancy. Identification of antimicrobial susceptibility patterns of microorganisms in pregnant women is important to select the most appropriate antimicrobial. We assessed common uropathogens in pregnant women with UTI and antimicrobial susceptibility, to guide empirical antibiotic selection. METHODS: In this retrospective study, we analyzed mid-stream urine culture and antibiotic susceptibility data from pregnant women who attended Jordan University Hospital during 2014 to 2018. Data were collected from patients' charts and urine cultures, and sensitivity results were extracted from the laboratory electronic system. We calculated descriptive statistics and determined correlations among pathogens and antibiotics. RESULTS: We examined 612 positive urine cultures from 559 pregnant women, including 163 (29.2%) inpatients. Escherichia coli (29.4%) was the most frequently identified microorganism, followed by coagulase-negative staphylococci (CoNS) (21.6%). All bacterial isolates were sensitive to aztreonam, chloramphenicol, fosfomycin, ofloxacin, pefloxacin, piperacillin, and colistin sulfate; 87.5% were sensitive to amikacin. Only 15.79%, 18.93%, and 17.91% were sensitive to oxacillin, nalidixic acid, and erythromycin, respectively. CONCLUSION: E. coli and CoNS were the most commonly identified microorganisms in this study. We found increased antibiotic resistance in Enterobacter species. The chosen antimicrobial therapy in pregnancy should be determined by sensitivity/resistance and fetomaternal safety.