Alfaisal University's Academic Success Center: An Individualized Peer-Assisted Learning Program for Mutual Tutor-Student Advancement.

INTRODUCTION: Peer-assisted learning (PAL) is an educational strategy whereby students teach other students. PAL presents many advantages to the institution, tutors, and tutees. It can benefit the university by presenting a cost-effective approach where the efforts and time of faculty are reduced. We describe a retrospective analysis detailing the structure, function, and effectiveness of the Academic Success Center (ASC) at Alfaisal University, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, since 2020. The ASC encompasses various types of PAL methods. It is the only PAL program in Saudi Arabia whereby its tutors, referred to as student consultants, are compensated financially. METHODS: We retrospectively analyzed the total number of appointments, the total number of students who accessed the center, as well as the breakdown between different colleges and academic years, and their satisfaction level with the PAL mode of teaching. RESULTS: Our results indicate a high level of appointments for these PAL sessions increasing on a yearly basis and a high level of satisfaction from both the tutors and the tutees. CONCLUSION: PAL is an effective teaching and mentoring modality with high retention rates that has contributed to an increased sense of well-being among students who have utilized these services.

COVID-19 Infection Among Healthcare Workers at a Tertiary Healthcare Hospital.

PURPOSE: SARS-CoV-2 or COVID-19 virus was the culprit of the global pandemic that began in 2019. With alarming mortality rates reaching sky-high worldwide, the virus prompted the masses to switch to online working. However, this was not feasible for healthcare workers (HCWs) exposed to a higher-than-normal risk of acquiring COVID-19 infection. This study aims to observe the prevalence of COVID-19 positivity among the various areas of a healthcare facility in Saudi Arabia. METHODS: A cross-sectional study of positive employees among all departments at a tertiary care hospital in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, such as administration, capital projects/facilities, and healthcare. The study included all hospital employees-permanent staff, rotating physicians, and trainees-who tested positive for COVID-19 between March 20, 2020 and December 30, 2020. RESULTS: It was found that HCWs had the most significant number of infected individuals with nursing staff being the predominant demographic. This was followed by the capital projects/facilities departments, of which the environmental services staff were the most infected. CONCLUSION: It is pertinent that strict protocols be taken by hospital management to limit the spread of future infectious diseases within hospital settings. This includes the provision of personal protective equipment (PPE) and adequate education on its proper usage, alongside regular surveillance of staff with regard to adherence and early detection of symptoms.

COVID-19 Contact Tracing Experience at a Tertiary Healthcare Center in Saudi Arabia.

Introduction As of May 2023, the end of the pandemic, the cumulative number of COVID-19 cases reached more than 841,000 cases. Healthcare workers (HCWs) especially have been at the frontline during this pandemic and are at a higher chance of contracting COVID-19. Approximately half of all high-risk exposures were to healthcare personnel with COVID-19. While several tools for contact tracing were developed for the general public, contact tracing for infectious diseases in the healthcare setting is limited, and global testing of HCWs, or in-hospital digital tracing, is not performed in most facilities. The King Faisal Specialist Hospital and Research Center (KFSH&RC) collaborated with the Infection Control and Health Information Technology Affairs (HITA) to create an automated COVID-19 contact tracing tool specifically for HCWs who worked at the institute. This study aims to describe the contact tracing experience at KFSH&RC. Methods A retrospective study was conducted to describe the use of an automated tool that was developed to assist in the contact tracing process and that was to be used by KFSH&RC employees who had been in contact with a COVID-19-positive individual. This tool is utilized for the early identification of possible COVID-19 cases and risk stratification of the exposed individuals. The tool can be accessed through the KFSH&RC website; it also collects information about the COVID-19 exposure rate among the different departments such as administration, capital projects/facilities, and healthcare at a tertiary care hospital in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia Results The tool has been utilized 7,353 times by contact cases. Approximately 7% of those tested later developed a COVID-19 infection. When assessing the positivity rates per department, The Environmental Services Department had the highest positivity rate of 28.21%, followed by Health Information Technology and Analytics (HITA), and then the Central Transportation Department. Conclusion This study acts as the first of its kind to describe the successful use of the healthcare contact tracing system in one of Saudi Arabia's largest hospitals (KFSH&RC) and describe the infection trends in different departments of the hospital. Through the tracing system, the departments with the highest COVID-19 infection occurrences at the hospital were identified in a timely manner, and safety protocols were implemented.