Integrated Medical Education Resources: 150423P - SEARCHING FOR FUTURE OPPORTUNITIES

Paper concept by Prof Omar Hasan Kasule Sr. on April 23, 2015

Aim

· The aim of this session is to provide medical students with an orientation of the processes and challenges involved in searching for future opportunities.

Keywords

· Search strategies

· future opportunities

Contents

· Important issues related to searching for future opportunities.

· List the important steps that can be deployed to execute an effective search.

· Share general issues/ problems that one can encounter during the search for future opportunities especially in the context of KSA.

· Addresses where they can find more detailed information.

· Share useful examples related to the topic of KSAUHS, the Kingdom and worldwide.

· Professional attributes which one should confer to while carrying out the required search.

Scenario:

· Ahmed is an undergraduate medical student in a university in Riyadh who is about to graduate in a couple of months.

· Ahmed has apparently chosen his field for further medical expertise but he is not clear on how to design his search strategies which would yield better future opportunities.

Assessment

· How to Assess this Topic All students will be required to write a 75 to 100 words reflective paragraph which will be included in their Portfolio.

Basic decisions

· Medical vs academic

· General vs specialist

· KSA vs overseas

· Private vs public

What to do

· Before graduation

· After graduation

· Applying for an internship

· Applying for residency - within KSA

· Applying for residency - outside KSA

Work after internship

· Public sector

· Private sector

· University

Saudi Commission for Health Specialties

· The Saudi Commission for Health Specialties, or simply the Saudi Council, is the independent governmental authority that regulates health care-related practices and accreditation at all levels in Saudi Arabia.

· The SCHS was established on 2 June 1992, by Royal Order M/2, to set standards for health practice. Its headquarters are in Riyadh, and it has several branch offices across the Kingdom.

· Professional classification and registration

· Postgraduate programs:

SCHS APPLYING FOR CLASSIFICATION AND REGISTRATION

· Completing the classification and registration form.

· Notarized copy of his/her qualifications, including Internship certificate (if available)

· Notarized copies of pre-graduation training and post-graduation experience

· Valid certificate of basic life support certificate, under the supervision of the Saudi heart association, if obtained from KSA.

· Certificate of insurance against medical errors for physicians and dentists (valid for at least three years at the time of application)

· Copy of the ID for Saudis

· Two recent personal photos

· Complete fee payment

REFERENCES:

Adv Med Educ Pract. 2014 Oct 24;5:397-402. Factors influencing Saudi medical students and interns' choice of future specialty: a self-administered questionnaire. Alshahrani M, Dhafery B, Al Mulhim M, Alkhadra F, Al Bagshi D, Bukhamsin N. BACKGROUND: This study explores the most influential factors affecting Saudi medical students and interns' choice of specialty at the University of Dammam, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. METHODS: A self-administered questionnaire was distributed during the period from June 1 to June 14, 2013. Chi-square test and logistic regression were used to test the association between participants' choices and the motivational factors that led to their choice of specialty. RESULTS: One-hundred sixty-eight (44.7%) participants chose lifestyle as their most influential factor for the choice of their specialty. Significantly more medical interns considered lifestyle as an important factor compared to medical students (P=0.020). Internal medicine was the preferred specialty for 56 participants (14.77%) followed by family medicine for 35 participants (9.2%). Thirty-four participants (8.97%) chose general surgery, and 27 participants (7.1%) chose both pediatrics and emergency medicine. Sex influences indicated that men preferred pediatrics and emergency medicine (P=0.033 and P=0.0006, respectively), while women preferred family medicine practice (P=0.034). CONCLUSION: Saudi medical students and interns at the University of Dammam were influenced mostly by lifestyle when they considered their future specialty. Internal medicine, family medicine, general surgery, pediatrics, and emergency medicine were the preferred specialties. KEYWORDS: interns; lifestyle; medical students; motivational factors; specialty preference

Med Teach. 2014 Apr;36 Suppl 1:S3-7. Perceived barriers to physician-scientist careers among female undergraduate medical students at the College of Medicine - Alfaisal University: a Saudi Arabian perspective. Abu-Zaid A¹, Altinawi B. INTRODUCTION: At present, only a negligible number of matriculating and graduating female medical students express interest in physician-scientist careers. The aim of this study is to explore the perceived barriers towards pursuing physician-scientist careers by female undergraduate medical students at College of Medicine - Alfaisal University, Saudi Arabia. METHODS: An online, anonymous, self-rating survey was administered. The survey assessed students' perceived barriers towards potential physician-scientist careers by responding to typical 5-point Likert scale statements. RESULTS: One hundred sixteen students (116/171) participated in the survey with a 67.8% response rate. The top three barriers to such physician-scientist careers were greater preference towards patient care than research (75%), lack of conviction as regards merging a fruitful research profession with satisfying motherhood life (52.6%) and paucity of recognizing successful and well-known female physician-scientist role models in the country (48.3%). DISCUSSION: Our results showed that the perceived barriers to physician-scientist careers by College of Medicine - Alfaisal University's female undergraduate medical students were largely identical to the Western literature with few differences and more influence of cultural reasons. It is crucial for medical educators in Saudi Arabia to work on mechanisms that stimulate female students' interest in research and resolve all barriers that stand in the face of students towards considering physician-scientist careers.

A cross-sectional questionnaire-based study was performed on 590 students with a 93.22% response rate and covered queries on demography, specialty choices, and perceptions influencing specialty choices. Class-wise analysis of specialty choices was carried out. RESULTS: The most preferred specialty expressed by male students was surgery, followed by internal medicine and orthopedics, while most preferred by female students were surgery, followed by pediatrics and ophthalmology. Male students' emphasized factors like less competitive field, shortage of specialists, and diversity of patients while the prestige of specialty and teaching opportunities had a greater impact on female students. CONCLUSIONS: Surgery, internal medicine, pediatrics, orthopedics, and ophthalmology were the most preferred specialty choices. Gender preference was observed to affect choices of few specialties such as orthopedics and obstetrics/gynecology. Perceptions which have an impact on specialty selection of male and female students may reflect a different tempo of growing up in men and women.

Med Teach. 2011;33(10):840-5. Medical students' perception of professionalism: a qualitative study from Saudi Arabia. Adkoli BV¹, Al-Umran KU, Al-Sheikh M, Deepak KK, Al-Rubaish AM. BACKGROUND:

Professionalism has emerged as a core competency for the medical professionals globally. However, few studies have been reported from the Gulf region to assess the situation and take steps to promote professionalism. AIM:

To elicit the views of final year medical students, interns, and residents to explore what professionalism meant to them, what problems they encountered, and what can be done to promote professionalism. METHOD: We adopted qualitative approach including 10 focus group discussions. The proceedings were tape-recorded, transcribed, and analyzed independently by two researchers. RESULTS: The respondents admitted that that they were deficient in the acquisition of professional values. According to them, professionalism was not taught or assessed. They followed "hidden curriculum". They considered very few teachers as positive role models. The deficiencies could be attributed to negative role modeling by the faculty or deficiencies in the curriculum such as lack of rich clinical experiences, limited interaction with health team, and absence of feedback besides organizational issues. CONCLUSION: The students' views should be tallied with other sources of evidences. Nevertheless, they have policy implications on faculty recruitment, development, curriculum reform, and an organizational culture that supports professionalism.

Acad Med. 1997 Jan;72(1):65-7. Career choices among Saudi medical students. al-Faris E¹, Kalantan K, al-Rowais N, al-Mahdi Balla al-Nour M, al-Umran K, Kabraah MT, Badwi I, Jarallah JS. PURPOSE: To identify the career choices, intended practice locations, and reasons for career choices of final-year Saudi medical students. METHOD: A total of 302 final-year students at the four Saudi medical colleges were asked to complete a self-report questionnaire at the end of the 1994 academic year. RESULTS: A total of 253 students (84%) responded (149 men and 104 women). The most frequently chosen specialties were internal medicine (17%), surgery (16%), pediatrics (14%), and obstetrics-gynecology (11%). Twenty-seven percent were not sure of their future career choices. More of the men chose surgery, but more of the women chose obstetrics-gynecology and ophthalmology. The leading reasons for selecting a specialty were "personal interest," "a chance to help people," "availability of postgraduate training," "few specialists in the country," and "prestige." The most frequently chosen locations for postgraduate training were Saudi Arabia (56%) and Canada (40%). The qualifying examinations the students wished to pass were mostly the Canadian boards (49%) and the Arab boards (48%). A majority intended to practice in hospitals (90%) and in cities (85%). CONCLUSION: The small proportions of students who chose family medicine and some other specialties indicate that the current drastic deficiency of trained Saudi primary health care physicians will continue unless targeted strategies to produce more of these physicians are undertaken.

J Family Community Med. 1996 Jul;3(2):41-9. Future specialty and practice intentions among Saudi medical students. Ai-Faris EA¹, Kalantan K, Al-Nour MB, Ai-Umran K, Ai-Rowais N, Jarallah JS, Kabraah MT, Badwi I. OBJECTIVE: The objective of the study is the identification of the specialty intentions, the reason behind that choice and the preferred practice location of the study population. METHODOLOGY: A cross-sectional study was conducted using a self-administered questionnaire distributed at the end of the academic year 1994. One hundred and forty nine (149) male and 104 female graduating medical students representing the four medical colleges in Saudi Arabia were included RESULTS: The four major clinical specialties were selected by more than half of the students; Internal Medicine (17%), Surgery(16%), Paediatrics (14%) and Obstetrics (11%). Twenty-seven percent were not sure of their future career choice. Primary health care was chosen by only 1.6% of the students. More men chose Surgery but more women chose Obstetrics and Ophthalmology. DISCUSSION:

"Financial incentives", "no night duties", "social reasons" and "less responsibilities" were the less frequently mentioned reasons for career choice. The qualifications in view were mostly Canadian Board for 49% of the students and Arab Board for 48% of them. The most frequently preferred locations for postgraduate training were Saudi Arabia (56%) and Canada (40%). The majority intended to practice in hospitals (90%) and in cities (85%). CONCLUSION: The current drastic deficiency of trained Saudi Family Physicians will continue unless targeted strategies to produce more generalists are undertaken.

East Mediterr Health J. 2014 Mar 13;20(2):99-104. Perceptions, attitudes, and practices towards research among resident physicians in training in Saudi Arabia. Mitwalli HA¹, Al Ghamdi KM¹, Moussa NA². Health research training forms an important part of medical education. This cross-sectional study examined the attitudes to research, perceived barriers to research and experience of participation in research projects among resident physicians in Saudi Arabia. A self-administered email questionnaire was completed by 191/207 residents working in different specialties and regions of Riyadh. A majority (97.9%) agreed that research is essential and improves health care and 86.9% that it helps in building a future academic career. Lack of research training (93.2%), lack of time (89.5%), work-related stress (83.2%) and lack of supervisors (73.3%) were perceived barriers to doing research. Only 58 (30.4%) had had any research involvement. Involvement in research was significantly more likely for residents at an advanced level of training than at earlier levels (OR 3.50, 95% CI: 1.1-11.1) and less likely for those who had 1 or 2 children during residency than those who had none (OR 0.29, 95% CI: 0.1-0.8).

Ann Saudi Med. 2002 Sep-Nov;22(5-6):316-20. Perception of Canadian training programs by Saudi resident trainees. Assiri AS¹, Al-Jarallah AS, Al-Amari O, Turnbull J. BACKGROUND: The aim of the study was to determine how Saudi medical trainees in Canada perceive their training programs with regards to educational, ethnic and socio-cultural issues, and if different factors such as the chosen field of training, place or level of training make any difference to this perception. SUBJECTS AND METHODS: All Saudi residents in training programs in Canada in the 1996/1997 academic year were surveyed using a written anonymous self-administered questionnaire, evaluating educational, ethnic and socio-cultural aspects of various training programs. RESULTS: The response rate was 72.5% (185/255). Most of the respondents were in the fourth year of training. Overall, the level of stress was rated as tolerable in 154 (83%), and 179 respondents (96.8%) described the educational aspects of their program positively. Furthermore, 154 (83%) of the respondents agreed that they were treated fairly in the distribution of job functions with regards to Canadian residents, and 133 (72%) did not face any major difficulty in practicing their religion. The sites of training, type of specialty and the level of training made significant impact on the perceived educational, social, religious and administrative aspects of training. CONCLUSION: The majority of Saudi medical trainees in Canada perceived the educational aspects of their training as a positive experience. Major problems faced were mainly related to administrative matters and to some extent, social adjustment. Issues that affect the training process need to be tackled by the concerned authorities to ensure the success of the training programs.

Adv Med Educ Pract. 2014 Oct 24;5:397-402. Factors influencing Saudi medical students and interns' choice of future specialty: a self-administered questionnaire. Alshahrani M¹, Dhafery B¹, Al Mulhim M¹, Alkhadra F¹, Al Bagshi D¹, Bukhamsin N¹. BACKGROUND: This study explores the most influential factors affecting Saudi medical students and interns' choice of specialty at the University of Dammam, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. METHODS: A self-administered questionnaire was distributed during the period from June 1 to June 14, 2013. Chi-square test and logistic regression were used to test the association between participants' choices and the motivational factors that led to their choice of specialty. RESULTS: One-hundred sixty-eight (44.7%) participants chose lifestyle as their most influential factor for the choice of their specialty. Significantly more medical interns considered lifestyle as an important factor compared to medical students (P=0.020). Internal medicine was the preferred specialty for 56 participants (14.77%) followed by family medicine for 35 participants (9.2%). Thirty-four participants (8.97%) chose general surgery, and 27 participants (7.1%) chose both pediatrics and emergency medicine. Sex influences indicated that men preferred pediatrics and emergency medicine (P=0.033 and P=0.0006, respectively), while women preferred family medicine practice (P=0.034). CONCLUSION: Saudi medical students and interns at the University of Dammam were influenced mostly by lifestyle when they considered their future specialty. Internal medicine, family medicine, general surgery, pediatrics, and emergency medicine were the preferred specialties. KEYWORDS: interns; lifestyle; medical students; motivational factors; specialty preference

Med Teach. 2012;34 Suppl 1:S51-60. Specialty preferences: trends and perceptions among Saudi undergraduate medical students. Mehmood SI¹, Kumar A, Al-Binali A, Borleffs JC. BACKGROUND: The exploration of specialty choices by medical students is a hot debate as it affects several important determinants of health care delivery. This study was carried out to determine variation in specialty preferences during medical school training and the perceptions that affect students' specialty choice. METHODS: A cross-sectional questionnaire-based study was performed on 590 students with a 93.22% response rate and covered queries on demography, specialty choices, and perceptions influencing specialty choices. Class-wise analysis of specialty choices was carried out. RESULTS: The most preferred specialty expressed by male students was surgery, followed by internal medicine and orthopedics, while most preferred by female students were surgery, followed by pediatrics and ophthalmology. Male students' emphasized factors like less competitive field, shortage of specialists, and diversity of patients while the prestige of specialty and teaching opportunities had a greater impact on female students. CONCLUSIONS: Surgery, internal medicine, pediatrics, orthopedics, and ophthalmology were the most preferred specialty choices. Gender preference was observed to affect choices of few specialties such as orthopedics and obstetrics/gynecology. Perceptions which have an impact on specialty selection of male and female students may reflect a different tempo of growing up in men and women.

J Family Community Med. 2015 Jan-Apr;22(1):49-56. Evaluation of the educational environment of the Saudi family medicine residency training program. Khoja AT¹. OBJECTIVES: The study was conducted to evaluate the educational environment (EE) in Family Medicine Training Programs. MATERIALS AND METHODS: A cross-sectional survey, The Postgraduate Hospital Educational Environment Measure (PHEEM), was distributed to all residents at the four training centers in the central region. Cronbach's alpha was used to test the reliability. The mean and standard deviation (SD) for each item, the overall score and the three domains were calculated. A multiple linear regression model was developed with PHEEM scores as an outcome. The Mann-Whitney-Wilcoxon test was used to compare each item based on the selected factors. RESULTS: The overall score was 67.1/160 (SD: 20.1). The PHEEM's domains scores: 24.2/56 (SD: 7.13) for perception of role autonomy; 25.3/60 (SD: 8.88), for perception of teaching; and 17/44 (SD: 5.6), for perception of social support. Training center and Level of training were the significant outcome predictors. Centre 1 (Joint Program) significantly had better scores than Centre 2. The instrument showed great reliability with a Cronbach's alpha of 0.92. CONCLUSIONS: There are many problems in the training program. Urgent actions are needed to improve the residents' learning experience particularly during rotations. Also, the curriculum should be restructured, and effective training methods introduced using the Best Evidence in Medical Education to meet the expectations and learning needs of family physicians. KEYWORDS: Educational environment; family medicine training; residency

Adv Med Educ Pract. 2014 Sep 19;5:315-21. Evaluation of the orthopedic residency training program in Saudi Arabia and comparison with a selected Canadian residency program. Al-Ahaideb A¹, Alrabai HM¹, Alrehaili OA¹, Aljurayyan AN¹, Alsaif RM², Algarni N¹, Al-Khawashki HM¹, Algarni AD¹. OBJECTIVE: The primary aim of the present study was to assess the quality of the Saudi Orthopedic Residency Program. METHODOLOGY: As a comparator, a cross-sectional survey involving 76 Saudi residents from different training centers in Saudi Arabia namely; Riyadh, Jeddah, Medina, Abha, and Dammam and 15 Canadian. RESULTS: The results showed that Canadian residents read more peer-reviewed, scholarly articles compared with Saudi residents (P=0.002). The primary surgical role for residents was to hold retractors during surgery. The survey respondents strongly supported the ability to recommend removal of incompetent trainers. Saudi trainees were more apprehensive of examinations than Canadian trainees (P<0.0001). Most residents preferred studying multiple-choice questions before examinations. Saudi and Canadian participants considered their programs to be overcrowded. Unlike Canadian participants, Saudi trainees reported an inadequate level of training (P<0.0001). CONCLUSION: Educational resources should be readily accessible and a mentorship system monitoring residents' progress should be developed. The role of the resident must be clearly defined and resident feedback should not be ignored. Given the importance of mastering basic orthopedic operative skills for residents, meaningful remedial action should be taken with incompetent trainers. KEYWORDS: evaluation; medical education; orthopedic board; residency program; training

West J Emerg Med. 2009 Aug;10(3):157-8. International perspective from Saudi Arabia on "procedural skills training during emergency medicine residency: are we teaching the right things?". Qureshi N¹. East Mediterr Health J. 2008 Sep-Oct;14(5):1185-91. Current status of dermatology residency training in Saudi Arabia: trainees' perspectives. AlGhamdi KM¹. A cross-sectional survey was conducted to look at different aspects of dermatology residency programmes in Saudi Arabia from the residents' perspective. Self-administered questionnaires about future plans, academic activities, examinations, training, workload, surgical procedures, residents' rights and satisfaction were distributed to all 27 residents in all training centres during March-May 2004; 22 (81%) responded. The survey found that 50% of residents were not satisfied with their training and felt they were inadequately trained. Experience of performing certain procedures was much less than for residents in a similar study in the United States of America, and 50% of residents had not received any dermatologic surgery training. Moreover, 36% of residents had been verbally humiliated during their training.