Professionalism is a crucial component of medical practice. It is a culturally sensitive notion that generally consists of behaviors, values, communication, and relationships. This study is a ...qualitative study exploring physician professionalism from the patients' perspective.
Focus group discussions with patients attending a family medicine center attached to a tertiary care hospital were carried out using the four gates model of Arabian medical professionalism that is appropriate to Arab culture. Discussions with patients were recorded and transcribed. Data were thematically analyzed using NVivo software.
Three main themes emerged from the data. (1) In dealing with patients, participants expected respect but understood delays in seeing physicians due to their busy schedules. In communication, participants expected to be informed about their health conditions and to have their questions answered. (2) In dealing with tasks, participants expected proper examination and transparency of diagnosis, but some expected the physician to know everything and did not appreciate them seeking outside opinions. They expected to see the same physician at every visit. (3) In physician characteristics preferences, participants preferred friendly smiling physicians. Some cared about the outer appearance of the physician whereas others did not.
The findings of the study explained only two themes of the four gates model namely dealing with patients and dealing with tasks. Cultural competence and how to benefit from patients' perceptions to be an ideal physician should be incorporated into the process of physicians' training.
Learning is an interplay between cognition and environmental factors. Any learning environment, that fulfills the intrinsic and extrinsic needs of the students will probably lead to better and more ...promising learning outcomes. This study aimed to investigate the student perceptions of Learning Environment (LE) in four health schools of a large university and compare between schools, years of study, and gender.
Dundee Ready Education Environment Measure (DREEM) questionnaire and a socio-demographic questionnaire were completed by 1185 undergraduate students enrolled in the school of Medicine, Dentistry, Nursing and Applied Medical Sciences (AMS) of a large university during the academic year 2012-2013. Chi-square test was used to compare categorical variables. Independent student t-test or ANOVA (with Tukey post-hoc test) was used for continuous variables at a significance level of p≤0.05.
The mean total DREEM score was 89.23±33.3. The total DREEM mean scores for Dentistry (120.54±23.45) and Medicine (110.72±19.33) were higher compared with AMS (63.48±21.36) and Nursing (57.48±22.80) (p=0.000) (Post hoc Tukey p=0.000). First year students gave significantly higher positive perceptions ratings than the rest of the years (p=0.000). Total scores were significantly higher for male (92.78±33.86) than female students (84.70±32.25) p=0.000.
The LE significantly differed by year and gender. The students from non-integrated curricula (nursing and AMS) perceived the LE less positively than their integrated curriculum counterparts (medicine and dentistry). A qualitative study is needed to investigate the variation in the perception of LE among these groups.
Social media has become ubiquitous and has brought a dramatic change in health services. Little is known about its use by family physicians and residents for personal or professional purpose. The aim ...of the current study was to evaluate the utility of social media among family medicine residents and consultants.
The collection of data was through the use of a five part questionnaire developed by researchers. The questionnaire was delivered to 70 physicians and 100 residents, out of which 132questionnaires were completed, representing a 78 percent response rate.
Our findings demonstrate that there was an overall high use of social media. Females used social media more for general education and professional purposes. Men, by contrast, used it more frequently for personal purposes. The participants in this study appeared to consider social media as having several useful dimensions, such as: enabling them to accomplish job tasks, improve job performance, productivity and more effective patient care when using social media.
To date, limited studies have compared social media use among family physicians and residents. This study may serve as an initial step for future studies explaining the pattern of use among physicians.
WhatsApp is the most frequently used social media platform in Saudi Arabia. Inaccurate information could negatively impact public health. The number of studies worldwide investigating health-related ...misinformation in social media increased steadily, with limited data from Arabic-speaking communities. This study aimed to estimate the validity and safety of Arabic-language health information messages circulated on WhatsApp and identify the different categories of these messages based on their credibility.
A descriptive, analytical cross-sectional study was conducted from February to April 2021. A total of 374 students were randomly selected from the common first preparatory year college at King Saud University in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, and participated by sharing up to three health-related WhatsApp messages per student that they or their relatives had recently read. Four board-certified physicians reviewed and classified the messages based on their credibility and sources.
282 students provided 326 messages (1.2 messages per student). Most messages (86%) had either invalid or inaccurate content, and 83.7% came from unknown sources. Only 26 messages (8%) of the total were written by trusted scientific sources. Most of the messages from unknown sources or unqualified persons were either invalid or invalid, with potential health risks for the public, and the difference from trusted sources was statistically significant.
This study showed a high percentage of inaccurate and invalid health-related messages on WhatsApp. Invalid messages with potential health risks were authored mostly by unknown sources or unqualified persons. Most health messages written by trusted authorities and qualified persons were valid. Trusted scientific authorities should thus be more active in public education on social media platforms. They should advise their communities on how to discern the validity of such messages. More efforts are needed to guide patients from where to obtain accurate and valid health information.
Purpose
This paper aims to examine the influence of accounting information system (AIS) success on planning process effectiveness (PPE) in small- and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) of Yemen, a less ...developed nation (LDN).
Design/methodology/approach
This study developed a theoretical model based on IS success model (DMISS2003). The model’s components were tested using structural equation modeling via SmartPLS on a sample of 325 SMEs.
Findings
The empirical results imply that AIS success positively affects PPE if SMEs focus on AIS information quality, system quality, user satisfaction and usage.
Research limitations/implications
This study focused on SMEs in Yemen. Thus, it can be expanded to include different other countries.
Practical implications
The results of this study could be considered by owners and managers of SMEs, policymakers and AIS designers/vendors. This study could provide them insight into the role of AIS success in promoting PPE in SMEs. This study could assist policymakers in analyzing the work of SMEs and assessing their success, referring to AIS. Moreover, knowing the most critical determinants of AIS success could direct designers’/vendors’ efforts toward upgrading and improving the present AIS.
Social implications
Government policymakers in LDNs considering how to motivate SME development in their nation should be aware of the significance of AIS success and implementation among SMEs and its role in the nation’s economic development.
Originality/value
This research is one of the first that investigates the impact of AIS success on PPE in SMEs. Current literature largely lacks the investigation of such an impact, especially among SMEs in LDNs such as Yemen. Most AIS’s prior research focused on SMEs in developed nations, which may not fully apply to LDNs such as Yemen. Indeed, no existing literature is available where AIS success impacts PPE in SMEs of LDNs. In this respect, this study claims its uniqueness.
The Conservative treatment group had higher in-hospital mortality compared to invasive group (17.3% vs. 8.3%; p = 0.1108). Subgroup analysis of EIS showed statistically significant one-year mortality ...difference between Trans-Radial PCI and Trans-Femoral PCI (9.3% vs. 35.3%; p = 0.0157).Conclusion This retrospective data analysis study shows that early invasive strategy, though underutilized in octogenarians with ACS, is technically feasible with successful coronary revascularization in the majority of patients and appears superior to conservative strategy in terms of MACE by one year. Compared with the conservative strategy, early invasive treatment in octogenarians with ACS was associated with low in-hospital mortality, six and twelve-month all-cause mortality and twelve-month cardiac mortality.
The increasing prevalence of distress among students is of global concern. Several factors such as school and family environment and ineffective study skills could influence mental health. The study ...explored the rate of distress symptoms among school students' and its relationship with their study skills, stressors and demographic factors.
In this cross-sectional analytical study, a sample of 215 students from a community school participated in the study. Three questionnaires, demographic questionnaire, Study Skills Inventory and the Kessler Psychological Distress Scale, were used for data collection. Data were analyzed using Student's
-test, ANOVA, Pearson's correlation coefficient and stepwise linear regression.
Response rate was 70% (n = 150). A high proportion of respondents (75%) was distressed (mean 27.28 ± 8.77). Correlation analysis showed that distress (K10 score) was negatively related to study skills (SSI total score) (r = -0.247, p = 0.002). The rate of distress symptoms was higher among female students (79%) compared to their male counterparts (72%). The factors associated with distress included negative association of teachers' level of help to develop competencies (p = 0.000, β = -0.278, R
= 0.249), unfavorable school environment (p = 0.000, β = 0.285, R
= 0.123), inability to cope with studies (p = 0.005, β = 0.205, R
= 0.038), family problems (p = 0.014, β = 0.184, R
= 0.173) and lower study skills (p = 0.031, β = -0.164, R
= 0.270). The overall regression analysis explained 33.6% of the variance (corrected R
= 0.336).
Higher than expected levels of distress (75%) was found in immigrant school students. Poor study skills have a significant relationship with distress. Learning environment and related stress factors were associated with distress among students. Based on the findings, it is recommended that stakeholders in education address the hidden curriculum, as it is usually unacknowledged and might affect students' wellbeing, and move from student centered to an interpersonal relation-centered education.
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