Electives during medical internship

The purpose of the study was to find out the reasons for selecting elective rotations during a rotating medical internship. One hundred and seventy-eight medical interns in the College of Medicine, King Faisal University, Dammam, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia during the period March 2001 to August 2002 completed a questionnaire for their selection reasons with responses on a scale of 1-5. The study comprised 60% males and 98.3% Saudis. The most frequently chosen electives are dermatology 28.1%, radiology 20.8%, anesthesia 9.6% and otorhinolaryngology [ear, nose and throat [ENT]] 9%. Significantly, more males [89.2%] chose radiology rotation and more females [75%] chose ENT rotation. The leading reasons to choose an elective rotation are: 1. to gain broad medical training and education, 2. to assist in choice of future specialty, and 3. being relevant to future specialty. The mean score for ENT and dermatology is higher than radiology and anesthesia for the response "to participate in medical practice in different institute", while dermatology is higher than anesthesia for the response "to help getting acceptance for job in the same institute", and radiology is higher than ENT and anesthesia for the response "it has infrequent or no night duties". The reasons chosen reflect the educational value of the electives and their important role in choosing future career. Dermatology and radiology rotations are most popular electives, with additional though different reasons

Successful separation of thoracopagus conjoined twins

The first successful separation of thoracopagus conjoined twins in Eastern Saudi Arabia with 2-year follow up is presented. Physical examination and radiographic studies revealed a conjunction that extended from midsternum to a common umbilicus. The shared internal organs included liver and pericardium. The separation was performed at the age of 4 months. The resulting chest wall defects in both twins were covered by dacron-reinforced silastic prosthesis. The abdominal wall defect was primarily closed in the "left twin," and covered with a dacron reinforced silastic sheet in the "right". Primary skin closure was achieved in both, following extensive mobilization of the skin. The musculoskeletal deformities in the neck, chest and vertebral column showed marked improvement 20 months after separation