Career capital, career success, and perceived employability: evidence from medical billing companies in the post-COVID world.

BACKGROUND: This paper focuses on the concept of career construction based on the theory of conservation of resources to understand the overall effect of career capital on career success from both a subjective and objective manner through the mediating effect of perceived employability. OBJECTIVE: This study attempts to explain how different integrated aspects of career capital, including human, social, and psychological (antecedents), influence both subjective career success and objective career success (outcome) through the mediating effect of perceived employability (mediator). METHODS: Time-lagged data of 331 employees from the telehealth medical billing service companies based in Pakistan were analyzed through a structural equation modeling technique using SmartPLS software. RESULTS: The main results confirmed that career capital positively affects perceived employability and career success while perceived employability positively mediates the relationship between career capital and career success. CONCLUSION: This research responded to prior calls by explaining the positive mediating role of perceived employability (as a mediator) in explaining the positive influence of career capital on career success using different various dimensions of career capital and career success. This research included the contextual issues by testing the model in the telehealth sector of Pakistan. The findings suggested that context or occupation matters in the relationship between career capital and career success.

Cross-Sectional Survey among General Population Regarding Knowledge and Attitude toward Antibiotic Usage in Western Saudi Arabia.

BACKGROUND: Antibiotic resistance is a threatening issue to human wellbeing and an obstacle in the treatment process of many life-threating illnesses. This study aims to assess the knowledge and attitudes toward antibiotic usage among the general population in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia. METHODS: A self-administered cross-sectional survey of 460 participants was distributed among the general population in Jeddah in the form of a validated questionnaire. Sample size was calculated to be 460 adults of either gender. Descriptive and inferential statistical analyses were performed using the Statistical Package for Social Sciences. RESULTS: the age of more than half of participants (55.6%) was 18-30 years old, followed by the age group 31-40 years old (26.6%), with the smallest age group >60 years old (1.9%). More than two thirds of participants were male (69.5%), while 131 were female, accounting for 30.5%. Almost one third of participants had poor knowledge about antibiotics (30.5%), 51.0% had used antibiotics without any prescriptions, 54.6% of participants thought antibiotics could be used to treat viral infections, and 55.1% thought it was acceptable to stop taking antibiotics if symptoms start to improve. In addition, 49% believed that taking antibiotics would help them get better more rapidly when suffering from the common cold. Some personal characteristics were significantly associated with the public's knowledge (e.g., age, education, and monthly income) and their attitudes (e.g., monthly income). CONCLUSION: Findings revealed a low level of knowledge on the use of antibiotics among the general public in Jeddah. This study signifies the need for improvement in the public's knowledge and enhancement of their attitudes toward proper utilization of antibiotics.