Use of point-of-care ultrasound to diagnose an alternate cause of flank pain in a patient with presumed renal colic.

This is a case of a 34-year-old male patient who presented to the emergency department (ED) with severe left flank pain. Due to the patient's cardiac history, elevated troponin, lactic acidosis, and lack of renal calculi on a noncontrast CT, focused cardiac ultrasound was performed, which showed left ventricle thrombus. The patient was later found to have bi-interventricular thrombi causing both pulmonary embolism and renal infarction. This is an uncommon diagnosis in the ED, where point-of-care ultrasound helped in diagnosing and guiding the management and disposition of this case.

Eating Habits Among Medical Students at King Abdulaziz University, Jeddah, Saudi Arabia.

BACKGROUND: Eating habits are a major concern with regard to the health status of university students. This study aimed to identify patterns of eating habits among undergraduate medical students and to investigate their relationship to sociodemographic, socioeconomic, and psychological factors. METHODS: This cross-sectional study included 378 undergraduate medical students aged 19-26 from the Faculty of Medicine at King Abdulaziz University, Jeddah, Saudi Arabia. Students were in their second through sixth academic year. Data were gathered with a self-administered questionnaire encompassing questions on sociodemographics, eating habits, and psychological factors. RESULTS: Eating habits score was much lower among students who were smokers, lived in rented places, lived alone, had separated parents, and did not exercise regularly. In multivariate analysis, multiple psychological factors, such as living alone and stressed, were found to be associated with eating patterns. CONCLUSION: A majority of undergraduate medical students had unhealthy eating patterns, and socioeconomic and psychological elements were significantly affecting eating patterns.

Perceptions of emergency medicine residents on the quality of residency training in the United States and Saudi Arabia.

BACKGROUND: We compare educational environments (i.e. physical, emotional and intellectual experiences) of emergency medicine (EM) residents training in the United States of America (USA) and Saudi Arabia (SA). METHODS: A cross-sectional survey study was conducted using an adapted version of the validated Postgraduate Hospital Educational Environment Measure (PHEEM) survey instrument from April 2015 through June 2016 to compare educational environments in all emergency medicine residency programs in SA and three selected programs in the USA with a history of training Saudi physicians. Overall scores were compared across programs, and for subscales (autonomy, teaching, and social Support), using chi-squared, t-tests, and analysis of variance. RESULTS: A total of 219 surveys were returned for 260 residents across six programs (3 SA, 3 USA), with a response rate of 84%. Program-specific response rates varied from 79%-100%. All six residencies were qualitatively rated as "more positive than negative but room for improvement". Quantitative PHEEM scores for the USA programs were significantly higher: 118.7 compared to 109.9 for SA, P=0.001. In subscales, perceptions of social support were not different between the two countries (P=0.243); however, role autonomy (P<0.001) and teaching (P=0.005) were better in USA programs. There were no significant differences by post-graduate training year. CONCLUSION: EM residents in all three emergency medicine residency programs in SA and the three USA programs studied perceive their training as high quality in general, but with room for improvements. USA residency programs scored higher in overall quality. This was driven by more favorable perceptions of role autonomy and teaching. Understanding how residents perceive their programs may help drive targeted quality improvement efforts.

Perceptions of emergency medicine residents on the quality of residency training in the United States and Saudi Arabia / 世界急诊医学杂志（英文）

BACKGROUND:We compare educational environments (i.e. physical, emotional and intel ectual experiences) of emergency medicine (EM) residents training in the United States of America (USA) and Saudi Arabia (SA). METHODS:A cross-sectional survey study was conducted using an adapted version of the validated Postgraduate Hospital Educational Environment Measure (PHEEM) survey instrument from April 2015 through June 2016 to compare educational environments in all emergency medicine residency programs in SA and three selected programs in the USA with a history of training Saudi physicians. Overall scores were compared across programs, and for subscales (autonomy, teaching, and social Support), using chi-squared, t-tests, and analysis of variance. RESULTS:A total of 219 surveys were returned for 260 residents across six programs (3 SA, 3 USA), with a response rate of 84％. Program-specific response rates varied from 79％–100％. All six residencies were qualitatively rated as "more positive than negative but room for improvement". Quantitative PHEEM scores for the USA programs were significantly higher:118.7 compared to 109.9 for SA, P=0.001. In subscales, perceptions of social support were not different between the two countries (P=0.243); however, role autonomy (P<0.001) and teaching (P=0.005) were better in USA programs. There were no significant differences by post-graduate training year. CONCLUSION:EM residents in all three emergency medicine residency programs in SA and the three USA programs studied perceive their training as high quality in general, but with room for improvements. USA residency programs scored higher in overall quality. This was driven by more favorable perceptions of role autonomy and teaching. Understanding how residents perceive their programs may help drive targeted quality improvement efforts.