Knowledge of and attitude towards epilepsy among university students in Saudi Arabia: Misconceptions of the next generation.

•We examined knowledge of and attitudes toward epilepsy among university students in Saudi Arabia.•Knowledge of and attitudes towards epilepsy were more favorable among students of health specialties.•One fifth linked epilepsy to spirits possession and mental disorders, but almost half prefer spiritual ritual treatment.•Social interactions with people with epilepsy were more favorable among women except toward marriage.•Universities should make efforts to correct misconceptions and reduce the social burden of epilepsy.

Saudi medical students' views on obstetrics and gynecology as a future career specialty.

BACKGROUND: The specialty of obstetrics and gynecology is showing a widening gap between the vacant positions and the number of applicants as reported by the Saudi Commission for Health Specialties (SCFHS). This study was conducted to explore the medical students' views on obstetrics and gynecology as a future career and identify factors influencing these views. METHODS: An observational survey was conducted on 148 medical students in years 5 and 6 at Jazan University between June 2019 and July 2019. Participants completed a self-report online questionnaire covering their sociodemographic details, interest in obstetrics and gynecology, and views on the specialty. RESULTS: Overall, obstetrics and gynecology was selected as the first specialty choice by 8.8% and second choice by 17.6%. Intention to take a career in obstetrics and gynecology was associated with female sex (P = 0.01). While over half of the participants emphasized the merits of obstetrics and gynecology as exciting, interesting, and challenging, over 40% viewed the specialty as stressful, over one-third described it as demanding, and over one-quarter appreciated its riskiness. CONCLUSION: This study showed that 8.8% of the respondents chose obstetrics and gynecology as their first career choice. Sex was the only factor influencing the views of medical students on the specialty, with more females favoring the specialty than males. To improve its appeal, students should be supplied with more information about the specialty and its training opportunities, as well as exposure to areas of special interest.

Research Knowledge and Skills Among Medical and Allied Health Students Attending a Summer Research Course: A Pretest and Posttest Analysis.

Introduction This study assessed the impact of a summer research training course on the knowledge levels and skills of medical and allied health students. Methods A one group pretest-posttest quasi-experiment study was conducted during a summer research course at King Fahad Medical City, Saudi Arabia. A self-administered questionnaire was distributed among course participants twice, on the first day (pretest) and the last day of the course (posttest). The questionnaire consisted of four sections: study design, literature review, formulation of a research question, and biostatistics. Results A total of 44 participants were included in the study, of whom 27 (61.4%) were medical students. The overall mean score of correct responses of the participants was 17.70±4.00 in the pretest compared to 22.18±6.64 in the posttest (p<0.001). The mean score of the correct responses of the participants in the "study design" pretest section was (4.23±1.51) compared to (10.23 ± 3.71) in the posttest, (p<0.001). While for the literature review section, the mean score of the correct responses in the pretest was (2.20±1.19) and (2.77±1.34) in the posttest, (p=0.027). Moreover, our results revealed that all participants (100%) were able to execute all the steps of a research project and 6 (13.64%) participants were able to submit papers for publication. Conclusions Our results showed that a research training program might enhance research knowledge and skills in terms of the successful accomplishment of relevant assessment tasks among medical and allied health students.