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There are a lot of efforts to promote ethics education and training at an undergraduate and postgraduate level around the world, including in Saudi Arabia. However, there is still a lack of structured ethics education curricula in obstetrics and gynecology residency programs in Saudi Arabia. In the current scenario, where new ethical dilemmas are emerging, an ethics education that only focuses on teaching the ethical principles does not enhance the competence to deal with the ethical challenges in daily practice. This study evaluates the lack of ethics education and training in obstetrics and gynecology residency programs in Saudi Arabia. A cross-sectional survey of working obstetricians and gynecologists in Saudi Arabia was conducted among all working levels of doctors (the residents, registrars, consultants, and program directors) from various hospitals of Saudi Arabia. 391 practitioners responded to the survey, representing a response rate of 39.1%, including 257 (66.4%) females and 130 (33.6%) males. 74 (23.0%) received formal education (medical school = 35%; residency programs = 11.8%; sub-specialty programs = 4.3%; postgraduate programs = 7.4%), 85 (26.4%) received informal education (online training = 12.8%; conferences = 18.9%; courses and workshops = 13.3%; self-learning = 31.7% and daily practices = 20.7%), and 78 (19.95%) received no ethics education. Almost all the respondents had a positive attitude towards ethical principles, but a least percent were competent to deal with the ethical challenges. The bottom line of this survey is the imperativeness of reinforcement of formal ethics education in obstetrics and gynecology postgraduate programs in Saudi Arabia., (© 2023. The Author(s).)

Background: With the huge number of patients who suffer from chronic and incurable diseases, medical scientists continue to search for new curative methods for patients in dire need of treatment. Interest in stem cells is growing, generating high expectations in terms of the possible benefits that could be derived from stem cell research and therapy. However, regardless of the hope of stem cells changing and improving lives, there are many ethical, religious, and political challenges and controversies that affect the research, and mandated to establish ethical guidelines and regulations. In Saudi Arabia, key stakeholders play an active role in discussing the ethics of stem cell research and therapy. The focus of the study was to explore professionals' perceptions related to the ethical challenges of using stem cells in research and treatment in Saudi Arabia., Results: A qualitative research study was conducted to explore and describe the perceptions of 25 professionals employed at different tertiary hospitals in the various regions of Saudi. A thematic analysis was performed to search for and identify the most significant perceptions shared by the participants. Four themes were generated based on the ethical challenges of four areas related to stem cell use, including (1) forbidden and permitted sources of stem cells, (2) informed consent, (3) beneficence, and (4) ethical regulations and guidelines., Conclusion: The study identified that there is a growing need to advance the knowledge, education, and awareness related to stem cell research and treatment in Saudi Arabia.

Background: Research ethics guidelines are essential for conducting medical research. Recently, numerous attempts have been made to establish national clinical research documents in the countries of the Middle East. This article analyzes these documents., Methods: Thirteen Arab countries in the Middle East were explored for available national codes, regulations, and guidelines concerning research ethics, and 10 documents from eight countries were found. We studied these documents, considering the ethical principles stated in the Declaration of Helsinki, the Council for International Organizations of Medical Sciences (CIOMS) guidelines, and the International Conference of Harmonization-Guidelines for Good Clinical Practice (ICH-GCP). Our paper comprises a complete list of protections, such as confidentiality, informed consent, ethics committees, and others., Results: This study found different levels and kinds of research ethics regulations and guidelines in the countries examined. Two groups can be distinguished: the countries in the first group have one or more research ethics regulations or guidelines, while the countries in the second group have not yet established any. Most of the documents showed various degrees of deficiencies in regard to ethical protection. The majority of the documents that were examined refer to one or more international documents on biomedical research ethics., Conclusions: Recently, a lot of efforts have been made in many countries in the Middle East. However, compared with international documents, most of the research ethics documents in use in this region demonstrate numerous deficiencies. As it relates to these documents, extensive differences could be observed in regard to development, structure, content, and reference to international guidelines.