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Interprofessional education (IPE) is now regarded as an extremely important approach in the academic field for preparing healthcare students to provide patient care in a collaborative team environment. In this study, we examine the perceptions and attitudes toward IPE in a Saudi specialized health sciences university. This study is a cross-sectional survey at King Saud bin Abdulaziz University for Health Sciences and King Abdulaziz Medical City in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia. The instruments used in this study were pre-designed self-administered questionnaires identified from the literature (The Nebraska Interprofessional Education Attitudes Scale (NIPEAS) and The Student Perceptions of Interprofessional Clinical Education–Revised (SPICE-R). A total of 668 individuals participated in the study. The majority of the participants were between the ages of 18 and 25 (79.2%) and were students (77.1%) from medicine, nursing and applied medical science. The participants' responses were primarily positive for all items of the NIPEAS and most of the items of the SPICE-R. The results of this study indicate that students and healthcare professionals have positive perceptions and readiness toward IPE, and implementation of shared learning is highly encouraged. The integration of IPE in the curriculum is recommended to improve teamwork and patient care outcomes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background. The preparatory year or first-year experience in higher education aims to consistently meet the needs of students, institutions and broader society. It aims to help students transition from high school to university, acquaint them with the various academic disciplines at university and introduce them to the university environment. Objectives. To validate a newly developed instrument that evaluates the effect of the preparatory year on preparing students for studying in health professions education faculties. Methods. A descriptive cross-sectional study was conducted at King Abdulaziz University, Saudi Arabia, on a comprehensive sample of male and female second- and third-year students who completed their preparatory year and started studying at health professions education faculties. Data were collected through a questionnaire newly developed by the authors. Descriptive statistics were used and statistical significance was set at p<0.05. Results. The study showed high internal consistency of the questionnaire. Cronbach's alpha coefficient value for the total scale was 0.94. Among the 5 dimensions of the questionnaire, the students were highly satisfied with 'university conduct', but less so with the 'perception of teachers, teaching and assessment'. Conclusion. There was good validity and reliability of the newly developed questionnaire. From a student's perspective, the preparatory-year programme needs to be revisited. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background. Around 75% of the world's population relies on the use of complementary and alternative medicines (CAM) for their healthcare. Thus, we aimed at assessing the attitude and perception of health professional students about CAM and correlate the results with their demographical data. Methods. An observational cross-sectional study was conducted at King Saud bin Abdulaziz University for Health Sciences (KSAU-HS), Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, by enrolling 350 students. A self-administered questionnaire was used for data collection. Descriptive and inferential statistical analysis was performed using SPSS. Results. Results of our data suggested that majority of students were aware of the CAM modalities and considered prayers/spirituality (83.6%), massage (72.5%), nutritional supplements (74.1%), cupping (68.5%), herbal medicine (66.2), and yoga (61.6%) as most effective and least harmful CAM modalities. The students acquired more information about CAM from media (55%), books (56%), friends/relatives (59.7%), and other health professionals (58.4%), however, very little information from formal CAM courses or training (36.7%), which shows the lack of courses and trained health professional in the field of CAM. Despite utilizing nonreliable sources of CAM information, the majority of students had positive attitudes and perceptions about CAM usage. Majority of the students (75.8%) believe in the use of CAM for the mental and spiritual aspect of health and think that CAM providers give good information on maintaining a healthy lifestyle. The data also showed a significant P < 0.05 association between awareness about CAM and gender. A significantly higher percentage of female students were using yoga and aromatherapy, while cupping was mostly used by male students. Similarly, a significant association was found among the different colleges and level of students in most of the CAM modalities. However, no association was found between the awareness and use of CAM with the educational level of parents or relatives in health sector except for acupuncture and cupping, where student's awareness about acupuncture and cupping was found to have a significant positive association with mother educational level. On the other hand, a significant inverse association was found between acupuncture, yoga, cupping, and aromatherapy with family income. Conclusion. In conclusion, despite the lack of proper courses and professionally trained healthcare providers in the field of CAM, students demonstrated positive attitudes and beliefs toward the safety and effectiveness of CAM. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]