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Background Medical students' career choices determine the prospects of the future medical workforce, thus influencing the delivery of medical care. This study aims to identify and provide information about factors affecting the selection of future specialties among medical students.

Background: Discontinuation of TKI therapy and treatment-free remission (TFR) have become new goals for chronic-phase chronic myeloid leukemia (CP-CML). The aim of this study was to estimate the TFR post discontinuation of TKI therapy at 3 tertiary-care centers., Patients and Methods: CP-CML patients aged ≥16 years who had an attempt to discontinue TKI therapy till June 2022, were eligible. The collected data included patients' demographics, prognostic score, type and duration of TKI therapy, response dates, relapse dates, response to re-initiation of TKI therapy, and risk factors for relapse., Results: Fifty-five patients (35, 63.6% females) with a median age of 40 (range 16-74) years at diagnosis discontinued therapy. Forty-eight (87.3%) patients received imatinib as first line therapy. Twenty-nine (52.7%) patients were receiving imatinib at the time of TKI-discontinuation. Median time from diagnosis to TKI discontinuation was 86 months (IQR 60;132) and median duration of TKI therapy after achieving DMR was 66 months (IQR 47;114). After a median follow up of 34 (IQR 12;68) months, 15 (27.3%) patients relapsed. Median time to relapse was 5 months (range 2-38). Most of the relapses occurred during the first 6 months except 3 (20%) patients. All the relapsed patients achieved MMR after a median of 3 (range 2-6) months after restarting TKI therapy. None of the patients progressed to advanced-phase., Conclusion: Our experience confirms that discontinuation of TKI therapy in CP-CML patients is feasible and safe in routine clinical practice, and can achieve TFR in more than two-third of carefully selected patients., Competing Interests: Disclosure The authors declare they have no competing financial interest related to this paper., (Copyright © 2024 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.)

Background: Antibiotics sales without medical prescriptions are increasingly recognized as sources of antimicrobial misuse that can exacerbate the global burden of antibiotic resistance. We aimed to determine the percentage of pharmacies who sell antibiotics without medical prescriptions, examining the potential associated risks of such practice in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, by simulation of different clinical scenarios., Methods: A cross sectional study of a quasi-random sample of pharmacies stratified by the five regions of Riyadh. Each pharmacy was visited once by two investigators who simulated having a relative with a specific clinical illness (sore throat, acute bronchitis, otitis media, acute sinusitis, diarrhea, and urinary tract infection (UTI) in childbearing aged women)., Results: A total of 327 pharmacies were visited. Antibiotics were dispensed without a medical prescription in 244 (77.6%) of 327, of which 231 (95%) were dispensed without a patient request. Simulated cases of sore throat and diarrhea resulted in an antibiotic being dispensed in (90%) of encounters, followed by UTI (75%), acute bronchitis (73%), otitis media (51%) and acute sinusitis (40%). Metronidazole (89%) and ciprofloxacin (86%) were commonly given for diarrhea and UTI, respectively, whereas amoxicillin/clavulanate was dispensed (51%) for the other simulated cases. None of the pharmacists asked about antibiotic allergy history or provided information about drug interactions. Only 23% asked about pregnancy status when dispensing antibiotics for UTI-simulated cases., Conclusions: We observed that an antibiotic could be obtained in Riyadh without a medical prescription or an evidence-based indication with associated potential clinical risks. Strict enforcement and adherence to existing regulations are warranted.

Fifty infants and children of both sexes (6-36 months) were divided into three groups (gp I) 20 malnutrition with chronic diarrhoea, (gp II) 20 malnutrition without diarrhoea and (gp III) cross matched control. In gp I, 75% showed parasitic infections with a significant increase in serum IgA (133.7 +/- 18.9) as compared to gp II (P < 0.001). Mean concentration of IgA was 4.87 +/- 1.24. In gp II, 20% showed parasitic infections with a non significant increase in serum IgA (115.8 +/- 14.2) as compared to gp III. The mean urinary secretory IgA was 4.87 +/- 1.24, 1.12 +/- 0.325, and 1.44 +/- 0.35 respectively. There was more or less, no significant correlation between urinary secretory IgA and serum IgA level in the three groups.