Subjects and methods: A cross-sectional study was conducted at the Faculty of Medicine in Rabigh, King Abdul-Aziz University, Saudi Arabia. The study included 197 medical students from Rabigh and Jeddah branches of the university. The study employed a Gastroesophageal Reflux Disease Questionnaire which is derived from a self-administered validated GERD questionnaire (GerdQ).

Results: The prevalence of GERD symptoms was 25.9%. The most frequent symptoms were regurgitation and burning sensation. High BMI, family history, energy drinks and fried food were found to be statistically significant risk factors (p<0.05) by univariate analysis. However, the logistic regression for the prediction of GERD symptoms among medical students showed that only family history had a significant correlation (p<0.05).

OBJECTIVES: Due to this discrepancy between the academic curriculum and the skills needed in the healthcare industry, the objectives of this study are to define the career pathway for eHealth professions and identify the challenges experienced by academic institutions and the industry in describing digital health professionals.

METHODS: We elicited qualitative data by conducting six focus groups with individuals from different professional backgrounds, including healthcare workers, information managers, computer sciences professionals, and workers in the revenue cycle who participated in a workshop on November 2-3, 2019, in Dubai. All focus group sessions were audio-recorded and transcribed, and participants were de-identified before analysis. An exploratory method was used to identify themes and subthemes. Saturation was reached when similar responses were found during the analysis. In this study, we found that respondents clearly defined eHealth career pathways based on criteria that included qualifications, experience, job scope, and competency. We also explored the challenges that the respondents encountered, including differences in the required skill sets and training and the need to standardize the academic curriculum across the GCC region, to recognize the various career pathways, and to develop local training programs. Additionally, country-specific projects have been initiated, such as the competency-based Digital Health framework, which was developed by the Saudi Commission of Healthcare Specialties (SCFHS) in 2018. Competency-based digital health frameworks generally include relevant job definitions, roles, and recommended competencies. Both the GCC taskforce and the Saudi studies capitalized on previous efforts by professional organizations, including Canada's Digital Health formerly known as (COACH), the U.S. Office of the National Coordinator for Health Information Technology (ONC), the American Medical Informatics Association (AMIA), and the Health Information and Management Systems Society (HIMSS).

RESULTS: In this study, we found that respondents defined eHealth career pathways based on different criteria such as: qualifications; various background of health and IT in the HI field; work experiences; job scope and competency. We also further explore the challenges that the respondents encountered which delineates four key aspects such as need of hybrid skills to manage the digital transformation, need of standardization of academic curriculum across GCC, recognition of the career pathways by the industry in order to open up career opportunity and career advancement, and availability of local training programs for up-skilling the current health workforce.

BACKGROUND: Job satisfaction is a known predictor of nurse retention. Although there is a broad understanding of the factors that affect job satisfaction, little is known about how these vary between home and expatriate nurses working in countries which rely on a multicultural migrant workforce.

METHODS: A descriptive qualitative approach was taken, in which 26 semi-structured interviews were conducted with nurses selected from different nationalities, all of whom were working in Saudi Arabian hospitals. Eight participants were Saudi Arabian, six Filipino, four Indian, four South African, two Jordanian and two Malaysian.

FINDINGS: Five themes were identified that differentiated the perceptions of expatriates regarding their job satisfaction from those of the home nurses: separation from family, language and communication, fairness of remuneration, moving into the future and professionalism.

CONCLUSION: Focusing on the enhancement of job satisfaction experienced by expatriate nurses can result in a healthier work environment and greater retention of these nurses.

Materials and Methods: An audit at the department of endodontics at dental specialty centre kingdom of Saudi Arabia was carried out. The audit was conducted by developing endodontics treatment and success predictors based on evidence, that can be measured for endodontic care. A total of 12 months' data was examined from the previous dental records. Ten clinical cards were which included root canal treatment were selected. The audit was carried out for a minimum of 50 teeth and a maximum of 200 teeth. The radiographs of record cards were studied and a single dentist completed the audit tool.

Results: The vitality test was performed in 1.98% cases, intra-canal medicament was used and named in 3.96% cases, 3.96% the teeth were extracted due to endodontic failure. Further, in 6.93% of the cases that were identified had certain spaces but overall root canal filling was evaluated as satisfactory.

Materials and Methods: This cross-sectional study was conducted among 75 residents in the family medicine residency programs in Al Madina, Saudi Arabia. A self-administered questionnaire was used that includes questions on sociodemographic characteristics and sources of stress and burnout. T test, analysis of variance (ANOVA) test, and multiple linear regression analysis were employed.

Results: Majority were female (54.7%) and aged 26 to 30 years (84.0%). The significant predictors of burnout in the final model were "tests/examinations" (P = 0.014), "large amount of content to be learnt" (P = 0.016), "unfair assessment from superiors" (P = 0.001), "work demands affect personal/home life" (P = 0.001), and "lack of support from superiors" (P = 0.006).