The Ethics and Legality of Using Personal Smartphones to take Medical Photographs

ABSTRACT: Photography in the medical profession is an asset that may help during patients’ follow-up, monitoring the progression of diseases, getting a second opinion and in medical educational activities. Advances in technology, specifically smartphones, have enabled medical professionals to obtain high-quality photographs with minimal effort and photography experience. This article discusses the ethics and legality of using personal smartphones in a medical professional setting for medical photography. Written informed consent should always be obtained from the patient and should include details about how the photographs will be used.Keywords: Photography; Smartphone; Informed Consent; Ethics; Medical Legislation; Publications; Medical Education; Oman

In the Era of Social Media: Is it time to establish a code of online ethical conduct for healthcare professionals?

Social media is becoming an invasive part of the lives of many professionals including those in the healthcare field. One of the countless implications of such an invasion is how the healthcare professional’s engagement with social media affects the traditional doctor-patient relationship. The online presence of professionals should be carefully self-monitored as it affects the individual’s reputation and society’s perception of their profession. Therefore, the contents of public and personal accounts must differ according to their purpose. In the public eye, conflicts of interest must be declared and scientifically-based medical advice should be clearly differentiated from experience-based advice, personal opinions or commercial advertisements. Online doctorpatient relationships risk the privacy of patients as well as the personal privacy of the healthcare professional. Personal accounts created for friends and family should be kept separate from public accounts created for educational, professional or commercial purposes. Published educational material should be clearly differentiated from commercial material so that it is easier for the public to make an informed decision. This paper proposes a code of online ethical conduct to be implemented in Oman.Keywords: Codes of Ethics; Social Media; Health Personnel; Privacy; Confidentiality; Conflict of Interest; Physician-Patient Relations; Oman

Effectiveness of Stimulating Neural Branching Strategies in Developing Creative and Critical Thinking among Eighth Grade Students in Sultanate of Oman

This research aims to examine the effect of teaching by using strategies that stimulate neural branching in creative and critical thinking of study groups. The sample of this study consisted of two experimental groups and a control group. In terms of the treatment, one experimental group was taught using strategies that stimulate the neural branching in human brain mentally. The other experimental group was taught using the same strategies supported by technology. The control group was taught using the traditional instruction. The sample included (95) male student and (102) female students from two schools of the governorate of Muscat. To answer the research questions, Torrance test of creative thinking (TTCT) and Watson & Glaser critical thinking test (WGCTT) were used. The results show that the experimental groups significantly outperformed the control group with respect to the creative thinking test. However there were no statistically significant differences between the study's groups in the critical thinking test. This study recommends investment of mental capacities of the learners to encourage creative thinking and train teachers on using methods that stimulate neural branching

Measles on the Rise: The importance of vaccination

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The Psychological Impact of Referral for Mammography Screening for Breast Cancer Among Women in Muscat Governorate: A cross-sectional study

Objectives: Breast cancer constitutes the majority of diagnosed cancers in Oman’s females, accounting for 19.2%, which prompted the introduction of a breast cancer screening programme into the Omani healthcare system. There are rising international concerns about the effectiveness of mammography as a screening tool and its psychological impact. The current study aimed to determine the social, emotional and physical dysfunction caused by the waiting time from the day of scheduling the appointment until the day of screening and explore associated risk factors. Methods: This cross-sectional study was conducted between March and December 2017 at Khoula Hospital, Muscat, Oman, using a two-part self-administered questionnaire. Part one of the questionnaire collected clinical and demographic data. Part two consisted of the Psychological Consequences Questionnaire (PCQ) and focused on psychological consequences, measuring the effect of mammographic screening on emotional, physical and social functions. Results: A total of 300 women aged ≥40 years old participated in this study (response rate: 100%). Results revealed that there was a minimal negative psychological impact from screening using mammograms. All PCQ domains were significantly impacted for participants who reported a family history of cancer (P = 0.007). The social score was significantly higher among women between 40–50 years old (P = 0.008). Scores of emotional and social functions were significantly affected by participants’ employment status; employed women were more affected than those who were not (P = 0.043 and 0.012, respectively). However, women’s levels of literacy did not affect any of the domains. Conclusion: The psychosocial impact of the waiting period between scheduling and undergoing mammography screening was minimal in the current sample. Future research should evaluate the psychosocial impact on patients at different recall times.Keywords: Breast Cancer; Mammography; Psychological Factors; Depression; Anxiety; Oman

DRUG UTILIZATION PATTERN IN AN INTENSIVE CARE UNIT AT A TERTIARY CARE TEACHING HOSPITAL IN OMAN

Objectives: To evaluate the drug prescribing trends in the ICU department and correlate them with the disease patterns and patients' outcomes.Methods: The case records of patients admitted to the ICU at Sultan Qaboos University Hospital (SQUH), a teaching hospital in Oman, during a 5-month period between June 1st to October 31st 2013 were analyzed. The variables collected included demographic and clinical characteristics as well as duration of hospitalization, indications and utilization of different drugs.Results: A total of 138 patients were evaluated with an average of age ‎46±19‎ years. The average length of stay at ICU‎ was ‎4.5±3.5 days. The‎ average number of drugs per prescription was ‎8.0±4.6‎. The most common route used was the parenteral route (66%) followed by the enteral route (25%). Anti-infective drugs were the most commonly prescribed class of drugs (25%) followed by gastrointestinal drugs (20%). Antibiotics accounted for 12% of the total drugs prescribed. Trauma was the most common indication for the admission to the ICU (22%).Conclusion: Drugs prescription patterns in the ICU appeared to be similar to those reported in previous studies. However, prescription protocols need to be addressed to guide appropriate use of drugs in the ICU setting.Â

Female Patients and Informed Consent: Oman’s cultural background

Female patients in Oman face a certain amount of pressure from their families when making high-stakes decisions regarding personal healthcare. In fact, some women waive their right to make decisions, typically giving that responsibility to their husbands or fathers. This article highlights the need to empower females in decision-making when it comes to their own well-being. Moreover, informed consent should not be signed by anyone but the patient herself if the patient is deemed competent by a medical professional.  Keywords: Informed Consent; Female; Decision Making; Clinical Competence; Medical Ethics; Patient Rights; Oman

One and a half years into the COVID-19 pandemic - exit strategies and efficacy of SARS-CoV-2 vaccines for holistic management and achieving global control

One and a half years into the pandemic, SARS-CoV-2 is still here to stay. Whilst rapid several effective COVID-19 vaccines have been developed and are being rolled out, the critical questions remain whether vaccines provide widespread protection against infection and reinfection, and what the duration of protection is. Community wide control cannot be obtained until almost everyone is immune. Vaccine production must be ramped up to cover the world population. The price of herd immunity through natural infection is high mortality in the elderly and morbidity in other age groups including children and Long-COVID. We must expect a new wave in the coming winter. The severity will depend on the proportion of the population with immunity from natural infections or immunisation. Therefore, control rests on a population wide immunisation including children, which may or may not need to be repeated if new SARS-CoV-2 variants evolve that can escape immunity from either previous infections or immunisations. Preventing long term sequelae of COVID-19 also remains a priority

Antimicrobial-related medication safety incidents : a regional retrospective study in West of Scotland hospitals

Medication-related incidents are an important consideration in enhancing patient safety in hospital care. The wide utilisation of antimicrobial therapy in this population renders these medications particularly vulnerable to errors and adverse events. To analyse the characteristics of antimicrobial therapy-related incident reports across a group of secondary care hospitals. Reports for antimicrobial-related incidents from April 2010 to December 2013 were obtained from a regional area of hospitals in National Health Service (NHS) Scotland. Reports were analysed at-large, with subset analyses of incidents resulting in patient harm/injury and those included in a multivariable regression adjusted by occupied bed days (OBD) and defined daily doses (DDD) to better ascertain areas to target for antimicrobial safety. A total of 1345 incidents were reported at a crude rate of 0.98 reports/day (95% CI: 0.93-1.03 reports/day). Penicillins (371 reports; 27.6%), aminoglycosides (358; 26.6%) and glycopeptides (210; 15.6%) were the most commonly involved classes of medications. Most incidents involved no injury/harm (514; 38.2%), but 72 reports (5.4%) did result in patient harm. Rehabilitation/Assessment (RR: 2.61, 95% CI: 1.70-4.03) and Women/Childrens (RR: 2.61, 95% CI: 1.70-4.03) had higher incident reporting rates compared to other hospital services, likely as a function of at-risk patient populations. Among the types of incidents reported, those involving issues with administration/supply were most common (RR: 2.07, 95% CI: 1.51-2.84). Incident reporting for antimicrobials identified several key areas for quality improvement in the hospital setting which can guide safety efforts