A program evaluation reporting student perceptions of early clinical exposure to primary care at a new medical college in Qatar

Background: Though common practice in Europe, few studies have described the efficacy of early clinical exposure (ECE) in the Middle East. The barriers to clinical learning experienced by these novice medical students have not been reported. This evaluation reports on introducing ECE in primary care, supported by Experiential Review (ER) debriefing sessions. The evaluation explores students' experiences of their acquisition of clinical and non-technical skills, sociocultural issues commonly encountered but underreported and barriers to clinical learning experienced. Methods: We conducted a cross-sectional study of three student cohorts in 2017-19: All second and third-year students at the new College of Medicine were invited to participate. The primary outcome was students' perceptions of the aims of the Primary Health Centre Placement (PHCP) programme and how it facilitated learning. Secondary outcome measures were students' perceptions of their learning in ER sessions and perceived barriers to learning during PHCPs. Student perceptions of the PHCPs were measured using a Likert scale-based questionnaire. Results: One hundred and fifty-one students participated: 107 in year 2 and 44 in year 3; 72.3% were female. Overall, most students (> 70%) strongly agreed or agreed with the purposes of the PCHPs. Most students (71%) strongly agreed or agreed that the PCHPs allowed them to learn about patient care; 58% to observe doctors as role models and 55% to discuss managing common clinical problems with family physicians. Most students (year 2 = 62.5% and year 3 = 67%) strongly agreed/agreed that they were now confident taking histories and examining patients. Student barriers to clinical learning included: Unclear learning outcomes (48.3%); faculty too busy to teach (41.7%); lacking understanding of clinical medicine (29.1%); shyness (26.5%); and finding talking to patients difficult and embarrassing (25.8%). Over 70% reported that ER enabled them to discuss ethical and professional issues. Conclusions: Overall, our Middle Eastern students regard ECE as beneficial to their clinical learning. PHCPs and ER sessions together provide useful educational experiences for novice learners. We recommend further exploration of the barriers to learning to explore whether these novice students' perceptions are manifesting underlying cultural sensitivities or acculturation to their new environment.Scopu

Psychosocial treatments for substance use disorders

Worldwide use of illicit drugs is increasing, and substance use disorders (SUDs) have become a significant mental health problem in the West. Although the majority of young people do not use illicit drugs and of those who do use illicit substances, only a minority will develop serious problems; however, substance misuse can still be damaging to the developing brain. Continued use of illicit drugs can trigger or exacerbate developmental problems, particularly in those who are at risk or have a pre-existing developmental, physical or mental health conditions. The increased recognition of SUDs, its changing patterns, the impairment it causes and its cost to the society has promoted the interest to evaluate the effectiveness of available treatments. During the last thirty years, numerous pharmacological as well as psychosocial treatments have been developed and validated. Pharmacological treatments usually target withdrawal symptoms while psychosocial treatments are directed at drug use behaviors in general. There is a significant and growing evidence in support of psychosocial therapies on its own as well as in combination with pharmacological treatments for SUDs. In this discussion, we have described the various psychosocial treatments as well as reviewed the available evidence for such treatments and recommendations. © 2022 by Nova Science Publishers, Inc