Volume 24, Issue 104, July - August, 2020

Knowledge and alertness of medical students at clinical phase towards hazards of ionizing radiations in Northern Saudi Arabia

Meshal khunfur Alrashdi¹, Latifah Khalid Alrashed², Fayez Saud Alreshidi², Fatmah Fahad Alreshidi², Ebtehaj Saud Almughais², Tariq Hadyan Alruwaili³, Waad Saud Alswab³, Turki Abdul Aziz Alharbi⁴, Ahmed Yassen Alrefaei⁵, Ibrahim Alrashidi⁶, Hussain Gadelkarim Ahmed^7,8♦

¹Family Medicine Department, Prince Mohammed bin Abdulaziz Hospital. MOH
²Department of Family Medicine, College of Medicine, University of Ha’il, Hail, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA)
³College of Medicine, University of Aljouf, Saudi Arabia
⁴Diagnostic Radiology Resident, King Khalid University Hospital, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia
⁵College of Medicine, University of Tabuk, Saudi Arabia
⁶Interventional Radiology, Prince Sultan Military Medical City, Riyadh
⁷Department of Pathology, College of Medicine, University of Ha’il, Hail, Saudi Arabia
⁸Department of Histopathology and Cytology, FMLS, University of Khartoum, Sudan

^♦Corresponding author
Department of Pathology, College of Medicine, University of Ha’il, Hail, Saudi Arabia / Department of Histopathology and Cytology, FMLS, University of Khartoum, Sudan

ABSTRACT

Background: The recent reported increased risks of radiation exposure in association with chronic illnesses have raised the issue of radiation safety. The present study aimed to assess the knowledge and alertness of Medical students at the clinical phase towards the hazards of ionizing rations in Northern Saudi Arabia. Methodology: This descriptive cross-sectional study, included 443 medical students at clinical phases of the study (4th, 5th, and 6th years). The study subjects were randomly selected from three medical colleges in 3 universities (Hail, Jouf, and Tabuk). Results: Regarding the prior knowledge of radiation doses, 85/433(19.6%), and 153/433(35.3%), have "No idea", and "Not confidence", in this order. On asking "Is it important to know radiation doses” 97/433(22%) answered "Not important", and 139/433(32%) answered, "May be important". The application of medical radiology as both diagnostic and therapeutic was indicated by 238/433(55%). Conclusion: Medical students in late clinical years have relatively low knowledge and awareness towards ionizing radiation exposure, organ dependent doses, and radiation associated hazards.

Keywords: ionizing radiation, radiation hazards, radiation doses, Saudi Arabia

Medical Science, 2020, 24(104), 1887-1894

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