Establishment of an Accelerated Doctor of Family Medicine Program at Unaizah College of Medicine, Qassim University, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia.

Primary health care is well known to be the cornerstone for the health of the society. Furthermore, efficient health care at the secondary and tertiary levels is entirely dependent on effective primary health care. The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA) is currently building up a rigorous primary health care system with a large number of well-equipped primary health care centers.

The need for national medical licensing examination in Saudi Arabia.

Background: Medical education in Saudi Arabia is facing multiple challenges, including the rapid increase in the number of medical schools over a short period of time, the influx of foreign medical graduates to work in Saudi Arabia, the award of scholarships to hundreds of students to study medicine in various countries, and the absence of published national guidelines for minimal acceptable competencies of a medical graduate.

Discussion: We are arguing for the need for a Saudi national medical licensing examination that consists of two parts: Part I (Written) which tests the basic science and clinical knowledge and Part II (Objective Structured Clinical Examination) which tests the clinical skills and attitudes. We propose this examination to be mandated as a licensure requirement for practicing medicine in Saudi Arabia.

Information disclosure and decision-making: the Middle East versus the Far East and the West.

Objectives: to assess physicians' and patients' views in Saudi Arabia (KSA) towards involving the patient versus the family in the process of diagnosis disclosure and decision-making, and to compare them with views from the USA and Japan.

Design: A self-completion questionnaire (used previously to study these issues in Japan and the USA) was translated to Arabic and validated.

Participants: Physicians (n = 321) from different specialties and ranks and patients (n = 264) in a hospital or attending outpatient clinics from 6 different regions in KSA.

Therapeutic efficacy of hysterosalpingography with special reference to application of hydrostatic pressure during the procedure.

Background: In the majority of infertile females, cause lies within the fallopian tubes. The causes for tubal obstruction include tuabal endometriosis, chlamydial and tuberculous infections, salpingitis, due to previous tubal approach, previous tubal pregnancy, peritubal adhesions due to previous appendicectomy, ovarian, uterine or adnexal operations. Other less important but easily treatable significant causes include tubal obstruction due to debris, fine adhesions or even unexplained tubal spasm.