Eiad Alfaris

Long training workshops on the writing of exam questions have been shown to be effective; however, the effectiveness of short workshops needs to be demonstrated. The aim of this study was to evaluate the impact of a one-day, seven-hour faculty development workshop at the College of Dentistry, King Saud University, Saudi Arabia, on the quality of multiple-choice questions (MCQs). Kirkpatrick's four-level evaluation model was used. Participants' satisfaction (Kirkpatrick's Level 1) was evaluated with a post-workshop questionnaire. A quasi-experimental, randomized separate sample, pretest-posttest design was used to assess the learning effect (Kirkpatrick's Level 2). To evaluate transfer of learning to practice (Kirkpatrick's Level 3), MCQs created by ten faculty members as a result of the training were assessed. To assess Kirkpatrick's Level 4 regarding institutional change, interviews with three key leaders of the school were conducted, coded, and analyzed. A total of 72 course directors were invited to and attended some part of the workshop; all 52 who attended the entire workshop completed the satisfaction form; and 22 of the 36 participants in the experimental group completed the posttest. The results showed that all 52 participants were highly satisfied with the workshop, and significant positive changes were found in the faculty members' knowledge and the quality of their MCQs with effect sizes of 0.7 and 0.28, respectively. At the institutional level, the interviews demonstrated positive structural changes in the school's assessment system. Overall, this one-day item-writing faculty workshop resulted in positive changes at all four of Kirkpatrick's levels; these effects suggest that even a short training session can improve a dental school's assessment of its students.

Objectives: The objectives of the study are to estimate the rate of epileptic patients' compliance with appointments and medications in a pediatric neurology clinic. Also to study the factors associated with non-compliance and to determine the parents' perceived reasons for non-compliance with appointments. Methods: It is a prospective study in which 147 epileptic children who attended the neurology clinic during the first 12-months of the study period were included. Patients were recruited into the study after their parents were interviewed using a detailed questionnaire; their compliance with appointments was monitored prospectively over at least a one year from their recruitment into the study. The parents of the other 70 patients who did not attend the clinic were telephoned. Only 32 replied and were asked about the reasons for non-attendance to the clinic. Results: Eighty-six percent of the patients`parents stated that they were complying with the medications while only 53% of them did not miss any appointment to the clinic during the study period. Compliers with appointments were more likely to comply with their medications too. Children with grand-mal epilepsy and absence seizures were found to be more likely to comply with taking medications than patients with febrile, rolandic and myoclonic seizures (P=0.01). Health belief model factors associated with non-compliance were 1. Children encountering side effects from their medications 2. Parents who were not satisfied with the provided services 3. Parents who thought that alternative medicine is more effective than traditional medicine 4. Parents who think that their children are not susceptible. Patients' perceived main reasons for non-compliance were wrongly registered appointments (27.5%), forgetfulness (22.5%) and busy parents. Conclusions: Failure to keep the clinic appointment is an indicator of poor compliance with medications. A telephone call is recommended to reduce the role of clinic non-compliance. Developing a questionnaire form to investigate parents health belief model could be used routinely by social workers and then health education could be tailored for each patient and parent.