PT  - JOURNAL ARTICLE
AU  - Bin Shihah, Abdulelah S.
AU  - Alrashed, Abdulrahman H.
AU  - Al-Abduljabbar, Khaled A.
AU  - Alamri, Hassan A.
AU  - Shafiq, Mohammed
AU  - Ahmed, Mayada N.
AU  - Alkhenizan, Abdullah H.
TI  - Awareness of medical law among health care practitioners in Saudi Arabia
AID  - 10.15537/smj.2022.43.8.20210920
DP  - 2022 Aug 01
TA  - Saudi Medical Journal
PG  - 954--958
VI  - 43
IP  - 8
4099  - http://smj.org.sa/content/43/8/954.short
4100  - http://smj.org.sa/content/43/8/954.full
SO  - Saudi Med J2022 Aug 01; 43
AB  - Objectives: To determine the level of awareness of medical law among healthcare practitioners and to identify factors that influence that level of awareness in Saudi Arabia.Methods: This cross-sectional study was carried out in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia in 2020-2021 via a survey including 750 healthcare practitioners, from different specialties including all regions in Saudi Arabia. Participants included consultants, senior registrars, interns, and residents.Results: Majority of enrolled healthcare practitioners had poor awareness of medical law (approximately 97%). Only 1.5% had adequate awareness of medical law, and only 1.5% had moderate awareness. Factors associated with increased medical law awareness were the age group between 25 and 34, being from the central region, and having a clinical practice for less than 10 years p-value of <0.05.Conclusion: Awareness of medical law among healthcare practitioners is limited in Saudi Arabia. Professional medico-legal education should be part of required competencies for undergraduate and postgraduate levels of medical education. Health care practitioners must be educated with laws and regulations of practicing health professions in the country.