Background: Medical students must recognize globally recognized rights in their studies and careers. Only a few studies have measured medical students’ knowledge about public health rights in Saudi Arabia. The present study aims to assess the current knowledge of medical students in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, concerning health empowerment issues and health rights.
Methods: A descriptive cross-sectional study was conducted in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, among the medical students of Ibn Sina National College, Batterjee Medical College, King Abdul-Aziz University, and King Saud bin Abdul-Aziz University Jeddah branch, between July and August 2020. The data were analyzed using the Statistical Package of Social Science version 25.
Results: Of the 393 participants, 58.3% were females, and 41.7% were males. Regarding consent, 72.3% and 65.1% of the participants responded that a male guardian was not required to consent for hospital admission and discharge, respectively. Only 46.1% knew a female patient could consent to a cesarean section. Only 51.7% of the students knew about Saudi Arabian health rights, including disabled individuals, while 44.0% did not. About half (53.2%) knew that special needs patients have health rights, and 25.2% believed that abortion is never allowed in Islam. Approximately half (49.6%) knew that cancer patients have the right to free medical treatment, and 52.9% knew that cancer patients have the right to free surgical treatment.
Conclusion: Medical students’ knowledge regarding the health rights of specific patient populations was not satisfactory in Saudi Arabia, which highlights the importance of health rights education in medical school.
Key words: Caesarean Section, cancer patients, medical students, public health rights, Saudi Arabia, special needs.
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