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The paper intends to explore the lived experiences of medical students during the COVID-19 pandemic and its impact on their lifestyles and mental wellbeing.

Fourteen medical students from the College of Medicine and Medical Sciences, Arabian Gulf University, Bahrain, were enrolled, and their narratives were obtained. Data were analyzed and conducted using Colaizzi’s phenomenological descriptive method of enquiry.

The analysis identified two themes, along with nine subthemes, that were generated. The first theme focused on mental and social experiences, while the second focused on lifestyle changes. During the pandemic, students had time to reflect on themselves and started to think positively about their lives, although they felt fearful, uncertain, stressed and anxious due to preventive control measures that were mandated, including social distancing and lockdowns. Participants’ lifestyles changed generally negatively, as they adapted to the preventive measures, rendering them physically inactive and exposing them to unhealthy food and disturbed sleep.

The findings provide an insight into the negative impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the lifestyle and mental wellbeing of medical students. Educational institutes need to offer their students both short as well as long-term health, social and mental support to overcome the impact of the pandemic on their lives.

Seasonal influenza epidemics accounted for significant morbidity and mortality loads worldwide despite the availability of a safe vaccine as an efficient tool against severity of the disease. However, the uptake of the latter was sub-optimal. This study aims to identify predictors and barriers related to seasonal influenza vaccine uptake in the Kingdom of Bahrain.

A cross-sectional study enrolled 502 individuals attending primary healthcare centers in Bahrain for ambulatory care between July and August 2022. The data were collected using an interviews-based questionnaire which included questions on demographic data, knowledge and attitudes and practices toward influenza vaccine. The authors identified the barriers as well as the determinants of the vaccine uptake and its recommendation to others.

The mean age of participants was 35.07 years (SD = 13.9). Most of the respondents were Bahraini (86.5%) and 53.4 % were females. The results revealed that 34.1% have previous information about the influenza vaccine and 36.9% versus 69.9% are willing to receive the vaccine or advice it to others, respectively. Determinants of vaccine uptake were identified.

This study confirmed a sub-optimal influenza vaccine acceptance in the general community of Bahrain despite a global access in primary care. Health professionals need to be more proactive in mobilizing the community and particularly females toward influenza vaccination.

Medical schools aspire to graduate doctors who are competent in interpreting, conducting and publishing scientific research. Hence, the purpose of the paper is explore the impact of a structured compulsory community-oriented, project-based research program in the undergraduate medical curriculum on medical graduates’ future careers, publications and motivation for scientific research.

An online questionnaire was sent through the Alumni Association of the Arabian Gulf University (AGU) to medical graduates who have valid email addresses, seeking information on their scientific productivity along with demographic and current employment data. Responses were collated and analyzed using a standard statistical software package. The chi-square test and p-value were calculated. P-value <0.05 was considered statistically significant.

Completed forms were received from 91 medical graduates. In this sample, almost a quarter of the respondents have published a research paper out of their undergraduate research project, and about 50% have published at least one paper (as main or co-author) after graduation. Both demographic and medical specialty was not related to the doctor's perception of the benefits they have attained from the compulsory undergraduate research program. However, medical graduates who are at senior levels in their medical careers and those who are employed in secondary healthcare are significantly more likely to publish research papers.

The compulsory community-oriented, project-based research program in AGU has positively contributed to the research productivity of graduates, and it would be worthwhile to include such programs as an integral part of the undergraduate medical curriculum.