The Status of Respiratory Care Education in Saudi Arabia: A National Survey of Program Directors

Figures & data

Table 1 Respiratory Care Public and Private Institutions Across Saudi Arabia

#	University	City, Region	Students
			Male	Female
1	Almarrefah University^†	Riyadh, Riyadh	✔	✔
2	Batrjee Medical College^†	Jeddah, Makkah	✔	✔
3	Batrjee Medical College^†	Khamis Mushait, Aseer	✔	✔
4	Center for Health Studies	Riyadh, Riyadh	–	✔
5	Dar Aluloom University*, ^†	Riyadh, Riyadh	–	–
6	Hafr Albatin University*	Hafr albatin, Easter region	–	–
7	Imam Abdulrahman bin Faisal University	Jubail, Easter region	–	✔
8	Imam Abdulrahman bin Faisal University	Dammam, Eastern region	✔	✔
9	Inayah University^†	Riyadh, Riyadh	✔	✔
10	Jazan University	Jazan, Jazan	✔	✔
11	King Abdulaziz University	Jeddah, Makkah	✔	✔
12	King Faisal University*	Alhafouf, Eastern region	–	–
13	King Saud bin Abdulaziz University for Health Sciences	Alhafouf, Eastern region	✔	✔
14	King Saud bin Abdulaziz University for Health Sciences	Jeddah, Makkah	✔	✔
15	King Saud bin Abdulaziz University for Health Sciences	Riyadh, Riyadh	✔	✔
16	King Saud University	Riyadh, Riyadh	✔	–
17	Mohammed Almana College of Medical Sciences^†	Dammam, Eastern region	✔	✔
18	Princess Nourah Bint Abdulrahman University	Riyadh, Riyadh	–	✔
19	Prince Sultan Military College of Health Sciences	Dammam, Eastern region	✔	✔
20	Qassim University*	Unizah, Qassim	–	–
21	Taibah University	Madinah, Madinah	✔	✔
22	Umm alqura University	Makkah, Makkah	✔	✔
23	University of Bisha	Bisha, Aseer	✔	–

Notes: *Inactive (No students are currently enrolled). ^†Private Institution.

Table 2 Characteristics of the Institutions

Characteristics	N (%), N (M/F), Mean ± SD
Geographic regions*
Central	8 (36.36%)
Eastern	7 (31.82%)
Western	5 (22.73%)
Southern	3 (9.09%)
Northern	0 (0.00%)
Active programs	17 (77.27%)
Sector
Governmental	17 (73.91%)
Private	6 (26.09%)
Student^†
Graduated over the past 5 years	1206 (678/528)
Currently enrolled	1297 (805/492)
Expected to graduate in 5 years	1873 (1074/799)
Faculty member characteristics^†
Full-time	123 (77/46)
Part-time	39 (30/9)
BSc holders	37 (21/16)
MSc holders	51 (31/20)
PhD holders	35 (25/10)
MSc scholarship	13 (10/3)
PhD scholarship	44 (29/15)
Faculty member–student ratio^‡	1:11 (1:10/1:11)
Accreditation and recognition^†
NCAAA obtained	1 (7.69%)
NCAAA in-process	7 (53.85%)
SCFHS^§	1 (7.69%)
International recognition (International Council for Respiratory Care)	1 (7.69%)
No accreditations were pursued	3 (23.08%)
Education degrees and styles^†
Diploma degree offered	1 (7.69%)
BS degree offered	12 (92.31%)
MS or PhD degrees offered	0 (0%)
Clinical hours apart from internship	23.23 ± 13.39
Research course as part of the curriculum	12 (92.31%)
Implementation of problem-based learning	7 (53.85%)
Implementation of simulation	10 (76.92%)

Notes: *13 provinces were combined based on their geographic locations into five regions. Central: Riyadh and Qassim. Eastern: Eastern region only. Western: Makkah and Madinah. Southern: Asser, Albaha, Jizan, and Najran. Northern: Hail, Aljouf, Tabuk, and Northern Border region. ^†Only reported institutes (n = 13). ^‡Full-time only (median). ^§Required only for diploma programs.

Figure 1 The number of respiratory care practitioner (RCP) institutions in cities and regions of Saudi Arabia showed that the city of Riyadh had the most (n=7) RCP programs, followed by Dammam and Jeddah both (n=3). The map shows the lack of RCP programs in all the northern regions and some of the southern regions.

Figure 2 Respiratory care-specific laboratories that institutions are utilizing in teaching and training.

Figure 3 The number of responses on barriers or limitations of advancing the respiratory care profession.

Figure 4 The number of responses on proposed solutions for expanding the respiratory care profession.