Effect of Educational Activity in Improving Knowledge Related to Infection Control among Recently Graduated Medical Students

A significant number of patients acquired health care associated infections worldwide, and this has devastating effect on both the patient and the health system. Although they disseminated easily between patients through health-care workers contaminated hands, they are preventable infections. Hand hygiene including hand washing and alcohol based hand rub is the most effective method of prevention. We aimed, in this study, to evaluate the effect of educational activity in improving participants' knowledge about infection control. Ninety seven recent medical graduates with a mean age of 23.8 years attended workshop that included both lectures and practical sessions regarding various aspects of infection control. Hand hygiene was practiced in one station according to WHO guidelines, and was emphasized in all stations as a fundamental pre-requisite. WHO’s “Hand Hygiene Knowledge Questionnaire” was used to assess the knowledge both before and after the educational session. Data was analyzed using SPSS statistics version 22, and McNemar test was used to compare participant's knowledge pre and post session. The majority (61.9%) of them did not receive formal training in hand hygiene. The knowledge about hand hygiene improved considerably after the workshop, this is reflected by a significant p value (< 0.05) in 12 out of 24 knowledge related items tested (50%). Adding more clinical scenarios to stress on the practice of infection control measures contributed well to the effectiveness of the workshop in improving the knowledge. In conclusion, conduction of educational sessions that include simulated activity can be very useful to bridge the knowledge gap, as well as carrying out continuous feedback and analysis of outcome to improve the quality of educational activity.