RE: How do medical students in their clinical years perceive basic sciences courses at King Saud University?

To the Editor: The current attitudes of Saudi medical students towards the basic science courses across the clinical study years as addressed in the Alam’s study1 are alarming and disappointing. Mastering the basic sciences for the undergraduate medical students is not only fundamental to sufficiently prepare for clinical practice in the clerkships, but it is also critical to pursuing their future careers in the basic sciences. This is obvious on noticing that Saudi medical students had scarcely pursued career choices in the basic sciences.2 It is essential to make the necessary changes in the medical curriculum to render basic sciences more relevant to clinical medicine. Recently, many medical school curricula have been revised so that they adopt the vertically integrated (VI) curricula. Important changes that need to be considered include: the provision of earlier clinical experience; longer clerkships, and the fostering of increasing levels of responsibility. Moreover; in comparison with those who have followed non-VI curricula, graduates of VI curricula appear to make definitive career choices earlier, need less time and fewer applications to obtain residency positions, and feel more prepared for work and postgraduate training.3