Abstract
Objectives: This study aims to determine the performance of medical students as they diagnose critical abdominal X-ray findings. In addition, it aims to analyze the impact of emergency medicine and radiology courses on their performance. Methods: A cross-sectional study was to collect data on the various aspects of undergraduate medical students' experiences in Saudi Arabia's Qassim. The data were collected through an electronic questionnaire. Results: 359 individuals, who were all from different medical colleges, participated in this study. Half of them, about 54.4%, correctly identified the type of bowel obstruction depicted in the image, while the other 33.3% believed it was a small bowel obstruction. Of students who had completed their radiology course, about 58.0% were more likely to acknowledge the large bowel obstruction pattern. In comparison, 44.2% of those who had not completed it were more likely to do so, which was found to be statistically significant in difference (p=0.03). The study's results revealed that the students who had completed and not the course correctly interpreted the X-ray image of small bowel obstruction about 71.6%. A total of 34.5% of them were able to identify a normal abdomen X-ray pattern among those who completed the course, while 28.5% of them did not complete the course and recognize it. Conclusion: The results of this study suggest that completing emergency and radiology courses in medical schools can positively impact a student's performance. Also, the findings of this study suggest that more training is needed for medical students to improve their abilities to diagnose abdominal X-rays.