ABSTRACT
Background: Clinical reasoning is the most important competente in the training process of a physician. Aim: To develop a method for teaching clinical reasoning based on prototypes of clinical cases. Material and Methods: The study was conducted on sixty-four third year medical students. The study and control groups attended lectures and tutorial sessions with patients. The study group attended additionally discussion seminars of prototypical clinical cases. A clinical reasoning test was applied at the start and end of the learning period to both groups. At the end of the study, the opinions of students of the study group were collected in afocus group. Results: After the learning period, both groups significantly increased their clinical reasoning skills. However, the improvement in the study group was more than double than that ofthe control group. The absolute improvement in the study group was 30.9%. Students interviewed in the focus group were unanimous in expressing their satisfaction in each and every aspect discussed. Conclusions: The teaching of clinical reasoning to third year medical students by means of pattern recognition in seminars with clinical cases improved significantly their skills.
Subject(s)
Humans , Clinical Competence , Education, Medical, Undergraduate/methods , Educational Measurement , Focus Groups , Problem-Based Learning/methods , Qualitative Research , Surveys and Questionnaires , Students, MedicalABSTRACT
Introducción: Las características ideales del docente de postgrado de pediatría de la Facultad de Medicina de la Universidad de Chile no están definidas. Objetivo: Determinar estas características a partir de las percepciones de sus integrantes. Metodología: Investigación cualitativa. En el Campus Oriente se realizó grupos focales de docentes, egresados y alumnos de Programa de Título de Especialista en Pediatría y entrevistas en profundidad a tres autoridades. Con este perfil elaborado se entrevistó a los directores de Departamento de Pediatría de los restantes Campus para su validación. Resultados: Se elaboró un perfil docente diferenciando su rol como persona (comprometido, responsable, honesto, respetuoso, tolerante, acogedor, empático, asertivo, líder, modelo a seguir y capaz de mantener buenas relaciones interpersonales), como profesor (formado en docencia, planificador, evaluador, con tiempo protegido para la docencia, con capacidades de autoevaluación y de autorreflexión, facilitador del aprendizaje, motivador, propiciador de un clima que facilite el aprendizaje, comunicador, con vocación, exigente, accesible, conocedor y utilizador de nuevas tecnologías y con capacidad de revisar el proceso docente) y como clínico (experto en su disciplina, actualizado, investigador, identificado y comprometido con la institución, capaz de trabajar en equipo). Conclusiones: Se construyó un perfil ideal del docente de postgrado de pediatría.
Introduction: The ideal characteristics of the Graduate Professor of Pediatrics at the Medical School of the Universidad de Chile are yet not defined. Objective: To determine these characteristics from members' perception. Methodology: Qualitative research. Focus groups for Professors, alumni and Pediatrics students and interviews to three authorities took place at the Campus Oriente. Once the profile was elaborated, Directors of Departments of Pediatrics of other Campuses were interviewed for validation. Results: A teaching profile was elaborated differentiating the role of the professional as a person (committed, responsible, honest, respectful, tolerant, friendly, empathetic, assertive, leader, role model and able to maintain good interpersonal relationships), as a teacher (trained in teaching, planner, evaluator, with protected time for teaching, with capacities for self-reflection and self-assessment, learning facilitator, motivator, facilitator of a climate that encourages learning, communicator, with vocation, challenging, accessible, knowledgeable and user of new technologies and with ability to review the teaching process) and as a clinician (expert in his discipline, updated, researcher, identified and committed to the institution, able to work in a team). Conclusions: An ideal profile of the Graduate Professor of Pediatrics was created.
Subject(s)
Humans , Faculty, Medical , Pediatrics , Professional Competence , Clinical Competence , Education, Medical, Graduate , Interpersonal Relations , Interviews as Topic , Professional Role , Qualitative ResearchABSTRACT
Clinical tutors live in constant tension. They must care form patients, do research, generate funds and teach. Traditionally the average clinical tutors have had no formal training for teaching.The lack of formal training impairs their ability to optimize their students learning and accept changes in the educational environment. All these factors, and maybe more, often put teaching in the last position in their list of duties. Faculty development courses have been shown to improve teaching skills and satisfaction of clinical tutors. We have been offering for the last twoyears this type of courses, tailored to the needs of clinical tutors, taking the courses to the hospitals where they work, and using a time slot that causes the least interference with their work schedule. Seven courses have been given, and clinical tutors seem to be making changes on how they teach.
Subject(s)
Humans , Education, Medical , Schools, Medical , Faculty, MedicalABSTRACT
Organizations develop codes of ethics to give orientations to their members on how to recognize, understand and handle ethical dilemmas in their daily work. In year 2005 a group of faculty members of the Universidad de Chile Faculty of Medicine started an institutional ethics project, acknowledging that all institutional decisions have moral contents. The purpose of this project is to promote an ethical environment in the institution. The first step was to establish a diagnosis by means of the organization of focal groups that collected the perceptions of students, faculty members and non-academic personnel. With a diagnosis in hand, a preliminary document was prepared, the Universidad de Chile Faculty of Medicine declaration of principles and values. Members of all groups that participated in the diagnostic phase had the opportunity to discuss this preliminary document and check if their agreement with its contents. Given the relevance of the ethical aspects of the learning and teaching process for the positive modeling of students from all health-related professions, special emphasis is given to its discussion.
Subject(s)
Humans , Codes of Ethics , Faculty, Medical/standards , Ethics, Institutional/education , Ethics, Medical/educationABSTRACT
Introduction: Usefulness of high tech clinical simulators as learning tools, are partially established. Objective: To determine utility of an Emergency Care Simulator (ECS) as a learning tool inmedicine. Methods: Study was conducted in 2007, during the respiratory diseases rotation of third year medical students. Informed consent was required to participants. They were divided in two groups: Study Group (SG) and Control group (CG). Both were submitted to the same regular respiratory diseases learning activities. Only the SG had a session with the ECS. The simulated scenario referred to a young man with severe community pneumonia. At the end of the activities every student from those groups answered a modified essay and a questionnaire about this disease problem (maximum score was 70 points). The SG also responded a list of12 statements to get their opinion on this experience. Results: 63 students participated in the study, 42 in the SG and 21 in the CG. All the SG answered the questionnaire and 31 answeredthe modified essay. All the CG answered the modified essay. The scores in the essay were (mean +/- SD) 44, 3 +/-12,9 and 35,5+/-14,7 for the SG and CG, respectively (p=0,026). 80 percent ofthe SG agreed that the experience was useful to learn; entertaining and allowing the application of previous knowledge. Less than 50 percent felt the simulation real enough. Conclusions: A learning activity about severe community acquired pneumonia with the METI ECS simulator apparently was useful for students learning and well evaluated by them.
Subject(s)
Humans , Educational Measurement , Models, Educational , Simulation Exercise/methodsABSTRACT
The great diversity of commercially available products for the serologic diagnosis of Chagas disease led us to conduct a study or these products in comparison with the indirect immunofluorescence test. Percent agreement between methods ranged from 79 to 100%, the details for each product being given in the text. Better control of commercially available diagnostic products is recommended