Fundamentos para la clasificación de los programas de médico especialista en un marco de cualificaciones nacional / Foundations for the classification of medical specialist programs in a national qualifications framework

Qualification of learning outcomes in terms of knowledge, skills, responsibility and autonomy provided by medical specialist programs is of interest to State authorities, educational service providers, employers, and specialists. Countries that are signatories to the Bologna Process and others outside Europe, established that the guaranteed primary degree for medical studies is the Master in Medicine (second cycle). There is agreement that medical specialist programs are more advanced than a Master of Medicine but are different from the Doctor of Medicine (third cycle) in their clinical orientation. These programs usually do not have research components and occasionally they are not carried out in the higher education system. However, the level of qualification of medical specialist programs has not been established due to lack of consensus. In Chile, this decision becomes even more complicated due to the certification of "licenciatura" (first cycle) that medical schools provide. There are also gaps in the educational classification procedure employed by the country. However, the review of national qualification frameworks and government acts shows that some countries have validated these certifications as third cycle. Medical specialties certainly do not correspond to PhD programs and the eligibility of the qualification level must be guaranteed to all stakeholders, who require an agreement on the specific national framework of learning outcomes and competencies.

¿Es tiempo de modificar la vinculación pregrado postgrado en la educación médica chilena? Reflexiones sobre una vía de doble titulación Médico cirujano/Doctor en ciencias médicas / Time to change the graduate-postgraduate liaison in Chilean medical education? Reflections about a double certification as Physician and Doctor in medical sciences

In the last 150 years, scientific research has produced extraordinary discoveries in Medicine and there is no doubt that research will continue contributing substantially in the future but there is no the same conviction regarding how to provision such capacities in medical graduates. In Chile, the Faculties of Medicine created several doctorate programs in Medical Sciences (Ph.D.) to strengthen medical research. However, the low number of physicians who apply to these programs is a caveat. These programs provide the advanced third-cycle competencies expected by students aspiring for an excellence research certification and their incorporation into academia. Universities stand out in their capacity to adapt themselves to educational needs, developing programs designed to fill specific gaps. Ph.D. programs intercalated to the medical career show that this is the correct approach. The development of specific doctorate programs for the small number of physicians interested in research and for medical students with a strong interest in research could be an innovative solution to motivate and encourage them to develop a career in clinical investigation. Using this approach, Medical Schools and Doctorate in Medical Sciences programs would jointly stimulate the training of medical scientists.