The Role of Outpatient Care Accreditation in Enhancing Foreign Patients' Perception of Colombian Medical Tourism: A Quasi-experimental Design.

This study analyzes whether hospitals accredited by the Joint Commission International in outpatient medical care protocols located in Colombia achieve a higher quality perception from foreign patients compared to others treated in a non-accredited one. A t-test with Welch correction, chi-square test, correlation coefficient of Tau Kendall, pre-test, post-test, complementary questionnaire and a 2 focus groups were used in 178 foreign patients. It was observed that patients treated in accredited hospitals had a higher quality perception than the non-accredited group. However, it was found that an unbalanced application of the 3 variables negatively alters quality judgment. Findings contributes to understanding the Colombian medical tourism in depth using non-conventional instruments.

Effectiveness of the mixture of nopal and cassava starch as clarifying substances in water purification: A case study in Colombia.

Aluminum sulfate is one of the most used chemical coagulants in the world, but research has shown that high concentrations of aluminum in the body are associated with neuropathological conditions. Because of this, different alternatives have been evaluated such as natural coagulants, which are considered safe for human health and contain fewer contaminants than chemicals due to their biodegradation properties. The main objective of this study was to evaluate the efficiency of mixing nopal mucilage and cassava starch for turbidity removal in water purification. In this paper, test jars and the treatment equipment (TA-scale FQ-005/PE manufactured by Generatoris SA de CV of Mexico) was applied in order to measure turbidity and pH parameters before and after the process of coagulation-flocculation, which was applied to water from the Magdalena River in Colombia. Samples from two sampling periods were assessed. One was evaluated during the rainy season and the other was evaluated without precipitation (drought) with initial turbidities of 316 NTU and 80 NTU, respectively. It was found that aluminum sulfate as a coagulant reference obtained better turbidity removal results (up to 99%) as compared to nopal (up to 60.4%), and nopal-starch combination of cassava (up to 67%), indicating that this mixture increases the effectiveness of natural coagulants used individually. Our results indicate that this should be considered as an alternative in the water purification process.

Percepción estudiantil sobre la efectividad del aprendizaje basado en proyectos en salud en el Caribe colombiano / Students' perception about the effectiveness of health project-based learning in the Colombian Caribbean

Introducción: Los contextos geográficos e institucionales diferenciados suponen la necesidad de analizar la efectividad de las metodologías de enseñanza desde enfoques no convencionales, a fin de contrastar asunciones generalistas. Una vía es el análisis de la valoración de los estudiantes sobre el método de aprendizaje que se les aplica y su relación con el cumplimiento de los objetivos de los cursos que reciben. Objetivo: Evaluar la percepción estudiantil sobre la efectividad del método de aprendizaje basado en proyectos en el Caribe colombiano en la asignatura Gerencia de la Salud para las carreras de medicina y enfermería. Métodos: Se aplicó un cuestionario de percepción estudiantil sobre la efectividad del método aprendizaje basado en proyectos a dos grupos de trabajo. Se utilizó una prueba chi cuadrado y de correlación de variables independientes en 340 estudiantes del curso de pregrado de Gerencia de la Salud. Se compararon la valoración estudiantil acerca del aprendizaje basado en proyectos y el método de enseñanza convencional para el cumplimiento de los objetivos del curso, y se identificaron las competencias trasversales que fueron mejor y peor valoradas durante el proceso de aprendizaje. Resultados: Se encontró que solo las competencias "Resolución de problemas" y "Trabajo en equipo" tuvieron percepciones positivas significativas cuando se usó el aprendizaje basado en proyectos, y que la valoración estudiantil era un instrumento idóneo que aporta al análisis de la eficacia de los métodos de enseñanza en contextos geográficos diferenciados. Conclusiones: La utilización de este instrumento permite conocer con mayor profundidad la efectividad del aprendizaje basado en proyectos en diferentes contextos. Los resultados demuestran que la percepción estudiantil sobre el aprendizaje basado en proyectos es pertinente. Este estudio exploratorio favorece otras investigaciones que analizarán el impacto de la aplicación de este método, a través de la percepción de los estudiantes sobre el desarrollo de competencias trasversales(AU)

Introduction: Differentiated geographical and institutional contexts imply the need to analyze the effectiveness of teaching methodologies from unconventional approaches, in order to contrast generalist assumptions. One way is the analysis of the students' assessment of the learning method that is applied to them and their relationship with the fulfillment of the objectives of the courses they receive. Objective: To evaluate the student's perception on the effectiveness of the project-based learning method in the Colombian Caribbean in the Health Management course for the medical and nursing majors. Methods: A student's perception questionnaire on the effectiveness of the project-based learning method was applied to two work groups. A chi-square and correlation of independent variables test was used in 340 students of the undergraduate course in Health Management. The student's assessment about project-based learning and the conventional teaching method for meeting the objectives of the course were compared, and the transversal competencies that were assessed as better and worse during the learning process were identified. Results: Only the competencies problem solving and teamwork were found to have significant positive perceptions when project-based learning was used, together with the fact that student assessment was an ideal instrument that contributes to the analysis of the effectiveness of teaching methods in differentiated geographical contexts. Conclusions: The use of this instrument allows to know, in greater depth, the effectiveness of project-based learning in different contexts. The results demonstrate that student perception of project-based learning is relevant. This exploratory study favors other research that will analyze the impact of the application of this method, through the students' perception of the development of transversal skills(AU)

Evaluation of low-cost alternatives for water purification in the stilt house villages of Santa Marta's Ciénaga Grande.

Water purification is indispensable to guarantee safe human consumption and to prevent diseases caused by the ingestion of contaminated water. This requires a series of water treatment processes which require investment. However, the economic limitations of rural communities hinder their ability to implement such water-treatment systems, as is the case in Ciénaga Grande of Santa Marta ("Large Swamp", in English) in Colombia. Low-cost systems can be used instead as simple and safe alternatives. Therefore, the objective of this work was to evaluate non-conventional, low-cost water processes to purify the water from the collection point of two stilt house villages in Ciénaga Grande of Santa Marta. These include: 1) Using two natural coagulants, Moringa Oleifera and Cassia Fistula; 2) filtration through a biosand filter and a carbon activated filter; and 3) disinfection through UV-C Radiation and through solar disinfection. The results showed a turbidity values reduction between 52% and 96% using the two natural coagulants; both turbidity and total coliforms achieved reductions of 98.4% and 76.9%, respectively in the filtration process; and removal of total coliforms up to 98.8% in the disinfection process. Despite the high rates of reduction in the different parameters, the water does not comply with the recommended limits for safe drinking water.