Development and implementation of a biomedical informatics course for medical students: challenges of a large-scale blended-learning program.

Biomedical informatics (BMI) competencies are recognized as core requirements for the healthcare professional, but the amount of BMI educational interventions in the curricula of medical schools is limited. UNAM Faculty of Medicine in Mexico is a large public medical school, with more than 7000 undergraduate students. The undergraduate program recently underwent a major curricular revision, which includes BMI education. Two one-semester BMI courses (BMI-1 and BMI-2) were designed, with a blended-learning educational model. A department of BMI was created, with budget, offices and personnel. The first class of 1199 students started the course in 2010, with 32 groups of 40 students each. BMI-1 includes core conceptual notions of informatics applied to medicine (medical databases, electronic health record, telemedicine, among other topics), and BMI-2 embodies medical decision making and clinical reasoning. The program had a positive evaluation by students and teachers. BMI can be successfully incorporated in a large-scale medical school program in a developing country, using a blended-learning model and organizational change strategies.

E-learning en la educación médica / E-learning in medical education

Con el advenimiento de las tecnologías de información y comunicación se favoreció el desarrollo de experiencias académicas con e-learning en medicina. Con las herramientas tecnológicas de la web 2.0 y en la nube se promovió una participación más activa de los estudiantes y los profesionales médicos en los procesos de formación a través de diversos escenarios educativos bajo esta modalidad. A través de la integración de contenidos interactivos, realidad virtual, videoconferencias, contenidos digitales, recursos web combinados, la sincronía y asincronía y el acceso a los recursos y materiales mediante software multiplataforma se superan las barreras de la distancia y el tiempo en una formación profesional, continua y para toda la vida. Diversas han sido las experiencias de su uso en medicina tanto en el pregrado como en el posgrado, y se cuenta con casos de éxito en su implementación. El propósito del presente artículo es reflexionar sobre las implicaciones del uso del e-learning en la educación médica considerando los pros y contras de su aplicación.

The advent of Information and Communication Technologies favored the development of e-learning academic experiences in medicine. Web 2.0 and Cloud technological tools have spurred a more active participation from students and medical professionals in the education processes by enabling different educational settings. Through the integration of interactive contents, virtual reality, video conferencing, digital contents, combined web resources, synchrony and asynchrony, and the access to material resources through cross-platform software, the boundaries of distance and time in professional education are surmounted, making it continuous and permanent. The experiences of the use of e-learning in medicine in both undergraduate and graduate education have been numerous, and there have been several success cases in its implementation. The purpose of this paper is to reflect on the implications of the use of e-learning in medical education, weighing the advantages and disadvantages of its application.