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Objective: It is important to understand the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on incremental innovation and its protection through industrial property rights, in order to acquiring valuable insights to develop effective public policies and corporate strategies. The objective was to analyze incremental innovations in response to the pandemic that have been protected by industrial property rights, and to examine whether the COVID-19 pandemic had a positive or negative effect on incremental innovation, promoting or inhibiting it., Methods: Utility models in the health patent class have been used as indicators (01.01.20 to 31.12.21), since the information they provide and their characteristics (requirements of applications and publication) allowed us to obtain preliminary conclusions in the short term. Their frequency of application during the pandemic months was analyzed and compared with an equivalent period immediately before (01.01.18 to 31.12.19)., Results: The analysis showed that there had been greater activity in healthcare innovation by all agents (individuals, companies and the public sector). In the pandemic period of 2020-2021, 754 utility models were requested, representing a nearly 40% increase compared to the equivalent period of 2018-2019, of which 284 were identified as pandemic-related innovations, with 59.7% of rights holders being individuals, 36.4% being companies, and only 3.9% being public entities., Conclusions: In general, incremental innovations require less investment and shorter technology maturation times, which had made it possible to respond, in some cases successfully, to situations of initial shortages of many medical devices, such as ventilators and protective equipment., Competing Interests: Disclosure The authors report no conflicts of interest in this work.

Background: The use of simulation in medical education has been widely accepted. There are different types of medical simulators that vary in both accuracy to emulate the real world (fidelity) and cost of development or acquisition. There is significant evidence that supports the use of high-fidelity simulators (i.e. mannequins or dummies) to prepare students for clinical environments, less attention has been given to low-fidelity simulators. This article aims to present evidence regarding the effectiveness of a low-fidelity simulator: Virtual Patient (VP), which develops several interactive computer-based clinical scenarios, seeking to promote an alternative learning environment and the development of necessary medical skills such as clinical reasoning in students of medicine., Methods: A quasi-experimental study was designed to investigate the results on the development of history taking and clinical reasoning skills in a group of undergraduate medical students, in a course devised under the concepts of constructivism in education, which used the Virtual Patient as the fundamental teaching tool. Results were measured through a mixed, quantitative and qualitative study, triangulating the results of the students' skills evaluation when facing a clinical case represented by an actor patient before and after the course. Additionally, the description of the students' and tool's performance was measured by way of a qualitative study., Results: The comparison of the students' skills on the evaluation matrix before-and-after the course evidenced a statistically significant advance (p < 0.01) in all aspects (interview, physical exam, clinical judgment, relevance of medical exams, and presentation of case). Students described the VP as an easy-to-use and motivating tool for learning without stress, especially at the beginning of their career. VP allowed them to create logical and structured processes, to be wrong without consequences, and to review and reassess information available. From the professor perspective, it allowed a better follow-up of the students' learning process and favored reflections on the teaching-learning process., Conclusions: VP proved to be a valuable and useful tool for the development of clinical reasoning and history taking skills in medical students, as part of a constructivist learning course.

In July 2007 in Medellín, Colombia, 1,200 health care professionals were asked to complete a questionnaire: of the 493 who participated, the mean age was 31.2 years; 58.8% were physicians; and 97.6% had Internet access, 60.5% on a daily basis and 27.7%, weekly. The preferred place to access the Internet was from home (58%) or from the work place (12.5%); 98% reported having a cell phone, and of those, 80% were interested in using health education tools via cell phone. These are the first data published regarding Internet and cellular phone penetration among health care workers in Colombia. Acceptance of the Internet and mobile systems as health information tools is gaining, and as such, creating a new opportunity for training and harnessing of these new technologies.