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Educational curricula require constant improvement to respond to the needs of students, institutions and society.To evaluate the Plan de Estudios 2010 of the Facultad de Medicina de la Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México.Documentary and qualitative study of three phases. First, revision of trends of general medicine in special databases and comparison of curricula between universities. Second, focus groups with clinical teachers and basic sciences to investigate experiences and opinions in relation to trends in general medicine. Third, a "Generalists Committee" was convened to whom the results were presented (phase one and two) and the recommendations were adapted to adapt the results to the general practitioner's context. The participants were informed about the research objective and their participation was voluntary, the anonymity of theirs comments was protected.The trend towards specialization in clinical practice defines the future of general medicine, and the administrative uses have an impact on the practices of the general practitioner and on the patient's medical relationship.Various aspects mainly educational and assistance hindered the quality of the practice of general medicine.los currículos educativos requieren estar en constante perfeccionamiento para responder a las necesidades de estudiantes, instituciones y de la sociedad.evaluar el Plan de Estudios 2010 de la carrera de medicina de la Facultad de Medicina de la Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México.estudio documental y cualitativo, de tres fases. En la primera se revisaron las tendencias de la medicina general en bases de datos especializadas y se compararon los planes de estudios entre universidades. En la segunda, se realizaron grupos focales con docentes clínicos y de ciencias básicas para indagar experiencias y opiniones en relación con las tendencias de la medicina general. En la tercera, se convocó a un “Comité de Generalistas” a quienes se les presentaron los resultados de las fases anteriores, y se realizaron las recomendaciones pertinentes para adecuar los resultados al contexto del médico general. La participación de los entrevistados fue voluntaria, fueron informados sobre el objetivo de investigación y se resguardó el anonimato de sus testimonios.la tendencia hacia la especialidad en la práctica clínica define el futuro de la medicina general; asimismo, los intereses administrativos repercuten en las prácticas del médico general y en la relación médico-paciente.diversos aspectos, principalmente educativos y asistenciales, obstaculizan la calidad de la práctica de la medicina general.

Background Competency-based education has been considered the most important pedagogical trend in Medicine in the last two decades. In clinical contexts, competencies are implemented through Entrustable Professional Activities (EPAs) which are observable and measurable. The aim of this paper is to describe the methodology used in the design of educational tools to assess students´ competencies in clinical practice during their undergraduate internship (UI). In this paper, we present the construction of specific APROCs (Actividades Profesionales Confiables) in Surgery (S), Gynecology and Obstetrics (GO) and Family Medicine (FM) rotations with three levels of performance. Methods The study considered a mixed method exploratory type design, a qualitative phase followed by a quantitative validation exercise. In the first stage data was obtained from three rotations (FM, GO and S) through focus groups about real and expected activities of medical interns. Triangulation with other sources was made to construct benchmarks. In the second stage, narrative descriptions with the three levels were validated by professors who teach the different subjects using the Delphi technique. Results The results may be described both curricular and methodological wise. From the curricular point of view, APROCs were identified in three UI rotations within clinical contexts in Mexico City, benchmarks were developed by levels and validated by experts’ consensus. In regard to methodological issues, this research contributed to the development of a strategy, following six steps, to build APROCs using mixed methods. Conclusions Developing benchmarks provides a regular and standardized language that helps to evaluate student’s performance and define educational strategies efficiently and accurately. The university academic program was aligned with APROCs in clinical contexts to assure the acquisition of competencies by students.

The reorganization of the national health system (SNS), enforces reflection and transformation on medical education in clinical contexts. The study presents an educational model to develop entrusted professionals activities (MEDAPROC) to train human resources in health with reliable knowledge, skills and attitudes to work in the shifting scenario of the SNS.The paper discusses international and national documents on skills in medicine. Based on the analysis of 8 domains, 50 skills and 13 entrusted professional activities (RPA) proposed by the Association of the American Medical College (AAMC) we propose a curriculum design, with the example of the undergraduate program of Gynecology and Obstetrics, with the intention to advance to internship and residency in a continuum that marks milestones and clinical practices.The pedagogical design of MEDAPROC was developed within three areas: 1) proposal of the AAMC; 2) curricular content of programs in pre and postgraduate education 3) organization of the daily agenda with academic mechanisms to develop the competencies, cover program items and develop clinical practice in deliberate learning activities, as well as milestones.The MEDAPROC offers versatility, student mobility and curricular flexibility in a system planed by academic units in diverse clinical settings.Introducción: la reorganización del Sistema Nacional de Salud (SNS), obliga a reflexionar y modificar la formación médica en los contextos clínicos. El estudio presenta la propuesta Modelo Educativo para Desarrollar Actividades Profesionales Confiables (MEDAPROC) para formar recursos humanos en salud con conocimientos, habilidades y actitudes confiables para desempeñarse en el escenario cambiante del SNS. Métodos: se examinaron los documentos internacionales y nacionales sobre competencias en medicina. Con base en el análisis de los 8 dominios, las 50 competencias y las 13 Actividades Profesionales Confiables (APROC) propuestas por la Association of the American Medical College (AAMC) se realizó un diseño curricular con el ejemplo del programa de Ginecología y Obstetricia de pregrado. Un grupo focal con 5 ginecólogos expertos, profesores de la especialidad realimentaron las competencias y los programas. Resultados: Se elaboró el diseño pedagógico del MEDAPROC con tres áreas: 1) propuesta de la AAMC; 2) contenidos curriculares de los programas en pre y posgrado, y 3) hitos y planeación de la agenda del día con dispositivos pedagógicos para desarrollar las competencias, cubrir temas del programa y desarrollar la práctica clínica en actividades deliberadas para el aprendizaje teórico/práctico. Conclusión: El MEDAPROC ofrece versatilidad, movilidad estudiantil y flexibilidad curricular en un sistema por bloques y no por sedes de adscripción.

The aim of the present study was to establish correlations between the dimensions of clinical learning environments (ACA) considering variables like: health institutions, hospital offices, specialty, and year of residency.4,189 doctors were evaluated through an online survey in 2012.The results revealed that the dimension of "educational processes" correlated best with others; specialties with the best ACA from the view of the medical residents were Internal Medicine and Surgery; and the third year residents had less favorable perceptions of their ACA.The pursuance of the academic program is relevant to physicians in training and teachers play an important role in the educational process.

Clinical education is an essential component of medical training and takes place in relatively adequate learning environments.Build and validate an instrument specific for the assessment of factors influencing a clinical learning environment.A Likert-type questionnaire was designed and its content was validated, while statistical trials were applied to it to determine its psychometric properties. The instrument was refined and assessed twice (a pilot of 122 cases on October 2011 and the study of 4,189 PUEM residents on March 2012). It consists of 28 items, distributed in four dimensions: interpersonal relations (IR), teaching processes (TP), institutional culture (IC), and service dynamics (SD).Cronbach's α of the whole pilot questionnaire after item refinement and 4,189 case study was 0.94 and 0.96, respectively. The percentage of total variance explained by the first component was 48 and 46%, respectively.The reliability and validity of the whole questionnaire and by dimension was adjusted to assess clinical learning environments in Mexican contexts and allows ranking specialized medical departments.

The aim of this work is to describe the conditions in which medical students perform their Social Service, highlighting their experiences in areas such as: information before they move and the motivation to leave home; the perception of personal and environmental lack of safety; the institutional support that they receive during their work in the community and the financial support provided. The methodological design of the study included an exploratory phase, in which collective interviews were performed, using the focal group technique, with students who had been in rural areas. Three hundred sixty cases were considered, 72.8% corresponded to rural areas, and 27.7% to Mexico City. According to the findings, the following actions are proposed: give better information and improve the process of vacancy selection; increase the scholarship received by students in Social Service; establish legal, police, and community support mechanisms to guarantee the student's personal safety; pay attention to aspects such as the student's emotional and social situation, and design programs with gender perspective to enhance certainty and safety.

The problem based learning (PBL) method was conceived as a teaching strategy to be applied in different areas or disciplines, thus several universities adopted it, among which was the Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México, best known as UNAM. The Faculty of Medicine of UNAM implemented this innovative teaching method of medicine for its learner-centered educational method tendency (patient-centered practice). This method develops also several abilities in the students, such as active and significant learning, seeking and data selection and autoanalysis and synthesis, knowledge integration of, mind's logic for the detection and solution of problems, among others. The aim was to evaluate the PBL impact on pedagogical and cognitive processes through the students' critical thinking and the significance of the experience on students and teachers which were working with PBL; in addition, study strategies and self-regulation in students were considered variables for the study. Our findings indicated that PBL was perceived differently among students and teachers, and it influenced in a positive and significant way the students' perception to solve problems and their motivation to achieve a good academic performance (p0.005). These results suggest that PBL is a useful strategy in the teaching and learning process and it is clear that the pedagogical process and other variables can potentially influence the results obtained.

To correlate the sociostructural variables with the knowledge about pneumonia and to explore the social representations about the etiology, prevention, development and treatment in poor communities.A survey in 848 adults from seven Rural Health Centers affiliated to IMSS-Oportunidades Program in four States, was carried out.One-third of the sample did not understand the term pneumonia; 35 % of the patients with risk factors did not know its etiology; 43 % did not know about associated complications but 85 % considered that it causes death. The use of antibiotics was recognized as a therapeutic measure by 78 % and 20 % did not know how to prevent pneumonia.The findings showed a positive attitude to immunization but inadequate information about respiratory diseases. In neighborhoods with insufficient public services (purified water, electricity and paved roads) the ignorance about pneumonia tended to increase.

The aim of this study was to correlate the socio structural variables of the Simplified Index of Family Poverty with the self-perception of resources that conform social capital among patients with acute respiratory disease (ARD). We used a qualitative and quantitative methodology. The sample included 848 cases distributed in seven Rural Medicine Units of Mexico. We considered three pathways described by Kawachi where social capital might have an impact on individual health. The bivariate correlation and discriminant analysis showed that when there is evidence of poverty in the family, the statistically significant differences are mainly observed in self-perception. Moral support of sons and daughters is thereby increased when there is an ARD. We concluded that when there is a higher index of family poverty there is a decreased access to social resources when a family member is diagnosed with an ARD.

Pericarditis is usually a complication of viral or bacterial infection. In addition, it can be associated to systemic diseases such as autoimmune disorders, rheumatic fever, cancer, tuberculosis and AIDS. It can also be related to familial Mediterranean fever, an autosomic recessive inflammatory disease, characterized by fever, abdominal pain, and pleuritis mainly seen in persons from the Mediterranean area. In this study, we described the evolution and treatment response to colchicine in three patients with pericarditis associated to familial Mediterranean fever. Two of the patients had a pericardiectomy showing in their biopsy nonspecified inflammatory changes. Later their diagnosis were confirmed by genetic markers, echocardiogram and EKG. They were treated with antiviral and antibiotics without any improvement; subsequently they had good results with colchicine.

With the multiple advances in the field of medicine and the resulting increase in life expectancy, the population pyramid is showing a tendency towards inversion; each day it becomes more feasible to surgically treat elderly patients. These patients represent a challenge not only because of the comorbidity that generally is associated with the elderly patient, but because of the multiple endemic physiological changes that alter and usually diminish their ability to cope with stressful situations. The elderly also experience social, economic and motivational problems during their illnesses, which should be considered during the surgical period in order to optimize the results of surgery and contribute to improve the quality of life of our patients. The approach with patients65 years of age during the perioperative period should be multifactorial. It is necessary to acknowledge the physiological changes, poly-pathology, poly-pharmaceutical, and social situation of our elderly patients since these are factors that will determine their response to, and recuperation from, the surgical treatment.

One of the biggest challenges that Mexico faces is to fight against the poverty. The transition of a characteristic welfare model from the government in a closed economy, to an open economy where the functions of the State are limited, has modified the modalities of the social politics against poverty. Six indispensable conditions are identified for poverty's reduction: 1. Economic development with stability in order to generate more and better jobs for poor people. 2. To improve regional economies. 3. To improve home conditions of poor people. 4. To elevate education levels (to encourage an authentic heath education). 5. To diminish catastrophic expenses for health problems. 6. Technical training for all workers. The impact of poverty over health can provide valuable elements to establish effective preventive strategies on health workers.

Background Medical uncertainty is inherently related to the practice of the physician and generally affects his or her patient care, job satisfaction, continuing education, as well as the overall goals of the health care system. In this paper, some new types of uncertainty, which extend existing typologies, are identified and the contexts and strategies to deal with them are studied. Methods We carried out a mixed-methods study, consisting of a qualitative and a quantitative phase. For the qualitative study, 128 residents reported critical incidents in their clinical practice and described how they coped with the uncertainty in the situation. Each critical incident was analyzed and the most salient situations, 45 in total, were retained. In the quantitative phase, a distinct group of 120 medical residents indicated for each of these situations whether they have been involved in the described situations and, if so, which coping strategy they applied. The analysis examines the relation between characteristics of the situation and the coping strategies. Results From the qualitative study, a new typology of uncertainty was derived which distinguishes between technical, conceptual, communicational, systemic, and ethical uncertainty. The quantitative analysis showed that, independently of the type of uncertainty, critical incidents are most frequently resolved by consulting senior physicians (49 % overall), which underscores the importance of the hierarchical relationships in the hospital. The insights gained by this study are combined into an integrative model of uncertainty in medical residencies, which combines the type and perceived level of uncertainty, the strategies employed to deal with it, and context elements such as the actors present in the situation. The model considers the final resolution at each of three levels: the patient, the health system, and the physician’s personal level. Conclusions This study gives insight into how medical residents make decisions under different types of uncertainty, giving account of the context in which the interactions take place and of the strategies used to resolve the incidents. These insights may guide the development of organizational policies that reduce uncertainty and stress in residents during their clinical training. Electronic supplementary material The online version of this article (doi:10.1186/s12909-015-0459-2) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.