Development of geriatric oncology in Latin America: A report from the Latin American Cooperative Oncology Group.

Population aging represents a critical issue for global cancer care, notably in low- and middle-income countries (LMIC). Latin America is a large region composed of 21 countries with notable diversity in both human development and access to quality healthcare. Thus, it is necessary to understand how care for older individuals is being delivered in such large and diverse regions of the world. This review describes the recent advances made in Mexico, Brazil, and Chile, focusing on the creation and implementation of educational, research, and clinical activities in geriatric oncology. These initiatives intend to change healthcare professionals' perceptions about the care for older adults and to improve the way older patients are being treated.

Time interval between diagnosis to treatment of breast cancer and the impact of health insurance coverage: a sub analysis of the AMAZONA III Study (GBECAM 0115).

PURPOSE: Breast cancer (BC) is the most common type of cancer among women in Brazil. Evidence shows that delayed treatment onset is associated with increased mortality. This study aimed to evaluate median days between diagnosis and treatment and factors associated with delayed start of treatment (> 60 days after diagnosis): stage, treatment received, subtype, epidemiological characteristics, and type of healthcare coverage. METHODS: This analysis included 1709 stage I-III BC patients from AMAZONA III, a prospective, observational study, diagnosed from January 2016 to March 2018 in 22 centers in Brazil. RESULTS: The median number of days from diagnosis to beginning of first oncologic treatment was 46 days (IQR 28-75) overall, 43 days (IQR 25-75) for stage I disease, 49 days (IQR 28-81) for stage II, and 44 days (IQR 30-68) for stage III, (p = 0.1180). According to first treatment received, diagnosis-to-treatment interval was 43 days (IQR 29-65) for neoadjuvant chemotherapy and 48 days (IQR 26-81) for surgery. Diagnosis-to-treatment interval was higher in women treated in the public system versus the private system (56 vs. 34 days, p < 0.0001). Patients in the public system had an increased odds of delayed treatment initiation (OR 4.74 95% CI 3.09-7.26, p < .0001). The longer interval from diagnosis to treatment in the public system was independent of clinical stage, type of treatment (systemic vs surgery first), subtype and region of the country. CONCLUSION: By characterizing the delays in care delivery, our study will aid stakeholders to better design interventions and allocate resource to improve timely treatment for breast cancer in Brazil. CLINICALTRIALS: gov Identifier: NCT02663973, registered on January, 26th, 2016.

Avaliação qualitativa do efeito do ensino de pedagogia médica sobre a atividade docente em alunos do curso de Pós-Graduação em Medicina / Qualitative assessment of the effect of a medical pedagogy course on the teaching activity of graduate medical students

A situação atual do ensino médico, principalmente referente à formação de seus professores vem sendo questionada e sofrendo adaptações nos currículos de pós-graduação visando ao aprimoramento dos métodos de ensino dos docentes. O programa de pósgraduação em Medicina da UFCSPA, buscando adequar-se aos padrões ideais de formação pedagógica docente, inseriu no seu programa a disciplina de Pedagogia Médica. O objetivo deste estudo foi avaliar a qualidade de ensino dos alunos do programa de Pósgraduação que cursam a disciplina de Pedagogia Médica. Foram avaliados 2 grupos: o primeiro, constituído por 120 alunos que realizaram a prática didática simultaneamente às aulas teóricas de Pedagogia e o segundo grupo, também com 120 alunos, porém que realizaram a prática didática após a conclusão da disciplina. Em conclusão, os alunos do grupo 2 apresentaram uma melhor qualidade no processo de ensino-aprendizagem pelo uso de maior variedade dos métodos de ensino, recursos audiovisuais e formas de avaliação (AU)

Introduction: The current situation of medical education in our community, particularly concerning the preparation of university professors, has been questioned and eventually submitted to changes in the postgraduate curricula in order to improve the teaching methods of medical professors. Seeking to catch-up with the optimal standards for the pedagogical formation of professors, the postgraduate program of medicine has included the discipline of Medical Pedagogy in its curriculum. Methods: Two groups were evaluated. Group 1, composed of 120 students, performed the didactical practice concurrently with the theoretical classes of Pedagogy, and Group 2, composed of 120 students as well but who attended the didactical classes after having completed the discipline. Results and Conclusion: Students in Group 2 presented a higher quality in the teaching/ learning process because of their wider use of teaching methods, audiovisual resources, and evaluation forms (AU)