Empatia en estudiantes de medicina de la Universidad del Norte, Colombia. Comparación de dos grupos (2012 y 2015) / Empathy among medical students at Universidad del Norte, Colombia. Comparison of two groups (2012 and 2015)

Resumen Introducción. La empatía es un elemento importante en la relación médico-paciente, por lo que la formación en empatía de los estudiantes de medicina debe ser un objetivo permanente de los programas universitarios. Objetivo. Determinar si las actividades académicas de formación en empatía médica implementadas en la Universidad del Norte en 2013 produjeron cambios significativos en los estudiantes de medicina matriculados en 2015 respecto a los matriculados en 2012. Materiales y métodos. Estudio transversal realizado en 934 estudiantes de Medicina de la Universidad del norte (426 hombres y 508 mujeres) matriculados en 2015 a los que se les aplicó la versión en español de la escala de empatía médica de Jefferson. Por su parte, el grupo de comparación estuvo conformado por 345 estudiantes de medicina (106 hombres y 239 mujeres) matriculados en 2012 en la misma universidad. Se realizó un análisis de varianza (ANOVA) y se evaluaron las diferencias entre los años académicos y entre género, así como las interacciones entre estos dos factores. Resultados. Aunque en general no se encontraron diferencias significativas en las tres dimensiones evaluadas (p>0.05) para los dos grupos, sí se observaron diferencias significativas en las preguntas 4, 17 y 20, correspondientes a la dimensión Toma de perspectiva, y en la pregunta 6, correspondiente a la dimensión Ponerse en el lugar del otro (p<0.05), ya que las medias de puntaje fueron mayores en la cohorte de 2012. Conclusión. Las actividades de formación en empatía establecidas en el plan de estudios del programa de medicina no produjeron cambios significativos, por lo que es necesario evaluar y perfeccionar tanto los contenidos del currículo, como los procesos de enseñanza-aprendizaje relacionados con la formación en empatía del programa de Medicina de la Universidad del Norte (Barranquilla, Colombia).

Abstract Introduction: Empathy is an important component of the doctor-patient relationship, so the provision of empathy training to medical students must be a permanent goal of MD programs. Objective: To determine whether the academic medical empathy training activities implemented at Universidad del Norte in 2013 resulted in significant changes in medical students enrolled in 2015 compared to those enrolled in 2012. Materials and methods: Cross-sectional study conducted on 934 medical students (426 men and 508 women) enrolled at Universidad del Norte in 2015 who were administered the Spanish version of the Jefferson Scale of Empathy. The comparison group consisted of 345 medical students (106 men and 239 women) enrolled in 2012 at the same university. An analysis of variance (ANOVA) was performed and differences between academic years and between genders were evaluated, as well as the interactions between these two factors. Results: Although, in general, there were no significant differences between both groups in the three dimensions that were evaluated (p>0.05), statistically significant differences were observed in questions 4, 17 and 20, which are part of the Perspective Taking dimension, and in question 6, included in the Walking in Patient's Shoes dimension (p<0.05), since scores medias were higher in the 2012 cohort. Conclusions: The empathy training activities implemented in the medical program did not produce significant changes. Therefore, it is necessary to assess and improve both the contents and the teaching-learning processes related to empathy training in the medical program offered at Universidad del Norte.

Intermittent fasting dissociates beneficial effects of dietary restriction on glucose metabolism and neuronal resistance to injury from calorie intake.

Dietary restriction has been shown to have several health benefits including increased insulin sensitivity, stress resistance, reduced morbidity, and increased life span. The mechanism remains unknown, but the need for a long-term reduction in caloric intake to achieve these benefits has been assumed. We report that when C57BL6 mice are maintained on an intermittent fasting (alternate-day fasting) dietary-restriction regimen their overall food intake is not decreased and their body weight is maintained. Nevertheless, intermittent fasting resulted in beneficial effects that met or exceeded those of caloric restriction including reduced serum glucose and insulin levels and increased resistance of neurons in the brain to excitotoxic stress. Intermittent fasting therefore has beneficial effects on glucose regulation and neuronal resistance to injury in these mice that are independent of caloric intake.

Centrin: its secondary structure in the presence and absence of cations.

Centrin is a low molecular mass (20 kDa) protein that belongs to the EF-hand superfamily of calcium-binding proteins. Local and overall changes were investigated for interactions between cations and Chlamydomonas centrin using Fourier transform infrared (FT-IR) and circular dichroic (CD) spectroscopies. FT-IR spectral features studied included the amide I' band and the side-chain absorbances for aspartate residues located almost exclusively at the calcium-binding sites in the spectral region of 1700-1500 cm(-1). The amide I' band is exquisitely sensitive to changes in protein secondary structure and is observed to shift from 1626.5 to 1642.7 cm(-1) in the presence and absence of calcium. These spectral bands are complex and were further studied using two-dimensional Fourier transform infrared (2D-FT-IR) correlation along with curve-fitting routines. Using these methods the secondary structure contributions were determined for holocentrin and apocentrin. The alpha-helical content in centrin was determined to be 60%-53% in the presence and absence of cations, respectively. Furthermore, the beta-strand content was determined to be 12%-36%, while the random coil component remained almost constant at 7%-13.5% in the presence and absence of cations, respectively. Changes in the side-chain band are mostly due to the monodentate coordination of aspartate to the cation. A shift of approximately 4 cm(-1) (for the COO- antisymmetric stretch in Asp) from 1565 to 1569 cm(-1) is observed for apocentrin and holocentrin, respectively. Thermal dependence revealed reversible conformational transition temperatures for apocentrin at 37 degrees C and holocentrin at 45 degrees C, suggesting greater stability for holocentrin.