[Level of teaching competence at the Undergraduate Medical Internship of UNAM's Faculty of Medicine]. / Nivel de competencia docente en el Internado Médico de Pregrado de la Facultad de Medicina de la UNAM.

BACKGROUND: There is no systematic evaluation of teaching performance in the clinical area at UNAM Faculty of Medicine. The study purpose is to assess the teaching competence level in the Undergraduate Medical Internship (UMI). METHODS: The paper describes the process of psychometric validity for the instrument designed to evaluate teaching competence in the UMI. This instrument was constructed from two previously developed instruments. The final version with 54 items in a Likert scale was studied with exploratory factorial analysis. Four dimensions were obtained: Solution of clinical problems, Psychopedagogy, Mentoring, and Evaluation. The instrument had a reliability of 0.994, with an explained variance of 77.75%. RESULTS: To evaluate the teaching competence level, we administered 844 questionnaires to a sample of students with a response rate of 89%. We obtained an overall global score of 89.4 ± 9.6 (mean ± SD). The dimension Solution of clinical problems was the one with a greater value, in contrast with the dimension of Evaluation, which had a lower score. CONCLUSION: The teachers of the UMI are considered educators with high level of teaching competence, according to the perceptions of the undergraduate internal doctors. The evaluation of teaching competence level is very important for institutions that look for the continuous professional development of its faculty.

Introducción: en la Facultad de Medicina de la Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México (UNAM) no hay una evaluación sistemática del desempeño docente del área clínica. El propósito de este estudio fue evaluar el nivel de competencia docente en el Internado Médico de Pregrado (IMP). Método: se describe el proceso de la validación psicométrica de un instrumento diseñado para evaluar la competencia docente en el IMP. El instrumento se construyó a partir de dos instrumentos previamente desarrollados y con base en el análisis factorial exploratorio de un instrumento con 54 reactivos y una escala tipo Likert, se obtuvieron cuatro dimensiones. El instrumento tuvo una confiabilidad de 0.994, con una varianza explicada de 77.75%. Resultados: para evaluar en nivel de competencia docente, se utilizaron 844 cuestionarios, lo que constituye la muestra de estudiantes, con una tasa de respuesta del 89%. Se obtuvo una media global de 89.4 ± 9.6 de desviación estándar. La Solución de problemas clínicos fue la que obtuvo mayor valoración, en contraste con la dimensión de Evaluación, que observó menor valoración. Conclusiones: los docentes del IMP son considerados educadores con alto nivel de competencia docente, según las percepciones de los médicos internos de pregrado. Se advierte cómo la evaluación de la competencia docente es indispensable en cualquier institución que busque el desarrollo profesional continuo de sus profesores.

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.