A Call to Action: Urgently Strengthening the Future Physician-Scientist Workforce in Infectious Diseases.

Infectious diseases (ID) research is vital for global public health, typically led by physician-scientists. This Perspective addresses challenges in the ID workforce and suggests solutions. Physician-scientists have made key discoveries that have significantly impacted human health. The importance of ID research in understanding diseases, leading to treatments and vaccines, is emphasized, along with the need to address persistent and new infections, antimicrobial resistance, and threats like HIV and influenza. The paper analyzes the physician-scientist workforce's struggles, including funding, training, and research-practice integration gaps. We suggest increased funding, better training, and mentorship, more collaborative and interdisciplinary research, and improved recognition systems. The article stresses the urgency of supporting physician-scientists in ID, advocating for proactive prevention and preparedness, and calls for immediate action to enhance ID research and care.

Guía en redes sociales de radiología. ¿Hacia un nuevo paradigma en educación médica? / Social networks in radiology: Toward a new paradigm in medical education?

El sistema universalmente aceptado para la transmisión del conocimiento científico en medicina se basa desde hace mucho en las publicaciones científicas. Las redes sociales (RRSS) son una alternativa o complemento que puede ser útil. Las RRSS (Twitter, Instagram, Facebook, LinkedIn, YouTube, TikTok) tienen generadores de contenidos educativos que pueden proporcionar formación de calidad, a pesar de su informalidad. Cada una tiene sus puntos fuertes y sus debilidades, que conviene conocer. Son gratuitas y permiten discutir en vivo, incorporar contenidos ágilmente y contactar directamente con expertos o fuentes de conocimiento. Las editoriales son conscientes de su influencia y han incorporado métricas que miden el impacto en ellas de los artículos (Altmetrics). La estrategia formativa de cualquier servicio debe incorporarlas ya. Sin embargo, navegar en ellas es complejo y el sistema de búsqueda, basado en hashtags, es ineficiente, por lo que su uso en educación sigue siendo cosa de excéntricos. El conocimiento generado en las RRSS, a pesar de su informalidad, es una fuente cada vez más importante de conocimiento. Los servicios de radiología deben definir una estrategia de RRSS, no con fines de propaganda, sino educativos, creando grupos focales bien formados que busquen contenidos mediante revisión sistemática y filtros, repositorios digitales y sesiones de revisión y los compartan dentro y fuera del servicio. Igualmente, debe ser implementada una estrategia de comunicación a través de redes.(AU)

The universally accepted system for the transmission of scientific knowledge in the field of medicine has long been grounded in scientific publications. Social networks can be a useful alternative or complementary method of transmitting this knowledge. Social networks (e.g., Twitter, Instagram, Facebook, LinkedIn, YouTube, and TikTok) generate educational contents that enable quality training, despite their informality. Each of these networks has strengths and weaknesses that users should know about. These platforms are free and allow for real-time discussion. They make it easy to incorporate content and to contact experts or access sources of knowledge directly. Aware of their influence, publishers have incorporated metrics to measure the impact of their articles in social networks (Altmetrics). These networks should be incorporated into departmental training programs immediately. Nevertheless, navigating through social networks is complex, and the hashtag-based system of searching is inefficient, limiting their use in education. Despite the informality of the knowledge generated on social networks, the importance of these networks as a source of knowledge is growing. Radiology departments must design a strategy for using social networks for education rather than for propaganda, creating well-organized focal groups that search for contents through systematic, filtered review of information, digital repositories, and review sessions and for sharing this knowledge both inside and outside the department. Departments must also implement a strategy for communicating through these networks.(AU)

Universidad latinoamericana y el derecho social a la salud / The Latin-American University and the Social Right to Health

Este artículo se presenta en la sección de Conferencias Magistrales por ser el texto de una conferencia dictada en la IV Conferencia Internacional Educación Médica en el Siglo xxi durante la IV Convención Internacional de Salud, La Habana, octubre de 2022. Se ha mantenido su carácter de discurso oral. Se aborda el tema universidad latinoamericana y el derecho social a la salud, al considerar la relevancia de la salud en el desarrollo social y económico de la población y al tomar en cuenta la importancia de formar recursos humanos comprometidos con la salud como un derecho social, un bien público y una responsabilidad del Estado. Esto permite analizar críticamente el espacio de la salud pública y la formación de los recursos humanos en el siglo xx y el inicio del siglo xxi para aportar a la demanda de una nueva dimensión estratégica que responda, de forma comprometida, a las necesidades y prioridades de salud de nuestras poblaciones(AU)

This article is presented in the Keynote Lectures section because it is the text of a lecture given at the IV International Conference on Medical Education in the 21st Century during the IV International Health Convention, Havana, October 2022. It has been kept as an oral text. The topic on the Latin-American university and the social right to health is addressed, considering the relevance of health in the social and economic development of the population, as well as taking into account the importance of training human resources committed to health as a social right, a public good, and a responsibility of the State. This allows to analyze critically the public health space and the training of human resources in the twentieth century and the beginning of the twenty-first century, in order to contribute to the demand for a new strategic dimension that responds, in a committed manner, to the health needs and priorities of our populations(AU)

Chat GPT: origen, evolución, retos e impactos en la educación / Chat GPT: Origen, Evolution, Challenges and Impacts on Education

Introducción: Los avances de unas tecnologías y la obsolescencia de otras marchan a una velocidad inimaginable, especialmente en este siglo xxi. En los últimos meses de 2022 y primeros meses de 2023 muchas incógnitas y controversias en diferentes campos han surgido en torno a los Chat GPS, una innovación que presenta desafíos nunca pensados para la sociedad actual, así como nuevos retos que impactarán de manera directa en la formación y/o desempeño de profesores, estudiantes, profesionales de la salud, juristas, políticos, informáticos, bibliotecarios, científicos y cualquier ciudadano. Objetivo: Identificar algunas características del chat GPT y su posible impacto en el educación. Posicionamiento de los autores: Se leen en las noticias y reportajes valoraciones de especialistas; se han realizado encuentros virtuales y exposiciones; y están disponibles diversos artículos y videos sobre este tema, algunos llegan a ser elaborados con el propio asistente. Por la novedad del tema, la reciente incorporación como herramienta para el desarrollo profesional, así como por el interés mostrado en los últimos días por la comunidad de profesores de las ciencias médicas cubanas, y considerando que esta herramienta es resultado del desarrollo de la inteligencia artificial, cabe preguntarse: ¿en qué consiste? y ¿cuáles son sus perspectivas? Conclusiones: Resulta oportuno acercarse al tema desde las posibilidades y los retos que abre a la educación y el aprendizaje, en particular a la docencia médica(AU)

Introduction: The advances of some technologies and the obsolescence of others are marching at an unimaginable speed, especially in this twenty-first century. In the last months of 2022 and first months of 2023, many questions and controversies in different fields have arisen with respect to Chat GPT, an innovation that presents challenges never thought of before for today's society, as well as new challenges that will have a direct impact on the training and/or performance of professors, students, health professionals, law practitioners, politicians, computer scientists, librarians, scientists and any citizen. Objective: To identify some technological characteristics of Chat GPT. Positioning of the authors: In news and reports, assessments by specialists are read; virtual meetings and presentations have been held; and several articles and videos on this topic are available, some of them even elaborated by the assistant itself. Due to the novelty of the subject, its recent assimilation as a tool for professional development, as well as the interest shown in recent days by the community of professors of Cuban medical sciences and considering that this tool is the result of the development of artificial intelligence, it is worth wondering what it consists in and what its prospects are. Conclusions: It is appropriate to approach the subject with a focus on the possibilities and challenges that it opens to education and learning (AU)

Propuesta de modificaciones a la tecnología para la determinación de problemas y potencialidades / A Proposal of Modifications to the Technology for Determining Problems and Potentialities

Introducción: Para el desarrollo de la investigación científica, la educación médica ha asumido supuestos que conforman la Teoría de la Educación Avanzada, entre los que se encuentran la Tecnología para la determinación de problemas y potencialidades, descrita por reconocidos pedagogos cubanos. Objetivo: Proponer modificaciones a la Tecnología para la determinación de problemas y potencialidades. Métodos: Se utilizaron métodos teóricos: sistematización, histórico-lógico, sistémico estructural, funcional, análisis documental, concreción-abstracción y modelación. Resultados: Los autores realizaron modificaciones a la Tecnología para la determinación de problemas y potencialidades en el primer, quinto, sexto y séptimo pasos, con dos acercamientos al objeto de estudio desde lo genérico y holístico a lo particular, de la aproximación al análisis profundo. Se introdujo en la práctica mediante su utilización en una tesis, defendida en 2021, para optar por el título de Doctor en Ciencias de la Educación Médica. Conclusiones: La Tecnología para la determinación de problemas y potencialidades con modificaciones demuestra la flexibilidad y posibilidad de aplicación de la tecnología inicial en otras ciencias, a partir de modificaciones que pudieran introducirse de acuerdo con sus particularidades y complejidades. Esta innovación tecnológica se propone para el desarrollo de la investigación científica en las ciencias de la educación médica con vista a abordar, con un enfoque holístico, sus objetos de estudio y campos de acción(AU)

Introduction: For the development of scientific research, medical education has taken assumptions that make up the theory of advanced education, among which is the technology for determining problems and potentialities, described by renowned Cuban pedagogues. Objective: To propose modifications to the technology for determining problems and potentialities. Methods: Theoretical methods were used: systematization, historical-logical, structural-systemic, functional, documentary analysis, concretion-abstraction, and modeling. Results: The authors made modifications to the technology for determining problems and potentialities in the first, fifth, sixth and seventh steps, with two approaches to the object of study from the generic and holistic to the particular, from approximation to profound analysis. It was introduced into practice through its use in a thesis, defended in 2021, to opt for the degree of doctor of Medical Education Sciences. Conclusions: The technology for determining problems and potentialities with modifications shows the flexibility and possibility of application of the initial technology into other sciences, from modifications that could be introduced according to their particularities and complexities. This technological innovation is proposed for the development of scientific research in the sciences of medical education, in view of approaching, with a holistic perspective, its objects of study and fields of action(AU)

It is not about the destination but the journey: A dive into student-staff partnership processes.

Student-staff partnership advocates the active involvement of students' voices in the design of education. Although the concept of student-staff partnership is rapidly gaining momentum in health professions education, the current practices are more outcome-focused and pay less attention to the partnership process itself. Students' involvement in most of the claimed partnerships has been viewed as input information to the educational design process rather than inviting them to the more pronounced role as partners. In this commentary, we elaborate on different levels of students' involvement in educational design, before highlighting the possible dynamics between students and staff in partnership. We propose five key features of dynamics involved in the process of real student-staff partnerships and a Process-Outcome Model for Student-staff Partnership. We advocate that moving beyond outcomes and diving deeper into the partnership processes is the way forward to establishing true student-staff partnerships.

Salud comunitaria. Innovando en la formación de residentes de medicina familiar y comunitaria / Community health. Innovating in the training of family and community medicine residents

Objetivo: Conocer las opiniones de los agentes implicados en la formación de residentes de medicina familiar y comunitaria para mejorar el proceso formativo del «Proyecto de Apoyo a la Revitalización de la Atención Primaria; Activos para la Salud Comunitaria» (PARAC) teniendo en cuenta su adecuación, contextualización y las metodologías utilizadas.Método: Estudio cualitativo interpretativo-explicativo de orientación fenomenológica, multinivel y multicéntrico, en el que se analiza la opinión de las personas participantes. Entre 2018 y 2020 se realizaron 12 grupos focales y 24 entrevistas semiestructuradas, participando 67 profesionales pertenecientes a seis distritos sanitarios de Andalucía, que estuvieron implicados/as en el proceso formativo PARAC.Resultados: Las personas participantes consideran necesario ampliar la formación en salud comunitaria de los/las residentes. Para ello, creen necesario realizar cambios en el plan formativo de la especialidad, otorgando mayor protagonismo a la atención primaria de salud que a las rotaciones hospitalarias. Valoran positivamente las metodologías utilizadas en el proceso formativo PARAC, que consideran «novedosas», y la elección de docentes jóvenes que sirvan como referentes. Para que sus intervenciones en el territorio se realicen con calidad y seguridad para la población, piden que se garanticen unos tiempos y unos espacios específicos para la salud comunitaria, así como una adecuada supervisión que ayude a asegurar la coherencia y la continuidad de sus intervenciones.Conclusiones: La formación en salud comunitaria de los/las residentes de medicina familiar y comunitaria requiere un esfuerzo pedagógico, didáctico y curricular que los/las prepare para el trabajo con la comunidad, así como la garantía de unas condiciones organizativas que permitan este trabajo.(AU)

Objective: To know the opinions of the agents involved in the training of family and community medicine residents in order to improve the training process of the «Project to Support the Revitalization of Primary Care; Assets for Community Health» (PARAC) taking into account its adequacy, contextualization and the methodologies used.Method: Qualitative interpretative-explanatory study of phenomenological orientation, multilevel and multicenter, in which the opinion of the participants is analyzed. Between 2018 and 2020, 12 focus groups and 24 semi-structured interviews were carried out, with the participation of sixty-seven professionals from six health districts of Andalusia (Spain), who were involved in the PARAC training process.Results: The participants consider it necessary to broaden training in community health for residents. To this end, they consider it necessary to make changes in the training plan of the specialty, giving more importance to primary health care than to hospital rotations. They value positively the methodologies used in the PARAC training process, which they consider «novel», and the choice of young teachers to serve as references. In order for their interventions in the territory to be carried out with quality and safety for the population, they ask that specific times and spaces be guaranteed for community health, as well as adequate supervision to help ensure the coherence and continuity of their interventions.Conclusions: Training in community health for family and community medicine residents requires a pedagogical, didactic and curricular effort that prepares them for work with the community, as well as the guarantee of organizational conditions that allow this work.(AU)

Adaptations in clinical examinations of medical students in response to the COVID-19 pandemic: a systematic review.

INTRODUCTION: Clinical examinations (assessments) are integral to ensuring that medical students can treat patients safely and effectively. The COVID-19 pandemic disrupted traditional formats of clinical examinations. This prompted Medical Schools to adapt their approaches to conducting these examinations to make them suitable for delivery in the pandemic. This systematic review aims to identify the approaches that Medical Schools, internationally, adopted in adapting their clinical examinations of medical students in response to the COVID-19 pandemic. METHODS: Three databases and four key medical education journals were systematically searched up to 22 October 2021; a grey literature search was also undertaken. Two reviewers independently screened at title, abstract stage and full text stage against predefined eligibility criteria. Discrepancies were resolved by discussion and involvement of senior authors. Risk of bias assessment was performed using an adapted version of a pre-existing risk of bias assessment tool for medical education developments. Results were summarised in a narrative synthesis. RESULTS: A total of 36 studies were included, which documented the approaches of 48 Medical Schools in 17 countries. Approaches were categorised into in-person clinical examinations (22 studies) or online clinical examinations (14 studies). Authors of studies reporting in-person clinical examinations described deploying enhanced infection control measures along with modified patient participation. Authors of studies reporting online clinical examinations described using online software to create online examination circuits. All authors reported that adapted examinations were feasible, scores were comparable to previous years' student cohorts, and participant feedback was positive. Risk of bias assessment highlighted heterogeneity in reporting of the clinical examinations. CONCLUSIONS: This review identified two broad approaches to adapting clinical examinations in the pandemic: in-person and online. Authors reported it was feasible to conduct clinical examinations in the pandemic where medical educators are given sufficient time and resources to carefully plan and introduce suitable adaptations. However, the risk of bias assessment identified few studies with high reporting quality, which highlights the need for a common framework for reporting of medical education developments to enhance reproducibility across wider contexts. Our review provides medical educators with the opportunity to reflect on past practises and facilitate the design and planning of future examinations.

Superusers of Self-Paced Online Learning on OpenWHO.

INTRODUCTION: OpenWHO provides open-access, online, free and real-time learning responses to health emergencies, which includes capacitating healthcare providers, first liners, medical students and even the general public. During the pandemic and to date, an additional 40 courses for COVID-19 response have led to a massive increase in the number of learners and a change in user's trends. This paper presents initial findings on enrollment trends, use and completion rates of health emergency courses offered on OpenWHO. METHODS: The enrolment data statistics were drawn from OpenWHO's built-in reporting system, which tracks learners' enrolments, completion rates, demographics and other key course-related data, This information was collected from the beginning of the OpenWHO launch in 2017 up until October 2021. RESULTS: Average course completion rate on OpenWHO including all courses and languages was equal to 45.9%. Nearly half (46.4%) of all OpenWHO learners have enrolled in at least 2 courses and 71 000 superusers have completed at least 10 courses on the platform. CONCLUSION: WHO's learning platform during the pandemic registered record high completion rates and repeat learners enrollment. This highlights the massive impact of the OpenWHO online learning platform for health emergencies and the tangible knowledge transfer and access to health literacy.