Is Medical Education in Latin America and the Caribbean Ready to Face the Coming Challenges?

Abstract

Background: WHO acknowledges an 18 million global deficit in health care professionals (HCPs). By 2030, 40 million health-related jobs will be needed to meet the population's needs. The characteristics of medical education (ME) in Latin America and the Caribbean (LAC) have not been fully explored. This hinders strategic planning to address how many physicians will be needed to meet the 2030 worldwide goal of universal health. Methods: A cross-sectional survey was administered to public and private medical schools (MS). A task force drafted six dimensions that determine ME regionally. We explored context, guidelines, infrastructure, academic process, labour market and social impact. The ad-hoc survey included a Likert scale. Cronbach's alpha was 0.894, descriptive analysis included frequencies. Bivariate analysis using χ² had a p= 0.05. Findings: 105 MS participated. 77% reported having human resources national training guidelines, 47% believe these are adequate to plan the number and physician specialty. 16% responded public funding allocated for ME is sufficient, 42% are aware of ME regulatory mechanisms, however most believe these are insufficient. 81% reported there are national guidelines on educational infrastructure and 83% believe their physical infrastructure is adequate. Regarding academic excellence, 32% of respondents fulfilled this criteria: 10% had international certification. 88% plan student admission, 54% satisfied their entry demand. Terminal efficiency is 88%, labour market insertion is 94% and 40% of graduates work in primary level facilities. 96% of respondents believe their graduates contribute to controlling prevalent morbidity and help reduce maternal and child mortality. Interpretation: International certification of ME in LAC is an unfinished agenda that must be addressed by medical school's associations. The standards of the World Federation for Medical Education have guided the teaching and accreditation processes. However, our study findings, highlight the road towards improving the quality of ME and help achieve HC in LAC. Funding: This project was funded by the National Autonomous University of Mexico, Faculty of Medicine. Declaration of Interest: We declare no competing interests. Ethical Approval: The study protocol was approved by the UNAM’s IRB (protocol number 111/2017). All the country’s participating universities adhered to this IRB’s approval and guidelines on research with human subjects were closely followed.