Free Medical Education Research Articles

Education of U.S. primary care physicians at the Latin American medical school in Cuba

Background: Growing global health disparities have led to an international call for reform in physician education to meet the need for more responsive providers, emphasizing social accountability, with its four main criteria being relevance, quality, cost-effectiveness, and equity. In contrast to traditional models, Cuba’s Latin American Medical School (la Escuela Latinoamericana de Medicina, ELAM) promotes primary healthcare for disadvantaged populations by providing free medical education to foreign students from low-income communities, including United States (U.S.) citizens. This study examines the processes and standards by which the Latin American Medical School provides socially accountable education, with an emphasis on current and former students from the U.S. The objective of this study is to assess the efforts of ELAM to educate medical students in socially accountable and ethical ways. Methods: Guided by the four abovementioned criteria of social accountability, we thematically analyzed survey comments from 56 past U.S. graduates of the ELAM and interviews with four current U.S. students and eight instructors. Results: Relevance of the ELAM´s training was reflected in the integration of public health practices (e.g., community assessments) and medical care relevant to local and international health concerns. Quality is manifested in the school’s promotion of evidence-based care through tailored academic content for the U.S. students, expanded educational facilities throughout Cuba, and extensive clinical experiences. ELAM exhibits cost-effectiveness via free education and other financial assistance. Promoting equity in healthcare is evident in students’ desire to care for underserved populations with whom they identify. Graduates, current students, and instructors demonstrate that educating physicians from marginalized communities helps to answer the call for social accountability; this was supported by the educational processes and achieved outcomes. Discussion: These findings indicate that the Latin American Medical School’s mission and core activities meet the WHO’s criteria for social accountability and advance current understanding of such programs.

Creating Open and Free Medical Education Resources.

Purpose: Open Educational Resources (OERs) are published in public domains or permissively licensed (i.e., Creative Commons [CC]) materials that allow for open sharing and free accessibility. 1 The absence of a common structure for OER materials has been identified as a barrier to collaboration among educators and a source of inefficiency. 2 Both MedEdPORTAL and the Association of American Medical Colleges (AAMC)’s Clinical Teaching and Learning Experiences 3 collection of educational materials lack a standard format that would allow resources to be directly integrated into medical school curricula without significant modification. The rise of virtual education with COVID-19 has made OERs more pertinent and accessible. Transition to Residency (TTR) courses have become increasingly popular as they seek to improve skills just before the increase in responsibility seen when students become first-year residents. 4 TTR courses should work toward common content between institutions because most students matriculate to residency programs outside of their medical school alma mater. Approach: We sought to create an OER collection specific to TTR courses containing standard formats, allowing course directors to interchangeably use materials and more easily share materials between institutions. Keywords of “Transition to Residency,” “bootcamp,” “internship preparation,” and “capstone” were used in multiple searchable collections of OERs (BCcampus, Oasis, OpenStax, MERLOT, and MedEdPORTAL) to search for existing TTR-related materials. Few resources were identified and either required significant modification to be used in a TTR course or were specific to 1 specialty. 5 A 12-participant convenience sample from 8 different medical schools and the AAMC MedBiquitous program used consensus discussion to draft a set of standards for faculty guides and teaching materials. A website (www.ttreducators.com) was created as a hub for collaboration and a platform for future distribution of materials. A pilot conversion of 10 existing materials from our local TTR course uncovered key considerations and process steps needed to create TTR OERs. Results: A standard structure for faculty guides (i.e., title structure, learning objectives, MESH terms, etc.) was identified. Five specialty groupings were selected for specialty-specific material: Emergency Medicine, Internal Medicine, Obstetrics–Gynecology, Pediatrics, and Surgery. Ten different educational delivery formats were identified as commonly adopted in TTR courses: “long-case” and “short-case” case-based learning, lecture, panel discussion, game, workshop/procedural skills training, peer role-play, simulation – standardized patient role-play, simulation – manikin/low-fidelity, and simulation – manikin/high fidelity. Each type was assigned a standard duration (1 or 2 hours), ideal group size (3, 4, 10, or infinite), a facilitator/student ratio (1/4, 1/6, 1/10, 1/infinite), and an ideal learning setting (classroom, virtual, simulation center). The “game” delivery format was not assigned standards due to the variability and complexity of games being delivered in TTR courses. Pilot conversion of local materials identified numerous key steps for ensuring compliance with CC licensing and OER best practices: ensuring web accessibility for the disabled, reverse image searching to ensure embedded content from external sources is open access, and documenting a CC license. 1 Additionally, an author consent was created and reviewed by our institution’s legal team. Discussion: A draft set of standards was created for TTR course curricular materials that will help ensure OERs are more easily usable by courses from different medical schools. We feel this approach was successful due in part to similar TTR course goals across schools, ensuring OERs can be freely modified after dissemination, and openness of educators to relinquish some personal control for the greater good. Our approach could be adapted by other educational domains in both undergraduate and graduate medical education, potentially saving a significant amount of time from teaching faculty. Significance: Creating standardized formatting of TTR course materials will make OER distribution, implementation, and exchange easier and more widely adopted.

Targeted Enrollment of Medical Students for Rural China: Prospects and Challenges.

PurposeMost countries are faced with the challenge of inadequate human resources for health in rural and remote areas. In China, approximately 41% of the total population reside in rural areas where there is a severe shortage of qualified practicing physicians. The Chinese government adopted a plan to strengthen the primary healthcare workforce by increasing enrollment of students from rural areas and providing free medical education. The purpose of this study is to examine the design and implementation of this plan in China, including its construct, outcomes, and challenges.MethodsThree databases and Baidu were searched to find literature relating to targeted enrollment of medical students for rural China. Official government documents were also reviewed.ResultsTargeted enrollment of medical students from rural areas was implemented in 2010 throughout China. For example, under financial support from the Ministry of Finance, over 5000 5-year medical students per year were admitted from central and western China. Most graduates went to rural primary care settings to provide health services in accordance with their signed commitments to provide service as intended by the government. These medical school initiatives are faced with a number of challenges, including unfilled enrollment vacancies, low motivation to study among these students along with a reluctance to serve a rural population, and unguaranteed job opportunities.ConclusionTargeted enrollment of medical students and free medical education in exchange for obligatory services contribute to improve the allocation of physicians in rural China. However, there are opportunities to improve the design and implementation of these programs. This review of the approach taken in China may be informative to other countries in their efforts to address the shortage of health professionals in rural and remote areas.

Mode of general practitioner training and its accomplishment in Shanghai

In order to strengthen the training of grassroots health personnel, in Shanghai the program of general practice training has been included in the residency training systemsince 2010, and the program integrated theresidency training with master degree study. At the same time the training of general practitioners in Shanghai also included the following programs: job-transfer training for grassroots doctors, order oriented training for rural doctors, order oriented free medical education, and standardized training of assistant general practitioners. Key words: General practitioner; Standardized training

Development, improvement and funding of the emergency medicine cases open-access podcast.

Internet-based medical education resources, such as podcasts, have increased in number and popularity in recent years, and are being integrated into all levels of medical training and continuing medical education.1,2 Podcasts may be more effective than traditional methods of instruction such as textbooks for learners who prefer auditory modes of learning.3 Social media, through which podcasts can be distributed, is defined as the social interaction among people through virtual communities. The term ‘Free Open-Access Medical EDucation' (FOAMed), coined in 2012, is a subset of social media relating to the “creation and exchange of user-generated [medical] content via virtual networks and communities”.4 It is growing rapidly, out of a desire by health care professionals for free medical education and as a means to stay current with the wide scope of EM literature.5,6 This article describes the creation of the Emergency Medicine Cases (EMC) podcast, as well as the innovative transformation that occurred as a result of its conversion to a free open-access resource and its partnership with an academic institution. Description of the Podcast EMC, which was created in 2010, is targeted at health care professionals working in the EM environment. In a monthly podcast, the host (ADH) poses clinical questions to guest experts, discussing current controversies and describing evidence-based treatments. Episodes cover broad-based and clinically relevant topics from atrial fibrillation to cognitive decision-making. Eighty-two three-hour podcasts have been produced to date, each accompanied by a written summary, and 46 five-minute ‘Best Case Ever’ capsules. Initially, EMC was offered on a subscription-only basis. As of March 2014, 1,680 health care providers had subscribed to EMC. As demand for free online education increased, however, a free open-access model was adopted in April 2014. To cover the significant ongoing costs of the program, EMC partnered in July 2014 with a non-profit academic institution in Toronto, Canada, dedicated to advancing the care of patients requiring emergency services. The social media presence of EMC was also increased.

Design and Implementation of Medical Education System using Mesh-Up Meta-Search Program

Abstract In recent years, several technologies have brought many changes in the field of education. Nonetheless, it is difficult to get freely medical and professional knowledge in the educational environment . In this paper, we study a free medical education system for medical education through service to the Mashup offers a meta-search system. Received permission to use the system API to retrieve the content API, data retrieval systems and video content via the API to design a system, based on this medical education, meta-search system is implemented. Key Words ：Open API, Mashup I. Introduction Currently many changes are taking place in many fields, but medical education guidelines of the education does not exist properly. According to the learning objectives is being made, even the distribution does not fit in of classroom situation. This understanding, students study handed down through generations, or are studying only goal of the study. Moreover, the situation does not fit into our country to the American system is based on the lessons that place. In this paper,

Cuba va

My commitment to the Cuban Revolution began in 2002 with my first trip to the island. Today, after 13 trips, I feel it to be stronger than ever. I have had the good fortune to penetrate deep into the texture of Cuban society, getting to know from the inside not only people's everyday lives but also the ongoing revolutionary process. Because of the ideals I nurture in my heart, the ideals of revolution, I have been able to gain the trust of the Cuban officials and ordinary people that allowed me to enter hospitals, universities, schools, cooperatives, factories, prisons, army compounds, and homes. As a photographer I have been able to capture the essence of this country, its people, and its revolution and create a book that goes beyond the stereotypes (and lies) we are so often told about Cuba by the mainstream media. I was accompanied through this professional and personal journey by my best friend, Roberto Chile, Fidel Castro's personal cameraman for 25 years. I owe him a lot. I sometimes hear that the revolutionary process is over and that it has been betrayed. Today, a few months after Fidel Castro publicly declared that he would not accept the position of commander in chief, this process appears to me to be livelier than ever. It is apparent that it is worth fighting for and that Cuba has much to teach us citizens of the so-called developed nations. In a world that is following the wrong models, what is offered by the revolution ary Cuban people needs to be publicized and vigorously defended. I am thinking about Operation Miracle, in which hundreds of thousands of people from the Caribbean and Latin America have been operated on, free of charge, for cataracts and other eye diseases; about the doctors and nurses who work in dozens of developing countries to attend the poorest people; about the Latin American School of Medicine, where free medical education is given to students from countries on the five continents (including the United States) where this education is unavailable or costs thousands of dollars. Let us not forget that Cuba is a small developing country of 11 million people just a handful of miles from an aggressive and cowardly neighbor. Cuba is not a paradise on Earth; it has problems and contradictions as does every other country. It only wants to decide for itself without any interference from the outside and to be able to show the world that the road to socialism is

Other Issues

Other Issues: Unauthorized clinical trials in Nigeria; Female foeticide in India; South African biochemical warfare specialist relieved of duties; Fake anti‐malaria drugs in Cambodia; Free medical education in Cuba; Ethiopia receives donation from Japan; Sudanese leaders tackle AIDS; Zambian children dying from curable diseases; Healthcare ethics conference in Dubai

Free Medical Education

Free Medical Education