Medical University of Villa Clara, Santa Clara, Cuba.
MEDICC Rev. 2012 Jul;14(3):19-24. doi: 10.37757/MR2012V14.N3.4.
One reason given by the South African government for establishing a physician training agreement with Cuba is that the ethical, humanistic and solidarity principles promoted in Cuban medical education are difficult to acquire in other settings. However, Cuba's general medical training program does not provide all skills needed by a general practitioner in South Africa: other competencies are required, such as management of general and gynecological or obstetrical surgical emergencies, administration of anesthesia and nursing procedures. As long as the desired humanistic values were assured, South African authorities have preferred to complement these competencies. Thus, since 2003, the Medical University of Villa Clara has applied a curricular strategy of 12 complementary courses to develop the requested additional skills, but results have not met expectations.
Determine why the complementary curricular strategy has not been entirely successful and identify possible courses of action for improvement.
A document review was conducted of the curricular strategy applied and of minutes of meetings between Cuban and South African counterparts to identify correspondence between requested professional skills and actions to develop them. In addition, South African students were surveyed and Cuban professors were interviewed in depth. Senior university administrators and key informants were also interviewed. Variables assessed were course quality and satisfaction of students and professors.
Some actions originally included in the curricular strategy were not implemented and there were structural weaknesses in complementary courses, primarily in objectives, teaching strategy and evaluation. Students reported insufficient practical activities and lack of relationship between content and the health situation in South Africa. Professors were dissatisfied with student levels of motivation and ability to manage their own learning. Other influencing factors were insufficient academic management and professors' lack of knowledge about the context where these future professionals would eventually practice.
Curricular strategy deficiencies detected are primarily in academic management; overcoming them could facilitate action in specific directions identified to improve the requested skill levels.
南非政府与古巴建立医师培训协议的一个原因是，古巴医学教育中所倡导的伦理、人文和团结原则在其他环境中难以获得。然而，古巴的普通医学培训计划并没有为南非的全科医生提供所有所需的技能：还需要其他能力，如普通和妇科或产科手术紧急情况的管理、麻醉和护理程序的管理。只要确保了所需的人文价值观，南非当局就更倾向于补充这些能力。因此，自 2003 年以来，维亚克拉拉医科大学应用了 12 门补充课程的课程策略来发展所需的额外技能，但结果并未达到预期。
确定补充课程策略为何没有完全成功，并确定可能的改进措施。
对所应用的课程策略以及古巴和南非对应人员之间的会议记录进行了文件审查，以确定请求的专业技能与开发这些技能的行动之间的对应关系。此外，对南非学生进行了调查，并对古巴教授进行了深入访谈。还对高级大学管理人员和主要信息员进行了访谈。评估的变量是课程质量以及学生和教授的满意度。
课程策略中最初包含的一些行动并未实施，补充课程存在结构上的弱点，主要在目标、教学策略和评估方面。学生报告说实践活动不足，内容与南非的卫生状况之间缺乏联系。教授对学生的学习动机和自主学习能力不满意。其他影响因素包括学术管理不足以及教授对这些未来专业人员最终将实践的环境缺乏了解。
检测到的课程策略缺陷主要存在于学术管理方面；克服这些缺陷可以促进针对确定的具体方向采取行动，以提高所要求的技能水平。
