Resumo

PERNAS GOMEZ, Marta  e  GARRIDO RIQUENES, Carmen. Antecedents and new challenges in the training of health technicians in Cuba. Educ Med Super [online]. 2004, vol.18, n.4, pp.1-1. ISSN 0864-2141.

The historical stages of the training of health technicians and assistants in Cuba are analyzed. It is exposed a new stage in the training of Health Technology professionals that came into effect in the academic course 2002-2003 with the introduction of a new traininig curriculum that meets the needs of the National Health System of increasing the number and quality of the human resources devoted to develop these services and whose most significant characteristics are: admission with 12th grade finished, although it also serves as a way to continue the studies of the technicians working in the National Health System; a design created to guarantee an early incorporation to work for being structured with 2 intermediate outlets and whose milestone is working education as a synthesis of theory and practice, of the basic and the professional; the structure consisting of 2 basic components, which are the meetings at the university seat and the intermeetings at work under the guidance and control of a tutor, as well as its flexibility on giving the opportunity to fit the duration of the career to the individual possibilities of concluding each curricular unit. The selection and accreditation of the teaching-assistance settings and the selection and training of the professors are key factors for the success of the new curriculum.

Palavras-chave : Health technicians; Health Technology; National Health System.