Abstract

VILLEGAS VALVERDE, Carlos Agustín  and  LAHERA SANCHEZ, Tania. Characterization of the cognitive development of Venezuelan medical students involved in Barrio Adentro Mission. Educ Med Super [online]. 2011, vol.25, n.1, pp.68-81. ISSN 0864-2141.

INTRODUCTION: The implementation of a novel medical formative program is a challenge for any educational system and should be met because the universities must be on a par with the present demands of the society. There is some social debt in the field of healthcare in Venezuela; therefore, a quality massive medical formation is required. In this regard, we developed a formation program in 2004 that is undergoing constant improvement and thus requires evaluation of and feedback on its results. OBJECTIVE: To characterize the cognitive development of the Integrated Community Medicine students. METHODS: Data collection was based on a student-tailored questionnaire and a key informant interview, being both instruments prepared by the author; manual data processing and results shown in text, tables and graphs. RESULTS: It was found that 75 % of the students looked for information for their homework whereas only 53.3 % succeeded. The most used method of comparison of ideas was the exchange of views with the professors (75 %). Thirteen percent of the students did not match the obtained information with other people. CONCLUSIONS: Most of the students did not achieve the cognitive development in terms of knowledge and skills that the basic sciences´ problem-based method demands.

Keywords : Medical education; cognitive development; undergraduate students.

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