Abstract

DEL HUERTO MARIMON, María Elena. University extension as a way of strenghtening the links between university and society from a health promotion perspective. Rev Cubana Salud Pública [online]. 2007, vol.33, n.2. ISSN 0864-3466.

University Extension is one of the ways of developing the process of cultural communication in a broad sense; it facilites the links between the university and the society thorugh various forms of manifestation and renders services to the university community and the population at large to meet training needs and and contribute to comprehensive cultural development. For the university extension to fullfil its mission, it is required to make changes in higher medical education facing its environment; however, expected results have not been achieved yet. The main contradiction lies in the new demands upon the general activity of the university extension and the presence of certain traditional protoypes in higher medical education centers that restrict an effective planning process from the municipality and for the municipality. In the university context, health promotion has the fundamental aim of improving the level of awareness and capacity for action of both the individual and the community through projects to be carried out within and outside the university. If one considers the current demands and challenges of the Cuban medical university in the 21 st century and the need of graduating health professionals with a comprehensive general formation that allows them to effectively work in the community and its centers both in national and international settings, the importance of the university extension as a way of strenghtening the links between university and society from a health promotion viewpoint, with emphasis on health public culture, is reinforced.

Keywords : University Extension; health promotion; academic process management; strategic planning.

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