INTEGRATING RESEARCH, MEDICAL INFORMATICS, EVIDENCE BASED MEDICINE AND POPULATION HEALTH IN THE MEDICAL CURRICULUM: EVIDENCING OUTCOMES IN A NEW GENERATION OF MEDICAL DOCTORS

Myrna Borges, M.D., Academic Dean; Alberto Santiago-Cornier, M.D., Ph.D., Associate Dean for Research; Martha García, M.D.*, MSc, Assistant Professor and Alvaro Pérez, M.D., MSc, Assistant Professor. San Juan Bautista School of Medicine, Caguas, PR, 00725 U.S.A.

Purpose
Contemporary trends in medical education represent many challenges to medical schools, such as to prepare students to be independent learners and to demonstrate information literacy. Students also must be introduced to epidemiology, biostatistics, evidence-based medicine, and basic, clinical and translational research. To answer these challenges, the San Juan Bautista School of Medicine instituted several strategies on Research and Information Literacy in 2000, consolidated as curricular emphasis in 2003. This study describes the project and its outcomes.

Methods

Through the four years the students design a research project answering a public health research question.

A comprehensive assessment process is in place to measure the outcomes, including faculty and student satisfaction surveys, graduate questionnaire, academic progress analysis and, inventory of student research participation.

Results
Since 2000, some 400 students have participated in the initiatives. The first group exposed to the complete “axis concept” is the class 2007. Satisfactions with the model and student research production have grown each year. The graduate questionnaires 2006 and 2007 evidenced notorious change in the awareness of axis contents for the profession.

Conclusion / Future Directions.
The model has demonstrated to be effective answering to the challenges on this matter. Continuous assessment has allowed improvement. The goal for currently enrolled students is one research paper per student before graduation.