Continuing Medical Education for Health Professionals in a Rural Area of ​​Ecuador

Abstract

Introduction: In Ecuador a certification process for professional competences has not been established, which means that continuing medical education has been limited to specialized postgraduate courses concentrated in a few cities. This study demonstrates a local experience of a short course to improve skills and clinical skills in a group of health professionals in a rural area of ​​Ecuador.

Objective: To improve the skills of clinical management in a group of health workers according to the "Professional profile" for the national health system of the Ministry of Health of Ecuador.

Method: A 40-hour course was developed for two groups. The first group was composed of midwives. The second group was composed of doctors, nurses, and paramedics. The course focused on emergency care and was taught with workshops and simulations. The participants were chosen at random and the workshops were designed according to each participant’s professional field. The evaluation consisted of a test at the beginning of the course, a new test after one month of the course, and another test at the end.

Results: A total of 42 people completed the course. 15 (35.7%) were midwives; 20 (47.6%) were physicians; 4 (9.5%) were nurses, and 3 (7.1%) were paramedics. The majority (66.6%) were women. The pre-course test average was 4.81 / 10. At the end of the course, the average was 7.49 / 10. After one month, the test average was 7.39 / 10. There was a statistically significant difference between the results of the evaluations (p <0.05) of pre-test and post-test after the course.20 participants completed the test after one month. In this case, the results the post-test and the results of the one-month test showed no statistically significant difference (p> 0.05).

Conclusions: A continuing medical education course improves the knowledge, skills and abilities of the participants at the end of their development, and their results are persistent over time. The methodology of teaching through workshops and simulations allows significant learning for health personnel. This type of activity improves the quality of health care.