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The Post-Pandemic Challenges in Training Human Talent In Health

By Jorge Eugenio Valdez García - School of Medicine, Tec de Mty
Dean

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Jorge Valdéz By Jorge Valdéz | Dean - Wed, 03/29/2023 - 11:00

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One of the major challenges that medical education institutions in our country face is the effective reformulation of the training of human talent in health in the post-SARS CoV2 era. It is necessary to highlight  the demographic and epidemiological transition from the COVID-19 pandemic and its consequences to the available supply of human resources for health, these to delimit an agenda that should address the international and national epidemiological context post-COVID 19 with a focus on the lessons learned in Mexico during the pandemic. The above leads us to a reflection on the containment and approach strategies in the pandemic, in which we consider aspects related to  human talent in health, installed capacity, the patient management processes and the clinical care protocols implemented. It is necessary to restructure the model of effective training of talent in health under this new epidemiological context. 

One of the first challenges is to reverse the health-disease ratio of the country’s population through the alignment of training programs for health professionals with public health policies to achieve the desired impact. To achieve this requires the training of health professionals in primary healthcare with a population-based approach, the transformation of training programs from clinical specialties to more comprehensive studies as well the promotion of on-site research (epidemiological, clinical, quality of care and spatial) in medical education.

To address the challenges in health in the post-pandemic scenario, it is also necessary to strengthen the supply of health services for the training and incorporation of human talent in health through the improvement of the installed capacity for the education of human resources in health according to the new needs in health, an adequate planning of the infrastructure based on the needs in healthcare that allows the creation of academic centers (research, teaching and service)  for undergraduate and postgraduate students in the three levels of care, according to the current needs with a strategic emphasis on primary healthcare. It is urgently necessary to plan and create opportunities for incorporation into worthy positions for new talent in health. This leads to the inclusion in the public agenda of dignification in the hiring of health personnel considering their personal and professional development (life plan). 

It is necessary to assume that there will be a new role for the healthcare institutions in the training of human talent in which the gender perspective and non-discrimination must be promoted. It is imperative to review medical and nursing curricula so that they have a gender perspective and are not discriminatory. Equally important is to verify that the institutional policies of medical units have this gender perspective. Analyzing the institutional criteria for the assignment of leadership positions in health with a gender perspective is among the most effective strategies that can be implemented to achieve these changes in a more timely and pertinent manner.

This leads the institutions involved in the training of human talent in health to design a new academic curriculum in the face of the social commitment that both universities and institutions providing health services have. To be accountable to society (social accountability), universities must become active agents in national health policies, prioritizing human development and seeking the preservation of biological, psychological and social health. Therefore, there is a need to review and update training programs for health personnel with a local perspective and with an adaptive approach to the needs of the population in primary healthcare. Medical schools should actively contribute to the formation of healthy cities and communities through the prioritization of health promotion and disease prevention strategies.

It is imperative that the training institutions of human talent in health respond in a consensual manner to the healthcare needs of the population, articulating this with the updated, relevant and timely training of the new health professional.

As this post-pandemic scenario advances toward patient-centered care, the need for the country’s medical faculties and schools to articulate their internal and external obligations with public needs and perception becomes mandatory. It is imperative that medical schools stop self-conceptualizing under linear and isolated schemes in order to move to more flexible, integrated and active structures, seeking a transformation that has a direct impact on everyone’s health.

Institution leaders must involve the academic community and other stakeholders in society in the planning and accelerated execution of public policies, programs and interventions that initiate a revamping of the health system. Leaders involved in medical and healthcare education must do it and do it now, simply because it is the right thing to do.

Note: This article addresses the agenda set at the 1st National Summit "Challenges in the Training of Human Talent in Health" organized by AMFEM (Asociación Mexicana de Facultades y Escuelas de Medicina).

Photo by:   Jorge Eugenio Valdez García

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