Assessment of Faculty of Medicine, Universidad Nacional Mayor de San Marcos curricula and syllabi on subjects related to integral health care of persons affected by violence

Abstract

Aims: In 2005 a baseline study was conducted in order to know the curricular plans and syllabi contents of the Faculty of Medicine, Universidad Nacional Mayor de San Marcos, related to violence health disorders given to undergraduate students of the 5 Academic Professional Schools (APS), under the hypothesis that this national health problem has not been considered sufficiently and adequately in the curricular plans of the Faculty. Objectives: To determine the Faculty of Medicine’s teaching-learning process on integral health care to persons affected by violence and human rights violation. Design: Descriptive, transversal evaluative analysis. Setting: Faculty of Medicine, Universidad Nacional Mayor de San Marcos, Lima, Peru. Materials: Curricular plans of the 5 Faculty’s academic professional schools. Interventions: A total of 81 syllabi courses were considered would have contents on themes related to violence. Coordination work with the directors of the Academic Professional Schools of Medicine, Midwifes, Nursery, Medical Technology and Nutrition was carried out. Formal presentations of the objectives of the Program and this research were done to the Department heads of Medicine, Surgery, Pediatrics, Gynecology-Obstetrics, Psychiatry, Preventive Medicine and Public Health. Interviews to professors to determine their knowledge, experience and interest in the field of violence were conducted as to consider future training. Main outcome measures: Academic professional schools’ curricular plans contents on violence. Results: This study showed that only 30 out of 81 syllabi (37%) had any content on violence, distributed as follows: Medicine 9/19 (47,3%), Midwifes 9/20 (45%), Nursery 5/12 (41,6%), Medical Technology 6/19 (31,5%) and Nutrition 1/11 (9,1%). Conclusions: These results demonstrate the validity of the work hypothesis in the sense that teaching of violence health consequences in the Faculty of Medicine had not been sufficiently considered.