r e v b r a s o r t o p . 2014;49(5):427–428
w w w . r b o . o r g . b r
Editorial
Continuing
medical
education,
a
nice
problem
夽
Educac¸ão
médica
continuada,
um
agradável
problema
Today,themedicaldegreecertificateonlygivesnew gradua-tesapermittocontinuestudyingandimprovingthemselves, sinceit is impossible,over the six years ofthe course, to presentstudentswiththevastamountsofmaterialthatmake upthevariousmedicalspecialties.
Thiscompletionoftrainingisdoneinavarietyofwaysand byavarietyofinstitutions.Initially,thereisresidency,which inourspecialtyiswellstructuredandcontrolled,althoughit isaccessibletoevermoreinsufficientnumbersofnewmedical graduates.Afterthis phase, furtherimprovementof physi-ciansisofferedbyadiversityofinstitutions.
Thediversityandimportanceoftheseinstitutionsiswhat concernsus.
Brazilian physicians prefer to update their knowledge throughclassesandpresentationsratherthanthrough read-ing.Becausecongressesaremeetingplaceswhereinformation isdisseminatedrapidly,theyreachBrazilianphysiciansmore directly.Physiciansinthiscountryworklonghoursandyet havegoodrecreationaloptionsprovidedbyourclimate,which ispleasantinmostofthecountry.Fewhoursremainfor read-ing.
Universities,whichhavethepremiseofteachingand con-tinuing toteach, are stillthe mainsourceofimprovement courses,providedformallythroughpostgraduatecourses,or informallythroughextensioncourses.Thelimitingaspectof informationcomingfromuniversitiesisthedifficulty repre-sentedbyexcessiveformality.
Medicalsocietiesofferaccessiblecoursesandcongressesin avarietyoflocations,inwhichcontinuingmedicaleducation isthemaintonic.
Thesecoursesaregenerallyoneofthefewopportunitiesfor physicianstoimprovetheirknowledge.Therefore,theyshould beorganizedwiththehighestlevelofseriousness,sincewhat maybesaidattheseeventswillbetakentobethelawbymany oftheparticipantsforalongtime.
Itisfarfromraretoseeinvitationsgiventoprofessorswho meetpoliticalcriteria,whichaskthemtomakepresentations ontopicsinrelationtowhichtheyhavenoexperience.They
夽
Pleasecitethisarticleas:GilbertoLuisC.Educac¸ãomédicacontinuada,umagradávelproblema.RevBrasOrtop.2014;49(5):427–8. are invited becausethey are individualsofpolitical impor-tance,whateverthisimportancemightbe.
Colleagueswhoreachthelevelofhavingpolitical impor-tance are generally major specialists who have become prominent intheir field ofactivity. They may actas coor-dinators or even as assistants in organizing the thematic programofthecourseorcongress,butnotasthepresenters oftopicsforwhichnewresearchersmaybeavailable. Compe-titionamongthemoreexperiencedindividualsmayoccurin severalmanners,butnotnecessarilyinpresentationoftopics. Itbecomesnecessarytocreateahierarchyofparticipationin coursesthatwillgenerateimportanceandrespectforall lev-elsofactivity.Thiscanbeseenininternationalcongresses,in theformofyoungpresentersandexperiencedcommentators. Today, the major hospitals have teaching and research centers, since they understand that medical teaching and research are an important differential factor for the insti-tutions. These hospitals have dedicated themselves to organizing updating and improvement courses, but they havetheimportantbiasoftheexcessive prestigeconferred on physicians within the clinical staff. Belonging to the clinical staff of a hospital does not signify an ability to teach, since the inclusion criteria are based on different principles.
Onenoveltywithinthefieldofcontinuingmedical educa-tion relatestothecompaniesthatsellsurgicalmaterials.It hasnowbecomepossibletohaveanentirecongressorcourse programthroughtheirsponsorship.Today,sensingthat con-tinuingmedicaleducationishighlyattractiveforphysicians, thesecompaniesarestartingtoorganizecoursesandupdating programsusingtheirownmaterials.
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rev bras ortop.2 0 1 4;49(5):427–428andimposingtheethicalstandardsthattheyhavealwayshad intheirrelationshipswithphysicianswhentheyhave spon-soredtheorganizationofcongresses.
JournalsandnowInternetaccessforbibliographicresearch areanevergreatersourceforupdating,whichperhapsalso ought to be modernized so as to provide well-structured abstractsinadditiontotheacademicallynecessarycomplete texts,whichwouldfacilitateconsultations.Oneproblemthat affectsjournalsisthedelayinpublishingstudies,which some-timesturnsanextremelyup-to-datetopicintosomethingthat isout-of-date.Today,theRBOnowallowsaccesstostudies thathavebeenapprovedforpublicationbeforetheyareissued intheprintedversion.TheyarepublishedinScienceDirect (http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/journal/aip/01023616). Through this tool, ourauthors’ studies are made available soon after approval by the editorial board and our read-ers can have access to these topics in a much shorter time.
The quantity of medical education programs perhaps requiresgreatercontrolfromSBOT,whichcouldgradethese courses,inthe samewayasdonewithhotelsorhospitals. Thesegradescouldservetoallowphysicianstoprovetheir degreeofupdating,whennecessary.
Havingseveralsourcesofcontinuingmedicaleducationis anagreeableproblemforustodealwith,butitneedstohave specialattention.
GilbertoLuisCamanho
RevistaBrasileiradeOrtopedia,Brazil
E-mail:gilbertocamanho@uol.com.br Availableonline19September2014
