Publications by authors named "Alvaro Margolis"

This article was migrated. The article was marked as recommended. The COVID-19 pandemic has profoundly impacted the medical meetings planned for 2020.

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This article was migrated. The article was marked as recommended. Massive open online courses (MOOCs) bring about the opportunity to reach large international audiences of health professionals.

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Introduction: Raising awareness of acute kidney injury (AKI) is an essential strategy for minimizing the burden of this lethal syndrome. The AKI Commission of the Latin American Society of Nephrology and Hypertension conducted an educational program based on networked learning.

Methods: Two online courses with similar methodologies were developed, 1 course for nephrologists and the other for primary care physicians (PCP).

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Introduction: Latin America is a large and diverse region, comprising more than 600 million inhabitants and one million physicians in over 20 countries. Resistance to antibacterial drugs is particularly important in the region. This paper describes the design, implementation and results of an international bi-lingual (Spanish and Portuguese) online continuing interprofessional interactive educational program on hospital-acquired infections and antimicrobial resistance for Latin America, supported by the American Society for Microbiology.

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Prior interpersonal relationships and interactivity among members of professional associations may impact the learning process in continuing medical education (CME). On the other hand, CME programs that encourage interactivity between participants may impact structures and behaviors in these professional associations. With the advent of information and communication technologies, new communication spaces have emerged that have the potential to enhance networked learning in national and international professional associations and increase the effectiveness of CME for health professionals.

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A continuing medical education (CME) course was implemented for Latin American nephrologists in 2013. The topic was Immunopathology in native and transplanted kidneys. The course was given in Spanish and Portuguese.

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Integrating evidence-based clinical practice guidelines on gastroesophageal reflux disease into medical practice is of prime importance in Latin America, given its high prevalence in this region. The aim of this project was to implement and assess an educational intervention on gastroesophageal reflux disease, aimed at primary care physicians in Latin America, with contents based on current clinical guidelines. The course included initial activities, whether face-to-face or through distance learning, and a 2-month period of Internet study and interaction.

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The adaptation of the 10x10 certificate program in health information systems for a Puerto Rican audience is described. The 10x10 program was initially developed in the USA by the Oregon Health Sciences University (OHSU), then adapted to Latin America by Hospital Italiano de Buenos Aires. Puerto Rico is in the intersection of the United States and Latin America, in terms of government, health care system, culture and language.

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Introduction: Since 2004, with the ratification of the Framework Convention on Tobacco Control, Uruguay has implemented a wide range of legal restrictions designed to reduce the devastating impacts of tobacco. This legal process generated an increase in demand for tobacco cessation treatment, which led to the need to train a large number of physicians. Information and Communication Technologies (ICTs) are evolving constantly, creating new opportunities to make online education more interactive.

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FEMI is a federation of 23 private not-for-profit health care organizations across Uruguay. It covers approximately 700 thousand people (20 percent of the Uruguayan population) and owns a tertiary center in Montevideo. Pressure from ongoing national changes in health funding and regulation have pushed FEMI to develop a project, in order to improve efficiency in health care through the use of information and communications technologies.

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Information and communication technology can be used to improve the quality and safety of health care and to lower costs. But in both developed and developing countries, there is an inadequate supply of skilled individuals who have the technical skills to use this technology to improve health care. Some studies project workforce needs of tens of thousands in English-speaking developed countries, but it is not known what size workforce will be required in the developing world.

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Introduction: The production of online high-quality continuing professional development is a complex process that demands familiarity with effective program and content design. Collaboration and sharing across nations would appear to be a reasonable way to improve quality, increase access, and reduce costs.

Methods: In this case report, the process of adapting and modifying a course to improve the management of Alzheimer's disease developed for the Canadian context for use in Uruguay is described.

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This article describes the advancement of continuing professional development (CPD) for physicians in Uruguay and explains the motivations for a CPD system, the role of the faculty of medicine and the other stakeholders, the strategic goals, and current results, including strengths and weaknesses. The work described here had three strategic objectives: (1) initiate a CPD accreditation program, (2) train physician leaders in CPD, and (3) promote the creation of a national system for CPD. By the end of 2006, the accreditation program had 34 accredited institutions.

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This paper outlines the evolution of the concept of continuing medical professional development in Uruguay, as that professional development has progressed from independent and varied efforts that were not coordinated or evaluated to a plan that is aimed at improving the quality of educational activities and programs and making them accessible to all the physicians in the country. In contrast to countries where scientific societies and medical associations preside over continuing professional development, in Uruguay the Graduate School of the School of Medicine of the University of the Republic has taken on managing and developing this process. The key objective of this process is for the Graduate School to work in conjunction with other leading players in professional development to create a national system of continuing medical professional development.

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