Master's in Biochemistry: two decades training fourth-level specialists. Santo Domingo Autonomous University

EDUMECENTRO 2023;15:e

RESEARCH PAPER

 

Master's in Biochemistry: two decades training fourth-level specialists. Santo Domingo Autonomous University

Maestría en Bioquímica: dos decenios formando especialistas de cuarto nivel. Universidad Autónoma de Santo Domingo

 

Genoveva Francisca Martín Sánchez1 https://orcid.org/0001-9544-1789
Agustín Guillermo Vicedo Tomey2* https://orcid.org/0000-0003-2421-126X

 

1 Autonomous University of Santo Domingo. Dominican Republic.
2 University of Medical Sciences of Havana. Havana. Cuba.

 

* Corresponding author. Email: vicedo@infomed.sld.cu

 

 

ABSTRACT

Despite the great importance of the physiological sciences in the development of health sciences, the preparation of human resources in these areas felt behind the clinical-surgical and epidemiological specialties at the School of Physiological Sciences Santo Domingo Autonomous University, Dominican Republic. It was not until 1999, that according to the urgent need to provide fourth-level qualification opportunities to teachers, the first Master's program in Biochemistry began. The objective of this research paper is to share their achievements and experiences where their link associated with the needs for improvement and labor demands, the methodological aspects in the delivery of their six programs and the tempered adjustments to the conditions imposed by the COVID-19 pandemic stand out.

MeSH: health postgraduate programs; training; education, professional; education, medical.

RESUMEN

A pesar de la gran importancia de las ciencias fisiológicas en el desarrollo de las ciencias de la salud, la preparación de recursos humanos en estas áreas se mantuvo muy por debajo de las especialidades clínico-quirúrgicas y epidemiológicas en la Escuela de Ciencias Fisiológicas de la Universidad Autónoma de Santo Domingo, República Dominicana. No fue hasta 1999, que ante la urgente necesidad de brindar oportunidades de calificación de cuarto nivel a los profesores, se inició el primer programa de Maestría en Bioquímica. El objetivo de esta comunicación es compartir sus logros y experiencias donde se destacan su vínculo asociado a las necesidades de superación y demandas laborales, los aspectos metodológicos en la impartición de sus seis programas y los ajustes atemperados a las condiciones impuestas por la pandemia de COVID-19.

DeCS: programas de posgrado en salud; capacitación; educación profesional; educación médica.

 

 

Submitted: 24/05/2023
Accepted: 07/06/2023

 

 

The Autonomous University of Santo Domingo (UASD), Primada de América, was founded by means of the papal bull In Apostolatus Culmine issued on October 28, 1538 by Pope Paul III. In its continuous development, this institution of higher education has undergone numerous transformations in its academic structure. As far as health sciences are concerned, the first Faculty of Medical Sciences dates from 1859; but it is not until 1965 that the reform of the mentioned year created the Institute of Physiology in charge of the subjects Physiology and Biological Chemistry. In 1968 this institute became the Department of Physiological Sciences, and later (1971) the School of Physiological Sciences -its current name-. Since then, subjects from the cycles of basic and clinical sciences have been taught for the careers of Medicine, Dentistry, Bioanalysis, Imaging, Nursing, Veterinary Medicine and a Degree in Physical Education. It is made up of five professorships: Biochemistry, Physiology, Pharmacology, Genetics and Physiopathology. Its academic staff includes a director, 5 chair coordinators, laboratory managers, more than 100 active professors, teaching assistants, retired contracted professors, monitors, and administrative employees.

With regard to postgraduate studies, medical residency programs began in 1970 at the faculty. The first master's programs were Public Health (1982) and Occupational Health (1988). Despite the importance of physiological sciences in the development of health sciences, the preparation of human resources in these areas remained well below that of clinical-surgical and epidemiological specialties.

It was not until 1999, when faced with the urgent need to provide fourth-level qualification opportunities to teachers,(1) the first master's degree program of the School of Physiological Sciences began through the Master's Degree in Biochemistry.

The emergence of the Master's Degree in Biochemistry was preceded by a set of improvement activities for teachers and monitors sponsored by the Chair of Biochemistry, which allowed them to acquire sufficient experience in terms of actions aimed at updating and modernizing teaching activities, providing a comprehensive vision of this discipline.(2)

Thus, on February 4, 1999, once the design of the program was completed by the authors of this article, the first edition of the Master's Degree in Biochemistry began, with the collaboration of prominent professors from the Institute of Basic and Preclinical Sciences. «Victoria de Girón» from the University of Medical Sciences of Havana, Cuba, since at that time, in the Dominican Republic there were only two Masters (M.Sc.) in Biochemistry and a (PhD) in this discipline.

Since then, four editions of this master's degree have been completed, while the fifth and sixth are in progress. The number of Dominican professors who assume teaching responsibilities in the different modules of the program has progressively increased by having the required qualification, including the graduates of the first editions. Table 1 summarizes some relevant results of these processes.

Table 1. Achievements obtained in the Master's in Biochemistry. School of Physiological Sciences

Sourse: documents review.

From the previous data, the high number of withdrawals of enrollees that have occurred, especially after the second edition, is striking. It is considered that, in the case of enrollments of young people who have recently graduated from their university careers, their insertion into the world of work constitutes a factor that has led to the abandonment of the program, without ruling out certain limitations of an economic nature.

The methodological strategies used have been focused on strengthening the teaching-learning process, the teaching methods used are of a productive nature in which the teacher fulfills a guiding function, while the teacher searches, discovers, discusses, contributes and self-assesses. The purpose has been to facilitate the linking of theoretical knowledge with its practical application, in addition to stimulating teamwork, inquiry, reflection, the development of critical attitudes, creativity and self-learning. All this contributes to establishing interpersonal relationships and making the teacher the subject of his own training to achieve meaningful learning. It is intended that the students «learn to do», that is, that they can operate in a practical way the application of the knowledge acquired. The main form of teaching used has been the class-workshop with a strong participation of the students performing and discussing tasks, exercises and other learning activities under the leadership of the teacher. This approach has not excluded the dosed use of more traditional forms: lectures, seminars, laboratory practices, round tables and panels, among others.

The four programs completed to date have prepared and graduated 56 Masters in Biochemistry (M.Sc.) -physicians, bio analysts, education graduates, pharmacy graduates, chemistry graduates and medical specialists- who, with this new qualification, have Accessed different professional activities, particularly in the academic-professional order of teaching at different universities in the country, including the UASD Headquarters and its regional centers. This indicates that the necessary human resources are being prepared to really and effectively develop teaching and research in basic health sciences in the Dominican Republic, especially in the field of Biochemistry.

Taking into account the importance of the evaluation of these postgraduate training processes,(3,4) since the first edition, different modalities of internal and external curricular evaluation have been applied, which has allowed the progressive improvement of the editions of the program.(5,6)

The participants evaluate the mastery after each module in the aspects: module content, support material provided, logistical support and professional conditions of the teacher. For this, three instructions designed by the Vice-Rector for Research and Postgraduate Studies are applied.

The pandemic caused by the SarsCov2 virus impacted the development of the fifth edition, forcing it to adopt the modality of distance learning with virtual resources, especially the use of the Zoom platform for teacher-teacher meetings. Currently, this edition continues its activities with a blended format -face-to-face and virtual meetings-, which has also been adopted for the recently started sixth edition.

The Coordination of the Master's degree maintains constant exchange with the educational, public and private sector of higher education to evaluate the training needs in the area related to biochemistry; in order to incorporate them into the program and graduate a professional who responds to the times and demands of the labor market.

Currently, the Master's Program in Biochemistry at UASD continues to be the only one with a similar profile within the country's higher education institutions. It constitutes a relevant milestone in the academic development of professionals in the Dominican Republic by facilitating access to highly qualified jobs in teaching, research and services.

 

BIBLIOGRAPHIC REFERENCES

1. Bernaza GJ, de la Paz E, del Valle M, Borges LC. La esencia pedagógica del posgrado para la formación de profesionales de la salud: una mirada teórica, crítica e innovadora. Educ Med Super [Internet]. 2017 [citado 20/05/2023];32(4):[aprox. 18 p.]. Disponible en: https://ems.sld.cu/index.php/ems/article/view/1062/596

2. Alemañy EJ, Cunill ME, Herrera JR, Bernaza GJ. Gestión de calidad en programas de maestría. Educ Med Super [Internet]. 2021 [citado 20/05/2023];35(4):e3165. Disponible en: https://ems.sld.cu/index.php/ems/article/view/3165/1404

3. Carrera MA, Mesa N, Padilla Y. Metodología para evaluar el impacto de la educación de posgrado. Transformación. 2022;18(1):41-53.

4. Arteaga Y, Silvera FA. Procedimiento para evaluar el impacto de la capacitación de programas académicos para el desarrollo social. COODES [Internet]. 2019 [citado 23/05/2023];7(2):[aprox. 10 p.]. Disponible en: http://coodes.upr.edu.cu/index.php/coodes/article/view/224

5. Tejeda R. La evaluación del impacto formativo en contextos educativos universitarios. Rev Didasc@lia [Internet]. 2011 [citado 20/05/2023];2(4):[aprox. 14 p.]. Disponible en: https://revistas.ult.edu.cu/index.php/didascalia/article/view/63/62

6. Díaz MM. Evaluación y mejora de los estudios de Doctorado. Rev de Educación [Internet]. 2010 [citado 12/05/2023];(352):[aprox. 8 p.]. Disponible en: https://www.educacionyfp.gob.es/dam/jcr:464152da-4a36-4b7f-a614-577320f3a040/re35225-pdf.pdf

 

 

Declaration of interests

The authors declare no conflict of interest.

 

 

Contribution of the authors

Both authors participated jointly in the conception of the article, the design of its structure, the collection and organization of the data, and they agreed with the final version.

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