Situation of Undergraduate and Postgraduate Medical Training in Chile by 2024 and its Challenges: a look from the Medical College of Chile

Abstract

University medical training in Chile has more than 250 years of tradition and has been marked from its beginning by a high standard of quality. It is relevant to analyze the situation of medical schools, since they are the key piece where the education and health sectors converge, and from where State policies can and should be projected to address the shortages of doctors in underserved areas and the deficits of specialists. In the liberal period in which we find ourselves, there has been a significant increase in medical schools. By 2024, Chile has 37 medical schools (32.4% public, 67.6% private), distributed in various regions of the country. 24 of them do not offer specialization programs, which is the group of doctors with the greatest shortage in Chile compared to the OECD. The large number of medical schools is an anomalous situation, especially when we compare ourselves with other similar countries, such as those in the Southern Cone or Spain.

Therefore, it is necessary for the State and the organized medical community to advance regulatory measures that manage to preserve the quality of medical training in Chile, which until now has been an intangible heritage of our country. Measures such as homogenizing curricula, having an essentially academic regulation in the distribution of clinical fields, making the requirements of professional practice equal independent of the sector of performance, among other things, are basic issues that are necessary.

This article reviews the state of the medical situation in our country as of 2024 and provides insights from the Medical College regarding some of the challenges that medical education currently faces.