IMPLEMENTING SIMULATION-BASED EDUCATION IN THE MEDICAL UNDERGRADUATE PROGRAM AT THE RIBEIRÃO PRETO FACULTY OF MEDICINE, UNIVERSITY OF SÃO PAULO, BRAZIL

Abstract

The Ribeirão Preto Faculty of Medicine (FMRP), since the early days of its medical undergraduate program in 1952, may be characterized as an innovative institution in the search of excellence in teaching, scientific research and health assistance. The FMRP medical undergraduate program underwent successive changes in its curriculum structure, and has hosted repeated efforts for modernization and improvement in teaching and learning methods. In this context, a number of simulation techniques have been introduced throughout the last decades, which included the utilization of plastic models, mannequins and simulators and, at lesser extent, of simulated, standardized patients for teaching and assessment. A revision of the educational plan for the medical undergraduate program has been recently approved, with a redefinition of the general and specific skills and competences to be achieved by medical graduates. This new plan includes a set of objectives to be pursued in the near future, which includes the continuous improvement in teaching and learning methods aiming at providing conditions for a more active learning. This set of objectives includes the investment for the implementation of a skills laboratory, and for the diffusion of simulation techniques.