During the most recent external evaluation of six medical specialties in the province of Holguin, the Octavio de la Concepcion de la Pedraja Pediatric Hospital was one of the teaching settings visited by the technical evaluation team of the National Accreditation Board. This health institution is currently the main site for the training of specialists in Endocrinology in the territory and in the Eastern region of Cuba.
This specialty, for more than five years and constantly, has been preparing to achieve the Excellence evaluation, a result obtained thanks to the commitment of the advanced teaching staff, led by Dr. Yolanda Cedeño Almaguer, head of the provincial group of Endocrinology and Elena Gertrudis Rodríguez Font, head of the service at the pediatric center.
According to Dr. Elena Gertrudis Rodríguez Font, a first-degree specialist in General Comprehensive Medicine (MGI) and Endocrinology, “this specialty was initially trained in Havana and it was over the years, as the province had a teaching staff, that it began in 2006 at Vladimir Ilich Lenin Hospital, with the training of one resident, a number that was increased in subsequent years.
Once the Children Hospital began to assume this training, it means a great challenge, because usually the specialty has always been performed in adult hospitals, not in pediatric hospitals, however, this does not detract from the quality of training of students. We try by all means, together with the work team and the rest of the teaching staff, to provide quality teaching, ensuring that the student learns and that these contents are put into practice, whether in each visit, in the consultation, in community screenings and once graduated, in the places where they have their definitive work placement”.
The achievement of such results in the training of specialists in Endocrinology is also thanks to the preparation of the teaching staff, which according to the also second degree specialist in Pediatrics, “this specialty has a high categorization of professors, the great majority of second degree specialists, assistant professors, that is to say, they have their teaching and research categories that facilitate and allow the quality of teaching to be very good.
Pediatric Hospital, main training institution for endocrinologists in the East. Dr. Elena Rodríguez during the accreditation of endocrinology. Photo: Courtesy of Dr. María Paneque.
We have a team work led by our dear professor Yolanda Cedeño Almaguer, in which we include specialists from the Vladimir Ilich Lenin Hospital, the Lucía Iñiguez Landin Surgical Clinical Hospital and the Octavio de la Concepción de la Pedraja Provincial Pediatric Hospital. This work makes it possible to establish teaching with high quality so that the student is capable, has a good technical performance and becomes a health professional in this specialty with good conditions”.
So that the recent external evaluation of this specialty contributes to the purpose of continuing to form professionals of excellence, thus refers who for more than a decade has been Head of this service in the pediatric hospital of Holguin, with a continuous work full of love for her patients, with special dedication to children with Diabetes Mellitus, a chronic disease with high incidence in pediatric ages.
“Being evaluated by the National Accreditation Board for accreditation is a challenge, as this is a very strict evaluation, in which parameters are evaluated in relation to students, teaching scenarios, professors and the impact that this training has. Therefore, those specialties that have been evaluated as Excellent have a better prognosis and a better view before the people who request their services.
Pediatric Hospital, main training institution for endocrinologists in Eastern Cuba. Dr. Elena Rodriguez teaches. Photo: Courtesy of Dr. María Paneque
If someone needs to perform a specialty, they choose those that are accredited. Therefore, it is a source of pride to have an accreditation with a satisfactory evaluation, only possible with hard work and teamwork, which really allowed us to make an exhaustive study of the quality of teaching”.
Endocrinology currently has about 15 residents in training from the provinces of Guantánamo, Granma, Las Tunas and Santiago de Cuba, a specialty that assumes the teaching of the entire Eastern region.
In the current academic year, the University of Medical Sciences of Holguin, in addition to this recent evaluation, is expected to welcome other specialties such as Neonatology, Adult Intensive and Emergency Care and Anesthesiology. To date, this university has 14 accredited medical specialties, 12 with the maximum evaluation of Excellence and two Certified.
- Pinar del Río defeated Holguín on tie-breaker rule - 15 de April de 2024
- Holguin Government analyzes social and economic issues - 29 de March de 2024
- Holguin Pediatric Hospital trains endocrinology experts - 14 de November de 2023