Educación médica y bienestar: orientaciones para el desarrollo de una educación médica positiva

Resumen

The transition to and through college can affect the mental health of college students. The situation in medical students is particularly worrisome, considering that they have high rates of psychopathology. These mental health problems can be associated with worse academic and professional outcomes and worse patient care. In this scenario, it is relevant to look at how this problem can be addressed considering variables of both mental health and educational systems in medicine. Therefore, initiatives to promote well-being during the career are proposed. The importance of wellbeing at an institutional level should be defined. Also, the foundations of learning neurosciences from the point of view of wellbeing should be incorporated. Considering that wellbeing goes beyond the absence of discomfort, the role of educational environment both in learning and in mental health should be recognized. Proven effective interventions should be incorporated. It must be considered that not every initiative linked to wellbeing is necessarily positive and that discomfort to a certain extent can be exploited educatively as well. The wellbeing of medical students is a complex, dynamic and multidimensional issue. These principles are orientations for different actors of the educational process, to define how they will approach this problem in their contexts.