Autoevaluación estudiantil en ingresantes y alumnos de la Carrera de Medicina

El trabajo presenta los resultados de una investigación descriptiva, en el contexto de una investigación activa, basada en encuestas de autoevaluación estudiantil. Forma parte de un proyecto más abarcativo que incluye también a alumnos de la Carrera de Medicina.Los objetivos del proyecto son identificar las principales fortalezas y debilidades en el desempeño académico de los aspirantes a ingresar a la carrera de medicina en los cursos anual e intensivo, realizando un análisis comparativo de sus principales características como estudiantes y de su respectivo rendimiento académico.Como material y método fue utilizado un cuestionario de autoevaluación cuyos ítems exploran las fortalezas y debilidades en el cursado de las diversas materias, empleándose una escala Lickert. Se administró grupalmente a 838 aspirantes del ingreso intensivo (n= 623) y anual (n=215) desde 2007 a 2012.Los resultados nos muestran que los alumnos del ingreso anual consideran tener mayores dificultades en la cursada de todas las materias que sus pares del ingreso intensivo, siendo las medianas de grado de dificultad significativas (p < .01) en tres asignaturas: Biología General, Química y Físico-Matemática. En ambas muestras, la mayor dificultad reside en la cursada de Biología Celular y la menor en Metodología del Aprendizaje. Los alumnos del ingreso anual tienen mayor dificultad para resolver los problemas de Física y Matemática.Se presenta como conclusión que aunque hay coincidencia en las materias que les presentan mayor y menor dificultad, los alumnos del ingreso anual manifiestan tener mayores dificultades académicas. Dado que ambos cursos tienen un perfil de alumnos coincidente, son dictados por los mismos docentes; son idénticos en sus contenidos y en la metodología de evaluación, y tan sólo existe una diferencia de cinco horas en su carga horaria total; la variable diferenciadora significativa es la intensa dedicación requerida por el curso intensivo. Esto implica un gran compromiso personal y una cuidadosa administración del tiempo, que al parecer se constituye en un factor favorecedor decisivo en el desempeño académico del alumnado.We present the results of a descriptive statistical research project, in the context of research basedon surveys of student self-assesment. The present findings are part of a larger project that also includesstudents of the School of Medicine.The objectives is to present the strenghts and weaknesses in academic performance of intensiveand annual entrance course students in the School of Medicine and performing a comparativeanalysis of their main characteristics as students and their respective academic performance.We distributed a self assesment survey whose items explore the strengths and weaknesses invarious courses, using a Lickert scale. The survey was administered by cohort to a total of 838 intensiveentrance course students (n = 623) and annual course students (n=215) from 2007 to 2012.The results show that annual entrance course students consider having greater difficulty in allsubjects than their peers in the intensive entrance course, with the mean describing the degree ofdifficulty being statistically significant ( p < .01) in three subjects: Cellular Biology, Chemistry andPhysics-Mathematics. In both samples, the greatest difficulty is in Cellular Biology and the leastdifficulty in Learning Methodology. Students of the annual course have greater difficulty to solvethe problems of Physics and Mathematics.We conclude that although there is coincidence between students of both samples in the subjectsthat present the greatest difficulty, the students of the annual entrance course express having greateracademic difficulty. Given both courses have the same student profile, are taught by the same faculty,are identical in content and in evaluation methodology, and there is only a 5 hour difference intotal required attendance hours, the variable most likely affecting the difference in results is the intensepace required by the intensive entrance course. Such pace implies great personal commitmentand careful time management, which apparently is a decisive factor in the academic performanceof students

Autoevaluación estudiantil en ingresantes y alumnos de la Carrera de Medicina

El trabajo presenta los resultados de una investigación descriptiva, en el contexto de una investigación activa, basada en encuestas de autoevaluación estudiantil. Forma parte de un proyecto más abarcativo que incluye también a alumnos de la Carrera de Medicina.Los objetivos del proyecto son identificar las principales fortalezas y debilidades en el desempeño académico de los aspirantes a ingresar a la carrera de medicina en los cursos anual e intensivo, realizando un análisis comparativo de sus principales características como estudiantes y de su respectivo rendimiento académico.Como material y método fue utilizado un cuestionario de autoevaluación cuyos ítems exploran las fortalezas y debilidades en el cursado de las diversas materias, empleándose una escala Lickert. Se administró grupalmente a 838 aspirantes del ingreso intensivo (n= 623) y anual (n=215) desde 2007 a 2012.Los resultados nos muestran que los alumnos del ingreso anual consideran tener mayores dificultades en la cursada de todas las materias que sus pares del ingreso intensivo, siendo las medianas de grado de dificultad significativas (p < .01) en tres asignaturas: Biología General, Química y Físico-Matemática. En ambas muestras, la mayor dificultad reside en la cursada de Biología Celular y la menor en Metodología del Aprendizaje. Los alumnos del ingreso anual tienen mayor dificultad para resolver los problemas de Física y Matemática.Se presenta como conclusión que aunque hay coincidencia en las materias que les presentan mayor y menor dificultad, los alumnos del ingreso anual manifiestan tener mayores dificultades académicas. Dado que ambos cursos tienen un perfil de alumnos coincidente, son dictados por los mismos docentes; son idénticos en sus contenidos y en la metodología de evaluación, y tan sólo existe una diferencia de cinco horas en su carga horaria total; la variable diferenciadora significativa es la intensa dedicación requerida por el curso intensivo. Esto implica un gran compromiso personal y una cuidadosa administración del tiempo, que al parecer se constituye en un factor favorecedor decisivo en el desempeño académico del alumnado.We present the results of a descriptive statistical research project, in the context of research basedon surveys of student self-assesment. The present findings are part of a larger project that also includesstudents of the School of Medicine.The objectives is to present the strenghts and weaknesses in academic performance of intensiveand annual entrance course students in the School of Medicine and performing a comparativeanalysis of their main characteristics as students and their respective academic performance.We distributed a self assesment survey whose items explore the strengths and weaknesses invarious courses, using a Lickert scale. The survey was administered by cohort to a total of 838 intensiveentrance course students (n = 623) and annual course students (n=215) from 2007 to 2012.The results show that annual entrance course students consider having greater difficulty in allsubjects than their peers in the intensive entrance course, with the mean describing the degree ofdifficulty being statistically significant ( p < .01) in three subjects: Cellular Biology, Chemistry andPhysics-Mathematics. In both samples, the greatest difficulty is in Cellular Biology and the leastdifficulty in Learning Methodology. Students of the annual course have greater difficulty to solvethe problems of Physics and Mathematics.We conclude that although there is coincidence between students of both samples in the subjectsthat present the greatest difficulty, the students of the annual entrance course express having greateracademic difficulty. Given both courses have the same student profile, are taught by the same faculty,are identical in content and in evaluation methodology, and there is only a 5 hour difference intotal required attendance hours, the variable most likely affecting the difference in results is the intensepace required by the intensive entrance course. Such pace implies great personal commitmentand careful time management, which apparently is a decisive factor in the academic performanceof students

Identification of CRF66_BF, a New HIV-1 Circulating Recombinant Form of South American Origin

Circulating recombinant forms (CRFs) are important components of the HIV-1 pandemic. Among 110 reported in the literature, 17 are BF1 intersubtype recombinant, most of which are of South American origin. Among these, all 5 identified in the Southern Cone and neighboring countries, except Brazil, derive from a common recombinant ancestor related to CRF12_BF, which circulates widely in Argentina, as deduced from coincident breakpoints and clustering in phylogenetic trees. In a HIV-1 molecular epidemiological study in Spain, we identified a phylogenetic cluster of 20 samples from 3 separate regions which were of F1 subsubtype, related to the Brazilian strain, in protease-reverse transcriptase (Pr-RT) and of subtype B in integrase. Remarkably, 14 individuals from this cluster (designated BF9) were Paraguayans and only 4 were native Spaniards. HIV-1 transmission was predominantly heterosexual, except for a subcluster of 6 individuals, 5 of which were men who have sex with men. Ten additional database sequences, from Argentina (n = 4), Spain (n = 3), Paraguay (n = 1), Brazil (n = 1), and Italy (n = 1), branched within the BF9 cluster. To determine whether it represents a new CRF, near full-length genome (NFLG) sequences were obtained for 6 viruses from 3 Spanish regions. Bootscan analyses showed a coincident BF1 recombinant structure, with 5 breakpoints, located in p17 gag , integrase, gp120, gp41-rev overlap, and nef, which was identical to that of two BF1 recombinant viruses from Paraguay previously sequenced in NFLGs. Interestingly, none of the breakpoints coincided with those of CRF12_BF. In a maximum likelihood phylogenetic tree, all 8 NFLG sequences grouped in a strongly supported clade segregating from previously identified CRFs and from the CRF12_BF "family" clade. These results allow us to identify a new HIV-1 CRF, designated CRF66_BF. Through a Bayesian coalescent analysis, the most recent common ancestor of CRF66_BF was estimated around 1984 in South America, either in Paraguay or Argentina. Among Pr-RT sequences obtained by us from HIV-1-infected Paraguayans living in Spain, 14 (20.9%) of 67 were of CRF66_BF, suggesting that CRF66_BF may be one of the major HIV-1 genetic forms circulating in Paraguay. CRF66_BF is the first reported non-Brazilian South American HIV-1 CRF_BF unrelated to CRF12_BF.This work was funded through Acción Estratégica en Salud Intramural (AESI), Instituto de Salud Carlos III, projects PI16CIII/00033 and PI19CIII/00042; Red de Investigación en SIDA (RIS), Instituto de Salud Carlos III, Subdirección General de Evaluación y Fondo Europeo de Desarrollo Regional (FEDER), Plan Nacional I+D+I, project RD16ISCIII/0002/0004; and scientific agreements with Consellería de Sanidade, Government of Galicia (MVI 1004/16) and Osakidetza-Servicio Vasco de Salud, Government of Basque Country (MVI 1001/16).S