Teaching-Learning Process in Nephrology: An Integrative Review

Abstract:

Introduction:

The reduced demand for Medical Residency Programs in Nephrology in the last decade is a subject that has been gaining relevance, notably in discussions raised by scientific societies and medical associations around the world. It appears that there is a lack of interest in the specialty, triggered by teaching-learning processes that are inadequate to generate interest among undergraduates. Given this scenario, it is essential to understand which factors influence the teaching-learning process in Nephrology during undergraduate training.

Objective:

To analyze teaching-learning strategies in nephrology and their results during undergraduate medical training.

Method:

An integrative review of articles published in English, Spanish and Portuguese on teaching of nephrology in undergraduate medicine was carried out, searching four databases (PubMed, ERIC, SciELO and Lilacs). We used the following keywords in our searches: “medical education”, “medical students”, “nephrology”, “teaching methods”, “medical education”, “medical students”, “nephrology” and “teaching methods” (in English) and “educational medicine”, “medicine students”, “nephrology” and “metodos de enseñanza” (in Spanish).

Results:

A relevant role was observed in the use of active teaching-learning methodologies as a promising tool to increase student interest in the subject. In addition, it was found that a portion of medical educators involved in the teaching of Nephrology are, in fact, not nephrologists. Finally, there is a role for the use of online tools as a strategy to increase student interest in the discipline.

Conclusion:

There is a lack of rigor in the design of studies on the training of medical students in nephrology, which does not allow for accurate results on the impact of teaching-learning methodologies. Well-designed randomized controlled trials, as well as the use of cohort studies comparing teaching-learning methodologies, are needed to assess the effectiveness of educational techniques introduced in medical school curricula.

Keywords:
Medical Education; Medical students; Nephrology; Teaching methods