Mexico City, Mexico, December 14, 2023. Universidad Panamericana together with the Miguel Alemán Institute and the Miguel Alemán Foundation held the 35th Health Lecture, given by Dr. David Kershenobich Stalnikowitz. Dr. David Kershenobich Stalnikowitz, a Mexican physician with a long clinical experience.Dr. David Kershenobich Stalnikowitz, a Mexican physician with extensive clinical experience, focused on improving health in Mexico.
During the meeting, Kershenobich spoke about the challenges facing education in Mexico in health issues, after facing the pandemic and, currently, technological advances such as artificial intelligence (AI).
The event was attended by Mr. Salvador Beltrán del Río, Director of Institutional Development of the Panamericana campus México; Dr. José Fuentes Osornio, General Director of the Instituto Nacional de Ciencias Médicas y Nutrición Salvador Zubirán and Mr. Alejandro Carrillo Castro, General Director of the Fundación Miguel Alemán.
Also present were Dr. Gregorio Tomás Obrador Vera, General Director of Health at Panamericana; Dr. Stephanie Derive, Dean of the School of Health Sciences at Panamericana; and Dr. Juan Pedro Laclette, Coordinator of the Health Program of the Miguel Alemán Foundation.
Improving medicine in Mexico
To kick off the event, Dr. Obrador reflected on the importance of this type of event for the university and its objective: "Theorganization's aim is to improve medicine in Mexico by supporting, fundamentally, research and development (...). The aim of the chair is to create links in the development of institutions in Mexico".
Afterwards, on behalf of the foundation, the floor was given to Dr. Laclette, who presented the institution's health program and the actions that comprise it. He explained to the audience how, since its creation in 1984, the health program has had the objective of contributing to the development of better health care in Mexico.
This is achieved through three activities: the awarding of economic incentives to researchers; the Miguel Aleman Prize in recognition of scientific and technological work in the field of health; and the Miguel Aleman Chair, awarded to various outstanding academics.
Medical education in our country
At the beginning of the lecture, Dr. Kershenobich thanked Panamericana for supporting the lecture. He also emphasized the importance of the subject he was given: "everything that happens beyond the physician's training is very important, but if we do not have the raw material, which is the well-trained physician, it is very difficult".
During his presentation, Kershenobich focused on medical education in our country, which he identifies as heterogeneous: "The most important part has to do with education, which is the basis for any other change. He also focused on talking about the speed at which we live today and what will become of medical education in the face of these changes.
Artificial intelligence in medicine
Among these changes, the doctor commented that one of the most important was that of artificial intelligence, a tool that has been very present in recent years: "This implies a change in the paradigm of the educational process (...), the curriculum seen in medical schools has to be very flexible and has to teach how to adapt in order to learn".
With a tool as powerful as AI, Kershenobich emphasized that it is of utmost importance to reduce the clear digital divide in our country, a task on which the Fundación Miguel Alemán has focused its efforts. He also said that it was thanks to the COVID-19 pandemic that digital tools began to be added to medical education .
Adaptation to changes
It is important to know how to adapt to change, so Kershenobich commented: "University teaching and learning are part of a historical process that has been subordinated to different aspects, at different times, and we have been changing multiple systems of learning and transmission of knowledge to students.
To conclude, he shared some of the most important points to work on in the classroom so that we can move forward with these changes: "We live in times of uncertainty, of things that change rapidly, so we must see how to encourage inspiration, the ability to create solutions, empathy, experimentation and implementation.
Learn more about the academic offerings of the School of Health Sciences at: https://www.up.edu.mx/educacion-facultad-de-ciencias-de-la-salud-oferta-academica/
