Status of health psychology teaching in Chilean schools of medicine

Abstract

Background: Physicians should be exposed, during their training to basic concepts in psychology. Aim: To describe the current status of the formal teaching of health psychology or medical psychology in Chilean medical schools. Material and Methods: We reviewed the programs of the courses including topics of Medical Psychology, Health Psychology and Behavioral Medicine at 18 medical schools in Chile, using a focused coding method. The contents and the time spent on these courses were considered and analyzed. Results: Eighty three percent of medical schools have a Medical Psychology or related program, 56.3% are carried out during the first year of medical School teaching and the weekly load has an average of 4 hours. The contents are mixed and predominantly concerning general and developmental psychology, but also address specific issues of Medical Psychology in most cases. Conclusions: There is little clarity about the training issues to be addressed in medical psychology for medical students in Chile. It is necessary to define the minimum content that all medical graduates should learn. (Rev Med Chile 2012; 140: 946-951).