Sherbrooke - Montevideo: a socially responsible international collaboration to foster family medicine

Abstract

Background: The World Health Organization advocates for faculties of medicine to orient health professional education toward the needs of the populations graduates are to serve and to include a greater emphasis on primary health care. It was in this framework that in 2007, the Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences at the Université de Sherbrooke (FMHS-UdeS) in Canada and the Facultad de Medicina de la Universidad de la Republica (FMUdelaR) in Montevideo, Uruguay developed a comprehensive collaboration to sustain the development of family medicine in both universities through education, practice and research. ACTIVITIES AND OUTCOMES: In addition to information sharing through email and teleconferencing, this five year collaboration has included 28 bilateral visits by the two institutions' teachers and leaders. During these visits, Uruguayan members participated in workshops and benefited from exchanges during educational and clinical activities. Interactions led to the improvement of their skills as teachers of family medicine with an emphasis on clinical teaching, supervision, feedback to learners in clinical evaluations, use of various educational methods, use of standardized patients for teaching and evaluation, and research. FMHS-UdeS members learned about the community aspects of family medicine in Uruguay and reflected on how these could be implemented to the benefit of Canadians.

Conclusions: The international collaboration forged between the FMHS-UdeS and the FMUdelaR represents a socially responsible endeavor that has been highly rewarding for all involved. It represents a significant learning opportunity for each group aiming to better prepare physicians to serve as primary health care providers in their communities.