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Medicine is an art of reflection with critical thinking, and you must stick to a system while still being very perceptive

DR. MIGUEL VARELA CARDOSO

Research Coordinator in the School of Medicine of Veracruzana University

A pediatrician and research coordinator in the School of Medicine of Veracruzana University, Dr. Miguel Varela Cardoso, entering his fifties, works hard between private healthcare practice and academic commitment to science. In 2010, he was the first Mexican to attend the Latin American Health Leadership Seminar sponsored by the Universities of Harvard and Oxford, and he recently completed successfully the Fifth Course of Pediatrics Mexico of Practicum Script. He sees the simulator as an ally that gives support and assistance to both his practice and intellectual zeal.

Madrid - December 5, 2018. What place does Practicum Script have in your daily routine?

Currently in my practice, I provide primary care for newborns to teenagers and, in general, I treat common pathologies specific to each age, including different systems, infections, allergies, and aspects of nutrition and metabolic disorders. In this context, Practicum Script has allowed me to constantly exercise the situations that I face on a daily basis and to gain knowledge on the opinion of experts on diagnosis and treatment. In addition to helping me stay up to date, the tool allows permanent development of critical skills and clinical decision making. This is accomplished without neglecting the fact that my training in terms of research requires reliable scientific-based evidence.

Could you mention a case that exemplifies what you have learned with the simulator?

I would say that diagnostic and therapeutic approaches to cystic fibrosis and chronic respiratory and digestive diseases allow you to revisit diagnostic algorithms and key points in managing these patients.

Has this been your first course with us?

Yes, it has, and I recommend it one hundred percent. It gives freedom in terms of time to develop the cases at the moment that you decide, and also allows you to interact with colleagues and listen to their different opinions.

How do you deal with each new case?

I opt for a global analysis (of the case), and I look for pivotal data to correlate information as consistent as possible with a pathology, prioritizing possibilities.

What is a medical error?

Medical error depends on many factors, one of the main ones is to stop seeing the obvious to see only what we want. What happens is that many times we partner with a diagnosis and the trees prevent us from seeing the forest. Medicine is an art of reflection with critical thinking and you must stick to a system while still being very perceptive and assertive. We must never consider ourselves owners of the absolute truth.

How are these errors addressed when the patient is a child?

In a multidisciplinary way. At the first contact with the patients, their parents, or caregivers, you should review with systematically established criteria all situations influencing the events, while continuing to follow up on the time and actions performed or omitted. Labor or healthcare saturation is one of the main problems, but health and academic authorities are responsible for revising them to establish recommendations and avoid recurrences.

How do you react to situations without categorical evidence?

Systematic reviews allow you to have the highest level of evidence and optimize decision making. They also offer clarity to areas of opportunity and questions without conclusive answers.

Beyond the statistical mass, how do we help a sick individual?

The guidelines will always be of great support, and the practice must be linked to scientific knowledge. However, the doctor-patient relationship improves over time; you learn a lot from patients and colleagues, as well as from every circumstance that you experience. The most important thing is never to pretend to know everything, but to give everything to each patient.

Testimonies

For me, the program is very interesting, since it allows me to sharpen my interrogation and direct it more towards a specific pathology and to have more knowledge of laboratory and cabinet exams. I think it is very important that we keep our medical sagacity throughout our practice and that in the few minutes it takes to answer any of the cases that Practicum Script presents, you acquire more knowledge.

Dr. Miguel Olivares Alcocer

Pediatrician in Guanajuato (Mexico)

I would like to express my gratitude to the Practicum Institute of Health Sciences Research for the opportunity given to Latin American physicians  to access and take different courses of our specialty for the benefit of our dear patients, in my case in Mexico. It has encouraged me to improve myself and keep abreast of the advances in Pediatrics and put into practice the knowledge acquired in the hospital where I work. Thanks friends and congratulations to this valuable team of Practicum Script Education.

Dr. Heriberto Fuentes García

Pediatrician in Sonora (Mexico)

I am grateful for this study tool that, through Nestlé and with this method, allows us to review different issues with cases that confront us in decision-making and serve us in the daily consultation.

Dr. Josué Refugio de León Padilla

Pediatrician in Jalisco (Mexico)

It is an excellent educational support platform for the pediatrician, offers very specific clinical challenges with alternatives for diagnosis and differential diagnoses, with the support of experts, a bibliography and a forum to share opinions. It's easy to navigate and it's fun, a tool that's worth using and making the most of it.

Dr. Guillermo Yanowsky-Reyes

Surgery Pediatrician in Guadalajara (Mexico)
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