Bogotá, July 12, 2022. The Ministry of Health and Social Protection is presenting the consensus document "For the normalization of the names of medical-surgical specialties in Colombia."
Kattya Margarita Baquero, Development of Healthcare Workforce of the Ministry, explained that this document is presented as a guideline for the organization of the academic offer, the provision of health services and the definition of public policies.
She highlighted the work of "the Intersectoral Commission for Healthcare Workforce, made up of the Ministry of National Education and the Ministry of Health and Social Protection, which, in a session on June 28, 2022, approved the document with the consensus of 68 names of medical-surgical specialties."
The official noted that this document will provide the country with a benchmark for guidance in the organization of the academic offer of medical-surgical specialties, in the provision of health services, the validation of academic titles obtained abroad, the definition of public policies and the organization in the health system information systems.
Likewise, Baquero emphasized that this work began with an initial proposal submitted by the Health Sciences Chamber (today the Health and Welfare Evaluation Chamber) of the National Intersectoral Commission for Quality Assurance in Higher Education (CONACES), between 2014 and 2015.
At that time, 469 initial denominations registered in the National Higher Education Information System (SNIES) were considered, which prompted the Ministries of National Education and of Health and Social Protection to start working, from 2015 to 2022, in standardization. They worked in coordination with the Colombian Association of Faculties of Medicine (ASCOFAME) and other associations of health programs and faculties.
"The medical-surgical specialties constitute specific fields of knowledge and practice, represented under the identity provided by their denomination, and in this sense, the denominations of the programs of this level of training must assume profiles that correspond to the needs of the population and that can be identifiable in the health system for organization in the SOGC and in the SGSSS. This includes family and community contexts, delivering clarity and significant improvement in the quality, access and results of health care," added the official.
On the other hand, he put the spotlight on the document "For the normalization of the denominations of medical-surgical specialties in Colombia" as a guide that does not intend to exceed the university autonomy of higher education institutions, but rather be able to present a program to the Ministry of National Education, with a new denomination that is not within the agreed list.
The following link is available to access the document: https://www.minsalud.gov.co/sites/rid/Lists/BibliotecaDigital/RIDE/VS/TH/concenso-normalizacion-denominaciones-especialidad-medico-quirurgicas-colombia.pdf
