The proposal is to make a new exam for rotating interns in hospitals and public clinics that will improve the passing rate of students, given that the previous test from the Department of Social Security had structural and evaluation defects.
This measure is supported by medical schools and faculties, even though they argue that the test should be applied by local professionals and not by a foreign entity, as the Department (of social security) proposes.
It is an exam regulated by the International Foundations of Medicine, adopted by Costa Rica, but that is also done in Panama, Argentina, Paraguay, Brasil and Chile to select the students that carry out the intern rotation in hospitals and public clinics.
Pablo Guzmán, director of UCIMED, says that “the exam should be given, but not applied by an international entity given that the costs are elevated and we would see ourselves obligated to transport the student.”
The price of the test would have to be assumed by the universities and at the beginning would be starting from $75, and also the cost of appealing a question would increase to $30.
The test that the Center of Strategic Development and Information on Health and Social Security (CENDEISSS) was giving had no cost what so ever.
Another argument against the measure is that within the country there is sufficient capacity to elaborate and grade the test.
Only 56% of applicants passed the exam that CENDEISSS gave in 2015, according to the National Academy of Medicine of Costa Rica.
This quantity of students is not sufficient and the high rate of reprobation is related to deficient formation and a non-modern curriculum.
Guzmán disagrees with this and attributes the low passing rate to inconsistencies that were presented during the exam from CENDEISSS.
Defining if the exam is done with a local or foreign entity is urgent because these tests are usually given between September and October.
The schools of medicine recommend that a committee is integrated with respect to the issues, with participation of the Department of Social Security and the universities that nominate students to take the test.
Another measure proposed was the selection of students at random or by lottery, but this was rejected by schools due to the fact that they consider it necessary to test the knowledge of applicant students.
Source: larepublica.net