[International strategies in medical education: technical assistance and technical cooperation]

This article reviews the evolution of international activity for national development in general and for medical education in particular. The concepts of traditional technical aid and the new method of technical cooperation are studied. That method appeared just before the beginning of this decade as a response to needs existing at the time to coordinate development with the emerging international economic order. This article discusses the emphasis given to strategy in this new concept of international activity. Strategy, in this sense, consists of a clear definition of goals and objectives by the countries themselves, mobilization of local resources, and full participation of national personnel in all phases of the process. The projects promoted by the Pan American Health Organization in applying technical cooperation to the field of health manpower training are discussed. Such activities include: coordinating the above mentioned training, providing overall support for institutional development, training professors and administrators, developing educational technology, creating and developing a network of biomedical information, developing social sciences as applied to medicine, and encouraging medical, epidemiological, social, and operational research.