[The Purpose of Medical Education: Proposal to Standardize a System of Credits for Medical Specializations Programs]

This article analyzes the concept of an academic credit system and proposes a way to systematize medical specialization programs. The credit system is a way to recognize and standardize the total time that a student must devote to their training. Thus, a credit equal to a certain number of hours of classroom training and independent activities is proposed. An educational program is expressed in the number of credits needed for the whole training process to achieve the competencies expected. A review of the concept of competition in education is also performed. The introduction of the term and its relation to the need to measure performance in future professionals according to labor market needs is identified. A critical discussion about skills defining the different types of skills in the educational field is later discussed. Subsequently, the Colombian regulatory framework is presented concerning the powers, in particular, Decree 1295 of 2010, which defines one academic credit equal to 48 hours in a semester, of which 16 hours are classroom and 32 hours are independent study. A tor of the major milestones in the history of medical education is later made. The structure of credits and contact hours, independent of postgraduate psychiatry in the country is reviewed showing the heterogeneity in their approach. The proposal is presented, defining the types of classroom activities and how to calculate the hours of independent study by type of classroom activity.