[Comparative evaluation of 2 plans of study for the career of surgeon: a theoretical-conceptual approach]

The authors describe a specific experiment concerning the degree of medical doctor and surgeon in the Zaragoza National School of Professional Studies of the National Autonomous University of Mexico (UNEP-Zaragoza). The experiment was prompted by the concurrence at a certain point of two study programs: the traditional one, which had been in use for a number of years, and a recently introduced modular program. The analysis reported in this paper was made by the prospective self-evaluation method devised in PAHO's Manpower Development Program in 1986. Results indicated that the modular program brings medical education closer to the ideal standard of the physician that Mexico's health services need, more consistently and conclusively than the traditional subject-oriented program. The modular program was rated more highly in 65.9% of the 41 indicators used. UNEP-Zaragoza is conducting two more research projects to validate the forecasts produced by the self-evaluation method. The results will be published in coming issues of this quarterly.