Utilización del método socrático en la enseñanza práctica de la Medicina Interna

Résumé

Introduction: After the application by its original author in the fifth century B.C., in the ancient Greece, the Socratic method of teaching has been used in educational university circles during the past two centuries. In brief, the method consists in the use by the professor of opportune questions, with progressive complexity, which allows each student reach their own conclusions. The objective of this study was to develop and evaluate, after their practical application, a Socratic technique designed to the clinical teaching of Internal Medicine. Method: After a literature review and based on our own experience we designed and evaluated (via a survey addressed to the students) a method based on the Socratic dialog, aimed at the clinical teaching of Internal Medicine, during the last three years of the degree in Medicine. Results: The designed method included, basically, the definition and purpose of the technique, the characteristics of the questions and the optimum conditions for its application. The survey to the students revealed a high degree of satisfaction. Discussion: In the context of the clinical training in Internal Medicine, the students of the 4th, 5th and 6th year of the degree in Medicine face real complex practical problems with a fractionated bulk of knowledge acquired during their instruction in different disciplines during the early years of their academic education. The integrative character of the Internal Medicine in a scenario of real clinical problems allows students to establish connections among everything they know and among all that with clinical practice. In this context, the dialectic method applied to teaching reaches its highest sense, confirming the Socratic belief that it is only possible to learn what is already known. Among the disadvantages of the method that we observed, highlights the use of extra time and effort that implies its application.