Medicine

The acquisition of theoretical knowledge of Basic and Clinical Sciences is based on real clinical problems (a method known as Problem-Based Learning - PBL) through two weekly tutorial sessions, of 3 hours each, in groups of 8 students, each group assisted by a tutor.

MIM-UAlg students have at their disposal a wide variety of seminars, which are articulated with the PBL sessions in a complementary way. These seminars are offered by specialists in the most diverse clinical areas, allowing students to:

• Complement learning according to program topics
• Fill possible gaps in knowledge
• Clarify any doubts with self-learning

This Curricular Unit (UC) aims at learning and developing different skills and ethical principles, performing physical examinations, communication skills and performing procedures. The SKILLS LABS (LA) are closely linked with the UCs of Basic and Clinical Sciences (CBC) to allow the transversal integration of knowledge.

Clinical CUs 1 and 2 take place in primary health care units and allow contact with the clinical context from the start of the MIM.  The clinical rotations are articulated with the basic and clinical sciences rotations, enhancing the complementarity between both curricular units and promoting an integrative and transversal appropriation of medical knowledge. Consultation training, carried out shoulder-to-shoulder in a 1:1 ratio, aims to develop clinical history-taking, physical examination, communication and patient education, critical thinking and decision-making skills. These courses also enable students to learn about and apply the basic principles of General and Family Medicine (MGF), acquire knowledge about the structure, organisation and functioning of the National Health Service (SNS) and recognise the value of primary health care as the foundation of the SNS. 

In the 5th and 6th year of the programme, the aim is to provide a 1:1 or 1:2 mentor with practical experience of clinical reality through first-hand contact with the day-to-day activity of a hospital service. The main objective is the acquisition and development of the doctor's professional attitudes and contact with the different hospital specialities. It is also intended to continue the acquisition of skills that enable effective doctor-patient communication, as well as the establishment of fruitful relationships with colleagues and other professionals now in the context of hospital healthcare. The student's skills in managing emergencies and situations of risk and error are also reinforced through high-fidelity simulations. The 5th and 6th year clinical placements are carried out at the University Hospital Centre of the Algarve (CHUA) and at other hospitals with which the Faculty has specific agreements.

In the Student-Selected Modules (carried out in the 3rd, 4th and 5th years) the MIM-UAlg student carries out a basic laboratory research work and a clinical research work.

Types of Student Choice Module

• The Laboratory Research MEE aims to familiarize the future doctor with the research process in basic sciences. It is objectively intended for the student to elaborate a scientific question, apply one or more experimental techniques to answer this question and make a detailed analysis of the results obtained.
• The Clinical Research MEE makes it possible to familiarize the future doctor with the research process in a clinical environment at the different levels of care. This process should begin with the identification of a relevant clinical issue on which all the research leading to a clinical trial will take place. A “clinical study” is understood to be any investigation of a clinical nature supported by a substantial amount of work involving aspects such as: observation, data collection, diagnosis or therapeutic intervention, in one or more patients/subjects. This notion includes, but is not limited to, clinical trials in the sense established by the European Union Directive (2001/20/EC)
• Bibliographic Review allows the student to be introduced to one of the initial and fundamental tasks of clinical/laboratory research, as bibliographic research on a topic is part of the investigation process and the daily life of researchers. In this MEE, the student will have the opportunity to know and use the main tools that allow obtaining and organizing the bibliography, selecting the most appropriate sources of references and learning to avoid the main mistakes made in a bibliographic research.
• Community Intervention aims to allow future doctors a better perception of their practice in the community as a whole, duly integrated and multifaceted in a community environment. The student must prepare an activity plan, place it on the ground, analyze the results obtained and prepare an activity report. The MIM-UAlg management will be involved in this process, evaluating the project's added value and its integration into the course's mission.
• The Systematic Review MEE aims to encourage students to develop research projects, namely through the evaluation of secondary data with systematic reviews and meta-analyses. During the academic year, the student is invited to participate in a project, preferably in a group, in which he performs a systematic review of a topic of choice.

There is a strong link between MIM-UAlg and scientific research, since students are required to carry out research projects in the Student-Selected Modules curricular units. As a result of these research projects, several publications and conference communications resulted, in which our students are authors.

This Curricular Unit (UC) aims to provide medical students with skills in the context of community intervention, namely the use of project methodologies and reinforce teamwork, develop skills of written, graphic and oral expression, develop and improve the sense of reflection and critical analysis and establish contact networks with the community of the Algarve region.

In Elective the student undertakes a clinical practice internship, usually abroad.

This Elective aims to deepen an area/theme of medicine of interest to the student, to be carried out in national or international reference medical centers. This must be carried out for a period of 8 weeks, in a medical specialty chosen by the student. In fact, most MIM-UAlg students have chosen abroad (Europe and the rest of the world) to carry out this Curricular Unit, in Portugal they have been distributed among the most diverse hospitals in the country.