[Impact of the Core Training Law on preventive medicine and public health training and other common medical specialties]

Abstract

Objective: The purpose of the Core Training Law (CTL) is to amend specialised medical training to include 24 months of common training. The aim of this study is to assess its potential impact on the Preventive Medicine and Public Health (PM&PH) training programme and other medical specialties.

Method: The programmes of the 21 common medical specialties were analysed and the recommended training periods for each specialty collected, before the information was agreed upon by three observers. The training impact was calculated as the percentage of months that should be amended per specialty to adapt to the common training schedule.

Results: The Preventive Medicine and Public Health training programme is the specialty most affected by the Core Training Law (100%, 24 months). Intensive medicine (0%, 0 months) and medical oncology (17%, 4 months) is the least affected.

Conclusions: The CTL affects the common medical specialties in different ways and requires a complete reorganisation of the activities and competencies of PM&PH professionals.

Keywords: Educación en salud pública profesional; Internado y residencia; Internship and residency; Medicina preventiva; Preventive medicine; Professional public health education.