Scientific production in Colombian medical schools during the last 15 years

Abstract

Introduction: The growth of medical schools in Colombia has been rapid, although State control is not strict; therefore, many questionable aspects can be found, among them, the ability to generate research and new knowledge. Objective: To describe scientific production related to Medicine between 2001 and 2015 in Colombian universities. Materials and methods: Cross-sectional study in which scientific production incorporated in the SCOPUS database in the last 15 years was reviewed, including all work done by the 62 medical schools registered before the Ministry of National Education. Results: The total number of scientific publications made during the observation period was 14 167. The five institutions with the highest number of publications were Universidad de Antioquia, Universidad Nacional de Colombia, Universidad del Valle, Pontificia Universidad Javeriana and Colegio Mayor de Nuestra Señora del Rosario. The first 10 faculties generated 78.5% of the total publications. Conclusions: The volume of identified scientific production is produced by a few medical schools. The results of this study can be taken as an approach to the way how quality in Colombian higher education institutions is currently measured, especially in medicine schools.

Keywords

• Escuelas médicas
• Publicaciones
• Investigación
• Colombia