Bibliometric indicators on the evaluation of medical curricula in Cuban biomedical journals

Abstract

Introduction: Curriculum evaluation is an important task in the teaching-learning process; however, the characteristics of scientific production in the health sciences area are unknown. Objective: To characterize the production of scientific articles on the evaluation of medical curricula in Cuban biomedical journalsMaterial and Methods: A bibliometric study was carried out. The universe consisted of all the articles related to the evaluation of medical curricula, published in Cuban medical journals. The bibliometric indicators studied were: number of articles, number of authors, year of publication, document citations, h-index, journals with their respective indexing, origin of the specialty, subject or discipline evaluated, thematic classification, and territorial origin. The databases used were SciELO, Google Scholar and the Virtual Health Library. The search terms were: evaluation, study plan, curriculum, assessment, pertinence and program.Results: A total of 22 articles were found, with a predominance of articles written by four authors (n=7; 31.82%). Most of the articles were published in 2007 (n=3; 13.64%). Most of them were published in the medical journal Educación Médica Superior (n=9; 40.91%), with 148 citations. The highest number of contributions were related to curriculum assessment (n=8; 36.36%). Nine articles (40.91%) evaluated the study of Medicine.Conclusions: The scientific production of the evaluation of medical curricula in Cuban journals is limited, predominating the articles related to the specialty of Medicine written by four authors, and authors of the National School of Public Health (Sp. Escuela Nacional de Salud Pública; ENSAP).

Keywords

• bibliometría, evaluación educacional, educación médica, curriculum.