Best academic practices in students of the Plan of Combined Studies in Medicine

This article was migrated. The article was not marked as recommended. Since 2011, students of the Faculty of Medicine of the National Autonomous University of Mexico with an outstanding academic record and a vocation for biomedical, socio-medical and clinical research, have the opportunity to participate in the Plan of Combined Studies in Medicine (PECEM) which allows to study medicine and a doctorate in medicine in a period of eight years. The purpose of this study is to examine the best academic, institutional and student practices in PECEM, to describe and transfer them to other educational contexts in the health area. An exploratory qualitative study with a phenomenological approach was carried out in PECEM students using the technique of focus groups (FG). A total of 52 students participated from the 6 generations of PECEM. Data from 6 FG was analyzed and best practices were identified in 3 dimensions: 1) institutional context, 2) internal dynamics of the group, and 3) self-regulation.