Reflections on the quality of medical school curricula in Mexico

INTRODUCTION: At the end of the XXth century, collegiate efforts (evaluation and accreditation) were carried out to identify the quality of undergraduate medical education in Mexico. The growth of medical schools during the 1970's had stabilized and the combination of other factors had contributed to increase its quality. MATERIAL AND METHODS: Analytic-descriptive research of selected indicators of the medical curricula from the sixties to the year 2000: entry, enrollment, and drop out rates, graduates, title, selection by the national postgraduate exam of medical residences (ENARM), faculty members and creation of medical schools. Statistical analysis included chi2 and T tests. RESULTS: In the seventies the number of medical schools doubled and the country increased its entry by 400%, enrollment by 700% and the number of graduates by 600%. The drop out rates and title efficiencies remained stable with averages of 76.2 and 76.4%, respectively: the first one that reflects the efficiency of the educational system, was not different in the period studied, when student's t- test (p < 0.01) was used. In the nineties, entry, enrollment and graduates increased again by 300, 400 and 700%, compared with the seventies. One out of every two graduates was selected by the ENARM in 1991 and in 2001, one out of six. CONCLUSIONS: The growth in enrollment and graduates once again, stands in contrast with the drop out rate that has remained stable. This suggests that the country has not increased significantly the quality of its medical education. The latter could be verified for each institution with the indicators used in the present study and by the assessment and accreditation of the programs.