Abstract
Currently, professional training goes beyond the discipline itself and focuses also on being able to improve our society. Professionals have a great responsibility as active participants in the local, regional, national, or global community they belong to. In the healthcare area, all disciplines must contribute to a deep transformation of the quality of life of all the people in the society, not limited to the patients themselves, but embracing their context, with relatives, friends, etc. The healthcare professional, and professionals of all other areas must, therefore, be competent in their discipline and other transversal components to become an effective change agent. Transversal competencies or soft skills, including citizenship, can also be seen as power skills for all professionals, as they empower them to have a greater impact in their community. Activities focused on the development and self-awareness of these contribute to the training of better professionals in our universities.
TopMain Focus Of The Chapter
Health Sciences’ Programs
Health sciences programs are approached from different strategies in universities around the world. According to Abu-Rish, et al (2012), some of the avant-garde strategies are focused on Small group discussion, Patient case analysis, Large group lecture, Clinical teaching/direct patient interaction, Reflective exercises, and Simulation, while Workshops and E-learning aren’t as common. As seen, face-to-face activities are privileged, seeking close feedback from the facilitators according to the student's level of academic development.
Community-oriented activities allow a close bond between the professionals in training and their environment, so that they may recognize the health situations in which their patient is involved. This understanding triggers curiosity and motivates students to learn more, since this will be applied to concrete problems in the community. Also,
De Hei et al (2015) point out that collaborative activities promote the learning of both, disciplinary and soft skills.
Involving students in activities related to a real environment allows them to develop competencies of the utmost importance for their graduation profile.
Key Terms in this Chapter
Disciplinary Competences: Competences related to the area of expertise, those related to the professional performance of a specific discipline or area.
Campaign: A set of actions aimed to obtain a particular objective. Usually held in the community.
Digital Competences: Competences related to the use of technology applications, in which the user is proficient in the use of effective communication skills, technological background and state of the art user of the internet, new technologies, etc.
Transversal Competences: Competences common to all professionals, related to the general performance in society, with peers and public, that enable the learner to effectively perform despite the specific discipline of study; also known as soft skills.
Citizenship: Competences related to the social responsibility of learners and professionals, in which one becomes an active participant working to improve the quality of life of the community, which he or she sees as their own.
Soft Skills: Also known as transversal competences, refers to those common to all the professional areas, despite the discipline of study, which enables the learner to perform effectively in the society.
Disease Awareness: The mechanisms by which the health professionals teach the patient and their family members about their diseases, to collaborate as a team towards better follow-up of the patient and self-management of the modifiable factors related to his or her disease. This contributes to better health results for the patient.