Implementation of a strategy for the training of research skills in medical students

Introduction: the last decades have been characterized by deep social, economic, technological and scientific transformations that confer a new value to knowledge: Before the challenges of today's public health, the medical students fail to develop during their studies, consciously and explicitly research skills related to the approaches of their professional performance. Objective: to evaluate the results of the application of a strategy for the training of research skills in medical students at Hermanos Cruz University Polyclinic, in Pinar del Río municipality, during the five academic years between 2012 and 2017. Methods: a descriptive, longitudinal and prospective research was conducted. The population consisted of 42 internists and 59 professors. Empirical (group interview with professors and student surveys), and theoretical methods were applied. Results: students and professors recognized the importance of the training of research skills, as a consequence of the structuring and system of contents for the proposed strategy, as well as the contribution of the clinical method in the training process of research skills. Conclusions: the assessment of the partial implementation of the specific actions, through the application of an experience, demonstrated the pertinence of the research carried out when conceiving the process to develop research skills related to the approaches of professional performance in students of the Medicine from Pinar del Río University of Medical Sciences, sustained in the clinical and epidemiological methods as essential agents to revitalize this process.