Browsing by Author "Cisternas, Marcela"

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    Curriculum reform at the Pontificia Universidad Catolica de Chile School of Medicine
    (SOC MEDICA SANTIAGO, 2016) Cisternas, Marcela; Rivera, Solange; Sirhan, Marisol; Thone, Natalie; Valdesa, Claudia; Pertuze, Julio; Puschel, Klaus
    The career of Medicine at the Pontificia Universidad Catolica de Chile was established from the beginning (1929), with a classical Flexner curriculum design. In seven years, the career is divided in three cycles: basic sciences, clinics and internship. It obtained Chilean accreditation and fulfilled American Association of Medical Colleges accreditation requirements. Changes in the Chilean epidemiological profile and health system, and new teaching methods in medicine, stimulated a process of deep curricular analysis, identifying strengths and weaknesses of the medical career. The curricular strengths were well-developed scientific and clinical components, fully committed students and faculties, well defined learning objectives and excellent clinical campuses. Curricular weaknesses included a poor vertical and horizontal integration, few student centered methodologies and a weak emphasis concerning doctor's professionalism. Subsequently, the whole community of teachers, students and medical educators worked on the design of a new curriculum, establishing a new graduate profile and designed it oriented by learning objectives, of six years of duration, with an optimized course sequence that melds basic science and clinical concepts, with strong emphasis on humanities and professionalism. It prioritizes an early contact with patients from the first year and expands teaching methods. The main objective of this process was to achieve a new curriculum with an integrative structure. This was implemented in 2015 with an approved protocol to evaluate the outcomes.
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    Erdheim-Chester disease. Report of one case
    (SOC MEDICA SANTIAGO, 2011) Vega, Jorge; Cisternas, Marcela; Bergoeing, Michel; Espinosa, Roberto; Zapico, Alvaro; Chadid, Pedro; Santamarina, Mario
    We report a 76-year-old male who was admitted due to progressive congestive heart failure lasting several months. An echocardiogram showed a large pericardial effusion with early signs of pericardial tamponade and an irregular surface suggestive of cancer infiltration. The patient was operated, creating a pericardial window and draining 1,200 ml of a brownish yellow fluid with abundant cellularity. Pericardial biopsy showed infiltration by CD68 (+), CD1a (-) and S100 (-) cells. Twenty-eight months earlier, due to fatigue, dyspnea, and a non-specific inflammatory process, an enhanced-contrast-scan showed that aorta was coated with a hypodense tissue that began near the aortic valve and extended until the inferior mesenteric artery, with stenosis of the left subclavian, celiac axis, renal and upper mesenteric arteries. An angioplasty and stent placing was carried out in the last two arteries. Both kidneys had the appearance of "hairy kidneys". A bone scan showed increased uptake in femurs and tibiae and X-ray examination showed osteosclerosis in metaphysis and diaphysis. The diagnosis of Erdheim-Chester disease (non-Langerhans-cell histiocytosis) was made and the patient was treated with steroids and methotrexate. (Rev Med Chile 2011; 139: 1054-1059).
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    Implementación de la reforma curricular de la Escuela de Medicina de la Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile: analizando la experiencia
    (2022) Cisternas, Marcela; Rodríguez, Javier; Llanos, Carolina; Garrido Cisterna, Francisco Javier; Nazar Jara, Claudio; Thone, Natalie; Sirhan Nahum, Marisol; Gana Ahumada, Natalia; Valdés, Claudia; Rivera Mercado, Solange
    The accelerated scientific, technological, and social advances in recent years have posed new challenges for professional training institutions, where universities play a leading role. Medical schools have not been oblivious to this process. This is how Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile implemented in 2015 a curricular reform derived from the joint work of academics, students and graduates. For this purpose, a model consisting of stages was followed, including the identification of the problem, general assessment of needs, definition of purpose and learning objectives. We worked with surveys, focus groups and committees of academics and students to identify and map content within the mesh, review terminal learning objectives while creating and reviewing courses for the vertically and horizontally integrated delivery of content and competencies. The first cohort of the new curriculum entered in 2015, consisting of 126 students. The implementation required constant follow-up and monitoring, establishing changes and adjustments according to educational needs and unforeseen conditions such as the COVID-19 pandemic. The implementation process of the new curriculum has been positive, adjusting to the defined strategic planning and responding to unexpected events.
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    TNF-alpha Blocker Therapy and Solid Malignancy Risk in ANCA-Associated Vasculitis
    (SPRINGER, 2012) Silva, Francisco; Cisternas, Marcela; Specks, Ulrich
    ANCA-associated vasculitides (AAV) are small vessel systemic vasculitis syndromes associated with the potential for high morbidity and mortality. This group includes granulomatosis with polyangiitis (Wegener's, GPA), microscopic polyangiitis (MPA), and eosinophilic granulomatosis with polyangiitis (Churg-Strauss, EGPA). The standard treatment consists of a combination of glucocorticoids and potent immunosuppressant drugs. These have broad mechanisms of action as well as important adverse effects. Efforts have been made to investigate novel agents with better-defined and narrower mechanisms of action, such as biologics, including TNF-alpha blockers. Etanercept, a well-known TNF-alpha blocker evaluated for GPA in the Wegener's Granulomatosis Etanercept Trial (WGET), was associated with an increase in the development of solid malignancies in comparison to placebo during that trial period. A 5-year follow-up after the WGET trial showed a sustained increase in incidence of solid malignancies, but this could no longer be solely attributed to etanercept exposure. These studies raised concerns about the use of the family of TNF-alpha blockers in AAV. Here, we review the evidence about the association between therapeutic inhibition of tumor necrosis factor (TNF-alpha) by etanercept and other TNF-alpha blockers with the development of solid malignancies in GPA and other AAV.