350 national and international health professionals were trained in course with multidisciplinary approach to COVID-19

The course ‘A multidisciplinary approach to COVID-19 for health professionals’ was organized by the Research Center for Cardiovascular and Nutritional Epidemiology of UFROs Faculty of Medicine.

The course was directed by Teresa Balboa and Gladys Morales, academics of the Research Center for Cardiovascular and Nutritional Epidemiology (EPICYN) and the Public Health Department of the university Universidad de La Frontera (UFRO). It took place from September to November, with the participation of national and international speakers and 350 health professionals from different parts of Chile and Latin America.

According to Teresa Balboa and Gladys Morales, it is important to the EPICYN Research Center to contribute to the continuous training of health professionals with updated knowledge for the management of the new disease COVID-19.

SPEAKERS

The course was held by several national and international speakers: María Josefina Escobar (Adolfo Ibáñez University, Chile), Esteban Hebel (Araucanía Sur Health Service, Chile), Claudio Bravo (University of Washington Medical Center, Seattle, USA), Manuel Ortiz (Department of Psychology, UFRO), Nicolás Aguilar (Department of Physical Education, UFRO), Álvaro Cerda (Department of Basic Sciences, UFRO), Gabriel Marzuca and Fernando Lanas (Department of Internal Medicine, UFRO), Gladys Morales, Teresa Balboa and Ingrid Schifferli (Public Health Department, UFRO).

They addressed topics such as the epidemiology of the pandemic, laboratory equipment, behavioral and mental health, physical activity, muscle atrophy in critically ill patients, diet and obesity, cardiovascular manifestations, pollution and Covid, and telemedicine in the context of a pandemic.

PLATFORM

“The course was carried out both synchronous via Zoom and asynchronous through the platform www.mooc.ufro.cl. This way, the participants were able to review the classes again. The course ended on November 30 and the participants who fulfilled the requirements obtained a certificate of 20 credited hours of work,” Gladys Morales explained.

“We are dealing with a new disease and we want to help by presenting the most relevant scientific evidence in the different fields in order to train our health professionals,” Teresa Balboa pointed out.
According to both of them, “thanks to the teamwork, it was possible to achieve such a high level and a multidisciplinary approach, which benefits our regional, national and international health professionals”.