Hospital administration and management training in higher medical education; real need

Higher medical education aims to comprehensively prepare future Ecuadorian doctors so that they provide health care with high quality indices. However, within the curricular framework that governs higher medical education, subjects that prepare future professionals from a managerial and administrative point of view are not included. Preparation in this sense completes the comprehensiveness of the training and lays the foundations for future professional performance. In the managerial function of health units, administrative and medical elements must be combined; that is, promote managerial and administrative quality based on medical elements. The objective of this research is to demonstrate the real need to incorporate training in hospital administration and management in higher medical education. The criteria that reinforce the advantages of having health professionals with adequate administrative and managerial training who can assume the direction of health units are exposed; In this way, both functions are combined in pursuit of improving the quality of health care, based on the optimization of resources and the application of medical procedures with high scientific quality. It is concluded that the integrality of the training of health professionals must include elements related to administrative and managerial training; which guarantees its adequate future professionalization.