How an adolescent health curriculum was implemented in Portugal

Abstract

Adolescents have specific characteristics, capabilities, and needs that evolve throughout the second decade of life. Many behaviours initiated during adolescence (unprotected sex, physical inactivity, the use of tobacco, alcohol, and illicit drugs) have important consequences for health in adulthood. Even so, there is evidence that positive interventions during adolescence can avert negative outcomes in adulthood. Improvement of global adolescent health is an important challenge and opportunity faced by all countries. In light of this, the education of tomorrow’s medical doctors must in our view include adolescent health as well as the acquisition of communication and interdisciplinary approach skills. WHO strongly advocates that every provider working with adolescents should have core competencies in adolescent health, and further promotes a competency based training in adolescent health and development. At the Lisbon Academic Medical Center which includes the Faculty of Medicine of Lisbon, Santa Maria University Hospital, and the Institute of Molecular Medicine, measures were undertaken in order to train medical students, pediatricians, and health professionals in general in Adolescent Health and Medicine. Adolescent Medicine started by being taught as a stand-alone course but little by little became a part of the general flow of the pediatric curriculum both at the pre- and postgraduate training. The four initiatives that took place in this context will be described and discussed in this chapter: (i) Adolescent Medicine Elective Course for Medical Students (2000-); (ii) Inclusion of Adolescent Medicine in the discipline of Pediatrics I (2011-); (iii) Master Degree in Adolescent Health (2010-2015); (iv) Fellowship in Adolescent Medicine (2014-).