Podiatric conception for training students in the Health Rehabilitation career

Abstract

The training process for students in the Health Rehabilitation program in Cuba is related to the need for qualified personnel capable of achieving patient autonomy and developing functional and psychological abilities through treatment methods. This requires the collaboration of a Rehabilitation team, including a Physiatrist, Occupational Therapist, Podiatrist, Social Worker, Speech Therapist, and Physiotherapist. As an expression of the progress achieved, the Rehabilitation professional, adhering to a broad-profile training model based on two fundamental guiding principles—integrating education with instruction and linking study with work—must be capable of early diagnosis and precise podiatric treatments. Therefore, the objective of this article is to substantiate the pedagogical ideas for podiatric training during the development of action modes in students of the Health Rehabilitation program. The research is based on the Marxist-Leninist conception with a materialist-dialectical approach. A critical-evaluative analysis was conducted using a qualitative-quantitative process approach and theoretical, empirical, and statistical-mathematical methods. The podiatric training process exhibits deficiencies, as it appears non-systematic and decontextualized, failing to meet the demands of training a broad-profile professional. Podiatric training in students of the Rehabilitation in Health program lacks a systemic, integral, and contextualized nature, as it is not based on addressing professional problems as the central organizing axis, in alignment with the action modes.