Patricio García-Espinosa1
doi: http://dx.doi.org/10.5195/ijms.2021.960
Volume 9, Number 1: 96-97
Received 18 02 2021: Rev-request 09 04 2021: Rev-recd 12 04 2021: Accepted 14 04 2021
I have read, with great interest and curiosity the article entitled “Hypertension Awareness, Treatment, and Control in Mexico: An Opportunistic Medical Student-led Blood Pressure Screening Campaign – A Cross-Sectional Study” by Yamamoto-Moreno, JA et al.1 As the current leader of a special interest student group focused on neurology (GECEN) it was a pleasure for me to find an article that promoted a campaign to raise awareness of high blood pressure and its relationship with other diseases. One consequence, stroke, is particularly significant to me, and it was an even better surprise to find that the study was performed by several medical colleagues in different hospitals in my country (Mexico). Therefore, to me, it seems remarkable that high blood pressure, which is also known as “the silent killer” is highly prevalent in Mexico where it is established that more than 30% of Mexican adults are affected yet 40% of them do not even known that they have hypertension.2 So, this is where the recognized association of arterial hypertension as the most important individual risk factor for stroke development comes in and, where I find the campaign and subsequent study carried out by these colleagues, highly noteworthy.3
Among the activities that I have carried out over six years as a member of this group, we have focused on stroke prevention in different settings. For example, efforts have been specifically targeted to patients of the university-hospital “Dr. José Eleuterio González” from the Universidad Autónoma de Nuevo León (UANL), where I am performing my internship, and which has been my second home for the last three years. At the end of the day, the efforts and awareness campaigns have not only been captured as a good memory, but they can be found in different journals, where the efforts made by my predecessors can be found, as well as the lessons learned; being available to more physicians who are interested in stroke prevention. With the invaluable help of the neurology service professors, we have carried out studies such as the comparison of knowledge achievement after an educational campaign on stroke risk factors, and symptomatology between rural and urban communities, demonstrating that stroke educational campaigns are a cost-effective method for raising stroke awareness and that rural communities can have a greater harnessing of knowledge than urban communities. In addition, the implementations of educational campaigns carried out by medical students are, at the same time, cost-effective and fulfill their purpose of informing the general population.5 Awareness campaigns are an important resource to educate large portions of the population. It is important to highlight that medical students also need to be educated in stroke awareness.
Last semester in October, the GECEN held an online event to commemorate world stroke awareness day at the UANL medical school, which included talks by professors of the neurology service and guest professors. To explain, among other topics, symptomatology and risk factors; Interestingly, prior to the event, out of a total of 278 students, 19.1% (53 students) had never heard and/or read about stroke. I consider the role of special interest neurology groups to be of undeniable importance for the education of future doctors, as they help current physicians keep their knowledge up to date and maintain higher quality of clinical investigation. Despite the added difficulties of maintaining interest groups during a pandemic, the educational campaigns of my colleagues and predecessors have proved fruitful.
To all the members of GECEN group.
The Authors have no funding, financial relationships or conflicts of interest to disclose.
Conceptualization, Writing-Original Draft Preparation, & Writing-Review and Editing: PGE.
1. Yamamoto-Moreno JA, Navarro-Rodríguez SA, Ruiz-Pérez S, Godínez-Reyes JC, Mendoza-Rojo M. Hypertension Awareness, Treatment and Control in Mexico: An Opportunistic Medical Student-led Blood Pressure Screening Campaign – A Cross-Sectional Study. Int J Med Students. 2020 Sep–Dec;8(3):263–9.
2. Campos-Nonato I, Hernández-Barrera L, Rojas-Martínez R, Pedroza A, Medina-García C, Barquera-Cervera S. [Hypertension: prevalence, early diagnosis, control and trends in Mexican adults]. Salud Publica Mex. 2013 Oct;55 Suppl 2:S144–50.
3. Wajngarten M, Silva GS. Hypertension and Stroke: Update on Treatment. Eur Cardiol. 2019 Jul 11;14(2):111–5.
4. Góngora-Rivera F, González-Aquines A, Muruet W, Barrera-Barrera S, Leal-Bailey H, Espinosa-Ortega MA, et al. Difference in Stroke Knowledge between Rural and Urban Communities in a Developing Country after Community-Based Stroke Educational Campaigns: Results from a Cross-Sectional Study. Neuroepidemiology. 2018 Oct;51(3-4):224–9.
5. Gutiérrez-Jiménez E, Góngora-Rivera F, Martínez HR, Escamilla-Garza JM, Villarreal HJ; GECEN Investigators. Knowledge of ischemic stroke risk factors and warning signs after a health education program by medical students. Stroke. 2011 Apr;42(4):897–901.
Patricio García-Espinosa, 1 Medical Student, Universidad Autónoma de Nuevo León (U.A.N.L), Mexico
About the Author: Patricio García-Espinosa is currently a sixth-year medical student of UANL medical school, Monterrey, Mexico of a six-year program. He is also current leader of GECEN researchers (Group of students against neurological diseases, undergraduate neurology department arm).
Correspondence: Patricio García-Espinosa, Address: Universidad Autónoma de Nuevo León (U.A.N.L), Mexico. Email: patricio.garciaes@uanl.edu.mx
Editor: Francisco J. Bonilla-Escobar Student Editors: Nikoleta Tellios Copyeditor: Joseph Tonge Proofreader: Leah Komer Layout Editor: Sushil Dahal
Copyright © 2021 Patricio Garcia-Espinosa
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.
International Journal of Medical Students, VOLUME 9, NUMBER 1, April 2021