The activity was organized by the University of La Serena, through the School of Education, the area of ​​Philosophy and the Pedagogy degree in Basic General Education, together with the Millennium Institute for Research in Depression and Personality, MIDAP.

With the commitment to establish a link with the environment and enhance the teaching and research of the ULS with the educational community of the Coquimbo Region, the open seminar “Psychosocial prevention and early intervention of depression: A socio-educational perspective” was held. The activity sought to optimize the quality of comprehensive and undergraduate training of education professionals, and in this way ensure the quality and effectiveness of the training processes, integrating the participation of all key actors.

“Psychosocial risk factors are an issue that has become more visible in recent times and is something that not only calls for public health, since the issues of depression and other associated issues are also answered through education. This makes a lot of sense to us, because those who train at universities do so through graduate profiles that are constantly reviewed and have to take charge of what is happening in our environment,” stated the Coordinator of Ped's career. in Basic General Education, Dr. Héctor Bugueño.

To contextualize the matter, researchers from the MIDAP institute, Dr. Claudio Martínez and Dr. Alemka Tomicic, presented in general terms the work and role played by this initiative and the projects they are working on to advance this problem.

The MIDAP institute, funded by the Millennium Scientific Initiative, is a scientific center of excellence made up of psychologists, psychiatrists and professionals from various areas of the social and health sciences, which is made up of eight professionals and 150 researchers. Among its tasks is studying depression to achieve a multidimensional understanding of the disease.

“Sadness is not depression. Depression is a universal phenomenon, which produces high levels of disability, constituting an individual and social burden. It has high mental health expenditures and is susceptible to intervention at the primary, secondary and tertiary levels. According to the national health survey in Chile, 15.8% of the general population over 18 years of age reports having experienced depressive symptoms in the last year,” explained Dr. Martínez.

For her part, Dr. Alemka pointed out that “according to data provided by the World Health Organization in 2014, worldwide, among young adults between 15 and 29 years of age, suicide causes 8.5 % of deaths and is ranked as the second leading cause of death after traffic accidents. Likewise, it is the second cause of death for women and the third for men between 10 and 24 years old.”

The specialist also delved into the topic of sexual identity and depression in young LGBT people. “We have to show the courage and resilience that people with sexual and gender orientation have historically had to face discrimination, recognize them as part of a historical legacy, with the formation of groups that seek to make themselves visible, find and build relationships in communities that provide support” he emphasized.

Undergraduate students, teachers and professionals in the area participated in the event, who had the opportunity to discuss and reflect on this disease that affects a large part of the adolescent population.

Written by Daniela Ledezma, UGIP

The members of the 4 subcommittees met with the objective of sharing the progress of the first month of Self-Assessment work, an instance in which the definitions of key informants for the ULS self-assessment process were presented, to work on systematizing data and building the assessment instruments. consult these internal and external key informants.

Continuing with the work of Institutional Self-Evaluation of the next accreditation process, the University of La Serena held its general plenary session this Wednesday, June 19, when the subcommittees of Institutional Management, Undergraduate Teaching, Research and Linking with the Environment presented the progress in the review of data, documentation and projection in the way in which they hope to carry out the work of consulting key informants.

Identify best practices, complete the matrix of key informants and present the groups that will be interviewed in a common way and those that will be interviewed specifically by each subcommittee, within a collaborative work space, was the mandate that was established for this process and that materialized during this plenary session.

This meeting was chaired by the Rector of the university, Dr. Nibaldo Avilés, together with the Executive Committee of the process, composed of the Academic Vice-Rector and Institutional Coordinator of the Process, Dr. Alejandra Torrejón; the Vice-Rector for Economic and Administrative Affairs, Dr. Armando Mansilla; the Vice-Rector for Research and Postgraduate Studies, Dr. Eduardo Notte; the Director of Liaison with the Environment and Extension, Mg. Carlos Varas; the Director of the Information and Computing Center, Mg. Andrés Moya; the Director of Strategic Communication, Mg. Carola Espinoza the Head of the Teaching Improvement Unit, Dr. Pamela Labra and the Director of Strategic Development and Quality, Dr. Cesar Espíndola

Rector Avilés highlighted the collaborative work that has been carried out to date. “in instances like these, such as a self-evaluation process, it is important to work together under the same objective, and what was presented in this plenary demonstrates the interest and collaboration that each member of the subcommittees has for this process of self-evaluation and subsequent institutional accreditation “said the authority.

During the plenary session, each of the 4 subcommittees presented the work carried out during the weekly meetings, showing the progress requested and achieved to date, in a process characterized by collaboration and participation.

Each presentation consisted of 20 minutes so that the subcommittees could show the progress, and then move on to a round of questions and comments with the aim of improving the work collaboratively.

On July 6, each subcommittee must present its proposals for instruments in data collection from key informants, while the next plenary meeting, in which the 4 subcommittees will meet with the executive team and the Rector, will take place on Wednesday the 24th. July, when a first version of the self-evaluation report of each subcommittee will be shared, where they must identify the data obtained and what must be obtained, in search of accreditation.

It should be noted that the massive participation of the community of the University of La Serena in the self-assessment is, through consultation with key informants that begins in August 2019.

To close this plenary session, Dr. Torrejón thanked the work done to date and called for continuing to collaborate with the same energy and strength that has been demonstrated to date.

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The career seeks that its students participate in instances where they apply the knowledge acquired, along with offering courses to complement the training of students and graduates.

The Kinesiology career at the University of La Serena actively participates in different instances with the community, where students have the opportunity to put into practice the different knowledge provided by the house of studies.

One of these instances was the "Master of Athletics", an activity held at the La Portada stadium in La Serena and in which students of the career and the Student Center participated, through a kinesic care stand for the contestants this competence.

Another of the activities in which they have worked for the 3rd time is the basic practice of pediatric kinesiology, where the students of the career carried out evaluations and kinesic attention to boys and girls from the Papayitos Garden of the University of La Serena.

These instances seek to generate spaces where students can learn in a practical way the professional work of the kinesiologist, in addition to generating instances of connection with the community, demonstrating the work carried out by the career and the University.

Training for students and professionals

Together with the work with the community, the Kinesiology career seeks to complement and specialize the training of its students, graduates and professionals, implementing various professional training courses.

One of these courses was Musculoskeletal Ultrasound for kinesiologists, taught at the Central Anatomy Laboratory of the University of La Serena, an activity organized by the house of studies and the Kinnet Kinésico Center, within the framework of collaboration between both entities. This is an area of ​​kinesic specialization at an international level that has become a fundamental tool for kinesic evaluation and rehabilitation.

In this way, the University works to provide spaces for practical and theoretical training, generating contact with the regional community.

Written by Tomás Rodríguez, DirCom