Background: The development of skills, behaviors and attitudes regarding patient safety is of utmost importance for promoting safety culture for the next generation of health professionals. This study describes our experience of implementing a course on patient safety and quality improvement for fourth year medical students in Mexico during the COVID-19 outbreak. The course comprised essential knowledge based on the patient safety curriculum provided by the WHO. We also explored perceptions and attitudes of students regarding patient safety. Methods: Fourth year medical students completed a questionnaire regarding knowledge, skills, and attitudes on patient safety and quality improvement in medical care. The questionnaire was voluntarily answered online prior to and after the course. Results: In total, 213 students completed the questionnaires. Most students were able to understand medical error, recognize failure and the nature of causation, perform root-cause analysis, and appreciate the role of patient safety interventions. Conversely, a disapproving perspective prevailed among students concerning the preventability of medical errors, utility of reporting systems, just culture and infrastructure (p < 0.05). Conclusion: We found students had a positive perspective concerning learning quality in healthcare and patient safety during our course; nevertheless, their perception of the usefulness of reporting systems to prevent future adverse events and prevent medical errors is uncomplimentary. Medical education should promote error reporting and just culture to change the current perception of medical students.

The rapid evolution of biotechnology across various sectors, including agriculture, industry, and medicine, has profoundly transformed our comprehension of the world. Virtual laboratories (VLs) provide an immersive learning experience that can enhance future generations’ understanding of biotechnology’s medical applications. This study investigated the impact of incorporating VLs into a short course on biotechnology applied to medicine on the attitudes and perceptions of third-year medical students (n = 210). A validated questionnaire was employed to assess their perspectives, attitudes, and experience with virtual laboratory platforms before and after the course. The findings revealed a significant positive change in 7/38 questionnaire items (p < 0.05), indicating that the VL experience modified perceptions about biotechnology. This study emphasizes the importance of exploring innovative teaching methods for biotechnology and highlights the advantages of VL in educating future physicians. The primary concerns of the students were the misuse of personal genetic information and biotechnological applications involving animal modification. Overall, the students had a favorable experience using the virtual laboratory platforms. These findings collectively suggest that VL can positively influence perceptions and attitudes toward biotechnology among healthcare professionals.

Background: Pathogenic variants in the DMD gene are a frequently overlooked cause of dilated cardiomyopathy (DCM) in idiopathic cases, especially when skeletal myopathy is mild or seemingly absent. Becker muscular dystrophy (BMD) and X-linked dilated cardiomyopathy are at opposite ends of this clinical spectrum but result from pathogenic variants in the same gene. Cardiomyopathy is a major cause of premature death in muscular dystrophies. Case presentation: We describe a 37-year-old man who underwent orthotopic heart transplantation for presumed idiopathic DCM with refractory heart failure. He had a six-year history of progressive proximal weakness, pseudohypertrophy of the calf, a positive Gowers sign, and markedly elevated creatine kinase (6638 IU/L). Multiplex ligation-dependent probe amplification (MLPA) revealed an in-frame deletion of exons 45–47 of DMD [c. (6438+1_6439-1)_(6912+1_6913-1) del; NM_004006.2], confirming BMD. Immunofluorescence showed reduced and patchy dystrophin expression. Conclusions: To our knowledge, this is the first documented heart transplant in a patient with BMD in Mexico. This case demonstrates the value of considering muscular dystrophy in the differential diagnosis of apparently idiopathic dilated cardiomyopathy (DCM), a step that opens the door to accurate diagnosis, carrier screening, and genetic counseling, and supports the view that heart transplantation is a viable option in carefully selected patients with muscular dystrophy cardiomyopathy.

Background: Duchenne muscular dystrophy (DMD) is a genetic disorder characterized by progressive muscle weakness, a decline in quality of life, and premature mortality. This study aims to evaluate the perceived quality of healthcare and the experience of DMD patients and their caregivers in Mexico, comparing governmental and non-profit healthcare institutions using a newly designed assessment instrument. Methods: In a cross-sectional study, data were gathered from 91 participants through an online self-administered questionnaire informed by the Donabedian model and six dimensions of healthcare quality. Results: Analysis revealed two key mediating factors: perceived quality of healthcare and patient experience. The Mann–Whitney U test showed that non-profit organizations were perceived to provide superior quality care in both aspects (p < 0.05), notably regarding healthcare professionals’ preparedness and other domains of quality. However, the patient-centered care domain indicated that the importance of quality domains may vary according to cultural and social contexts. In Mexico, the humanistic approach of healthcare professionals appeared to compensate for shortcomings in timely diagnosis and other quality domains. This emphasizes the necessity for enhanced patient education and healthcare evaluation, and it highlights that patient satisfaction does not always correlate with high-quality healthcare. The developed instrument can further aid in understanding the experiences of DMD patients across different countries and cultures.