IMSS Strengthens Health System Through Medical Training

The Mexican Social Security Institute (IMSS) is reinforcing its role as a cornerstone of Mexico’s health system by expanding and consolidating its medical education and training capacity, a strategy that directly links workforce development with the quality and safety of patient care.

As the country’s largest social security institution, IMSS plays a strategic role in planning, coordinating, and professionalizing human resources for health through its Health Education Coordination, an area under its Education and Research Unit. This structure allows the institute to align academic excellence with clinical practice in real care settings, ensuring that education translates into measurable improvements in healthcare delivery.

IMSS trains more than 100,000 health professionals each year across a broad range of programs that span undergraduate education, postgraduate specialization, and continuous professional development. This scale positions the institute as one of Mexico’s main training hubs for health talent, with a direct impact on the care provided to millions of patients nationwide.

A central component of this effort is residency training. Each year, IMSS hosts about 26,000 active medical residents who are trained in 71 medical specialties and one dental specialty. These programs are distributed across first-, second-, and third-level medical units throughout the country, exposing residents to diverse clinical environments and levels of complexity.

Beyond medical residencies, IMSS maintains a wide portfolio of health education programs. In medicine, it oversees undergraduate medical internships and specialist training that supports comprehensive care delivery. In nursing, the institute offers bachelor’s degree programs in both traditional and nontraditional formats, as well as post-technical courses focused on specialized care and service management. On Feb. 3, IMSS opened its first generation of postgraduate nursing specialization programs, marking a milestone in the academic development of the profession.

Training also extends to health-related fields that support interdisciplinary care. IMSS offers auxiliary, technical, post-technical, and professional technical high school programs, as well as clinical cycles and social service placements for students from more than 25 health-related careers. These programs strengthen team-based care and the operational capacity of health services.

Academic collaboration is another pillar of IMSS’s education model. The institute maintains agreements with more than 80 public and private educational institutions across Mexico. These partnerships allow students in medicine, nursing, and related disciplines to complete clinical training within IMSS facilities, integrating academic learning with daily healthcare practice.

Educational activities within IMSS are supported by an institutional teaching staff composed of physicians, nurses, and other health professionals with extensive clinical experience, academic backgrounds, and teaching commitments. This structure helps ensure consistency and quality across training programs.

IMSS leadership views education as a core component of its institutional mission. “At IMSS, we are convinced that educating is caring, and that strengthening health education is the best way to honor our mission and guarantee dignified, safe and quality care for present and future generations,” says Susana Barcelo, Head of the Division of Health Human Resources Training, IMSS.

Through this integrated approach, IMSS aims not only to remain Mexico’s largest social security institution, but also to serve as a national reference in health education, reinforcing the long-term sustainability and resilience of the country’s healthcare system.

While Mexico’s medical schools graduate thousands every year, the country does not have enough doctors to meet the needs of its population. This shortage of skilled healthcare professionals leads to longer wait times, delayed treatments, and higher costs, eventually overburdening systems. Filling the gap in medical professionals requires a new approach.

Healthcare education in Mexico exists within a complex ecosystem, where universities and clinical environments must balance patient care with the training of future professionals. However, despite these efforts, structural challenges persist within the country’s medical workforce. In 2023, the country had nearly 666,000 medical professionals, with about 17,500 new doctors and 12,500 specialists entering the field annually. Yet, only about 2.5 doctors per 1,000 inhabitants are actively practicing, placing Mexico in the lower quartile among OECD countries. 

Furthermore, the number of specialists being trained falls short of demand, says Héctor Orellana, Vice President for North Latin America, Medtronic. “We train between 1,800 and 2,000 physicians per year in some specialties, and it is probably not enough,” says Orellana. “There has to be a general alignment in education to truly improve people’s lives. We must constantly intervene to remain at the forefront and enhance the patient experience. Training has to happen within companies and hospitals.”

This limited availability of active practitioners and educators directly contributes to a shortage of skilled healthcare professionals, which has tangible consequences. Patient care is affected through longer wait times and delayed treatments, while marginalized communities face heightened disparities in access to quality care, reports Adecco. Hospitals incur higher costs due to reliance on temporary staff and overtime, and overburdened systems struggle to implement new technologies and innovate in care delivery.

“A recent graduate has to walk a tightrope without the safety net of real-world preparation,” says Manuel Ferrero, Partner for Healthcare and Life Sciences, Page Executive. “Aligning expectations is key to closing the gap. In medical school, students are not trained to manage a company, lead a team, or build a budget, yet those skills are increasingly necessary.”