CFM criticizes proposal even after government backtracking.
After the government backed down from its proposal to extend medical school from six to eight years, the Federal Council of Medicine (CFM) says that universal provision of medical residency to recent graduates in the public health system by 2018 will hardly achieve the necessary quality; a proposal to make residency mandatory for graduates within the SUS (Unified Health System) was presented today by the government as part of the More Doctors Program.
From Agência Brasil
Brasilia – The Federal Council of Medicine (CFM) says that offering universal medical residency to recent graduates in the public health system by 2018 will hardly reach the necessary quality. The proposal to make it mandatory for graduates to go through the Unified Health System (SUS) was presented today (31) by the government, as part of the More Doctors Program.
The vice-president of the CFM (Federal Council of Medicine), Carlos Vital, said that "there are not, today, sufficient conditions for this [the universalization of medical residency] to become a reality in five years," and added that the action "could be configured as yet another form of mandatory civil service, in a pseudo-form of residency."
Carlos Vital stated that medical residency is a demand of the profession. He believes there should be one residency position per student, which is not the case today. According to the Ministry of Education, approximately 50% of recent graduates cannot find a residency position. The doctor believes the government's proposal to increase the number of residency positions has many shortcomings.
The vice-president of the CFM also says that the problem is not only the availability of residency positions, but also the lack of recognition for certain areas such as family medicine – one of the most underserved areas of the SUS (Brazilian public healthcare system). Currently, of the approximately 12 residency positions offered, 9 remain unfilled.
Vital criticized the way the Mais Médicos program is being implemented, through a provisional measure (MP). He anticipated that the CFM will act in the National Congress to have the MP overturned.
Protest
Approximately 200 doctors, according to estimates by the Military Police, are currently protesting on Avenida Paulista against the Mais Médicos Program, launched this month by the federal government. With signs and supported by sound trucks, the demonstrators have blocked one lane of the road. Although the government backed down today (31) from the proposal to extend medical school by two years, the protesters criticize the possibility of foreign doctors entering the country without diploma validation. The protest began at the headquarters of the Paulista Medical Association (APM), on Avenida Brigadeiro Luiz Antônio, moved to Paulista Avenue and will end on Rua da Consolação, where the Regional Council of Medicine of São Paulo (Cremesp) is located.
According to the president of the APM (São Paulo Medical Association), Florisval Meinão, the government's retreat on the issue of increasing the length of medical school was necessary because "the proposal is unacceptable and inadmissible from a technical point of view." However, Meinão still expressed distrust regarding the government's proposal. "It seems that the newly graduated doctors, one way or another, will be sent to serve this more vulnerable population." The Mais Médicos (More Doctors) Program envisions that newly graduated doctors will work in the outskirts of large urban centers and in inland cities where there is a shortage of healthcare professionals.
As an alternative to the government's proposal, the president of the São Paulo Medical Association reiterated his support for increased investment in healthcare and the creation of a public career plan for doctors. "As long as the issue of funding remains unaddressed, there is no way to provide quality healthcare to the population," the doctor stated.