USP takes a stand against the More Doctors program.

Camila Maciel and Daniel Mello
Reporters from Agência Brasil

São Paulo – The board of the Faculty of Medicine of the University of São Paulo (FMUSP) requested, in a statement approved today (18), that Provisional Measure (MP) 621, which creates the Mais Médicos Program, be removed from the agenda of the National Congress. The statement also requests the maintenance of the National Examination for the Revalidation of Medical Diplomas (Revalida) as the only way of admitting foreign doctors.

Among the measures foreseen in the More Doctors Program is the creation of a second cycle of medical school. Students entering the course from 2015 onwards will have to work for two years in the Unified Health System (SUS) to receive their diploma. Another planned action is the hiring of foreign professionals to work in the public health network in the outskirts of cities and in the interior of the country.

According to the faculty directors, the measures presented by the federal government do not help solve the problems of public health. "If the issue is the lack of doctors, postponing their training will worsen the current situation. If the issue is the distribution of doctors throughout all regions of Brazil, the Provisional Measure does not offer answers for the migration of these students with the necessary supervision of these students," the faculty's statement emphasizes.

The acting director of FMUSP (University of São Paulo Medical School), José Otávio Costa, presented a partnership between the Ministry of Health and educational institutions as an alternative solution to the shortage of doctors in some regions of the country. "If the ministry is willing to establish an agreement, the most well-structured medical schools could take care of some regions of the country or their state. But there has to be funding," he emphasized in an interview with Agência Brasil.

Another point that would help bring professionals to the most underserved areas, according to Costa, is the creation of a career plan for doctors who work in the SUS (Brazilian Public Health System). "Accelerating the issue of medical careers in the National Congress. A career path where professionals working in primary care or family medicine have job security when they take a public service exam, securing a dignified position with an adequate salary," he pointed out.

On the 12th, the Paulista School of Medicine at the Federal University of São Paulo (Unifesp) announced that it will not participate in the Mais Médicos program.

Edited by: Carolina Pimentel