In Rio, 196 doctors take the Revalida exam.

Akemi Nitahara
Reporter from Agência Brasil

Rio de Janeiro - The National Medical Diploma Revalidation Examination (Revalida) was administered today (25) in Rio de Janeiro to 196 of the 1.772 doctors trained abroad who registered for the exam. Today’s stage was divided into two parts. The first, objective, took place in the morning, and the afternoon was the written exam.

Amaia Foces, a Spanish doctor specializing in family medicine, has been in Brazil for six months, but previously worked for 12 years in England and four years in Spain. She agrees that there should be an exam for foreign doctors to practice here, but doesn't consider the current model the most appropriate.

“I believe that an individual assessment of the doctor is better, considering their background, diploma, and academic history. Because the exam doesn't reflect my medical knowledge. There's a lot of Brazilian legislation that's not directly related to medicine, which we need to know, but there are other things that don't reflect medical practice.”

She said she enrolled in the Mais Médicos Program to work in the municipality of Itaguaí, in the Rio de Janeiro metropolitan area, but there were problems with the registration because she was already in Brazil. Regarding the controversy surrounding the arrival of foreign doctors without passing the Revalida exam, Amaia says she sees no conflict of interest in the matter.

"The controversy is completely unfounded; Brazil needs many doctors, unfortunately. I've been talking to Brazilian doctors, and many of them have no intention of working in such poor, rural areas, so I believe there's no conflict of interest between Brazilian and foreign doctors; foreign doctors are needed."

Daniela Iriarte, from Bolivia, has been in Brazil for three years, complementing her training in her country with a medical residency. For her, the morning exam wasn't difficult, but it was very long. "The exam was complicated and very time-consuming, tiring." She says she sees no difference in the training of Brazilian and foreign doctors. "Absolutely not, I don't think so, the training isn't different."

Miguel Mota, from the Dominican Republic, who has been in Brazil for seven years studying general surgery, agrees with Daniela. "I think the level between Brazilians and foreigners isn't different; any difference, if there is one, isn't related to nationality, but rather to the university each person attended."

Bolivian Nadia Lorena Gonzales, who has been specializing in pediatrics in Brazil for two years, believes that the Revalida exam has many theoretical questions that do not correspond to medical practice. “I don’t think it’s bad to have to take an exam, but I think it should have more basic concepts, things that are more commonplace. Sometimes the questions are very complex, things you don’t see in everyday practice. And there are also several specialties; in my area, which is pediatrics, where I’ve been working for four years, there are things like general practice that I had to study again to be able to do the exam properly.”

Brazilian Thedra Saucha, who graduated in Cuba, refutes the criticism that Brazilians with foreign degrees have received, stating that Brazil lacks opportunities for those who dream of helping the population. “Most of our colleagues go to study in Cuba because of the difficulty of pursuing medicine here in Brazil; it's not a lack of ability, but a lack of opportunity. That's precisely what most of us lack, coming from a terrible public education system, not having the money to pay for a preparatory course for the highly competitive medical school entrance exam, so we have to resort to this because we can't give up on our dream.”

For her, the salary offered by the Mais Médicos Program, and rejected by many Brazilian professionals, is more than enough. “Especially since we are always focused on helping; we wouldn't need R$ 10 to serve our people, we could serve them for much less. But the politics they play against us are so intense that they don't even allow the people to see that we exist.”

Thedra points out that, despite the difficulties faced by the Caribbean country, Cuba has one of the best medical systems in the world. “Cuba is unsettling because it's an island that produces practically nothing, it's an economically embargoed country, and yet it manages to be better than Brazil in many aspects, so that hurts. Just look at the WHO statistics, analyze Cuba's infant mortality rate, its maternal mortality rate; the results are much better than Brazil's. Cuba has exported much more to the world in terms of medicine than Brazil. Cuba invented a medication against a type of vitiligo, the pentavalent vaccine, medication against diabetic foot, the family medicine project is Cuban, copied by Norway and Canada,” the doctor recalls.

The second phase of Revalida, which assesses clinical skills, will take place in October.