2008 - October 26 and 27 - 10th COBEM - Brazilian Congress of Medical Education

Salvador hosts 46th COBEM and celebrates Physician's Day

Doctor's Day, celebrated on October 18th, began with a series of discussions about the formation of the new profile of the medical professional. With the theme "200 years of Medical Education in Brazil: back to the future", it was held from October 18 to 21, at the Bahia Othon Palace Hotel (Ondina), the 46th Brazilian Congress of Medical Education (COBEM ). The event, which brought together the highest authorities in the medical education sector in Brazil, professionals, students, teachers and researchers, is held annually as an initiative of the Brazilian Association of Medical Education (ABEM). In the 46th Edition, COBEM had the Escola Bahiana de Medicina e Saúde Pública (EBMSP) at the head of the organizing committee.

As the first activity, on the morning of the 18th, an opening panel was held with the participation of the president of ABEM, Milton Martins, the president of the organizing committee of COBEM and director of Bahiana, Maria Luisa Carvalho Soliani, director of the National School of Public Health and president of the Scientific Committee of COBEM, Sérgio Rego, in addition to Bruna Ballarotti, director general of the National Executive Directorate of Medical Students (DENEM).

In his presentation, Milton Martins gave an overview of the situation of Higher Medical Education Institutions throughout Brazil, including the increase in the number of vacancies in medical schools, the relationship between the number of vacancies and population, by regions, and the advance in the number of vacancies in medical residencies.

According to Martins, there are currently 175 Medicine courses throughout Brazil, 71 of which are offered by public institutions and 104 by private ones. Another fact pointed out by the president of ABEM is that the proportion between the number of places offered in each Brazilian region and the number of inhabitants is similar.

Regarding the offer of vacancies for the residences, the picture is different. The Southeast still dominates, with around 50% of the offers. But all regions have institutions offering medical residencies.

In relation to COBEM, Milton Martins declared that the objective is "to draw proposals for the future. All higher education institutions are planning curriculum changes. Our time is to evaluate the curricula. We have to think about where we should change. We have to think about a change. more humanistic, ethical and socially responsible training".

In turn, Bruna Ballarotti presented some points that were topics for discussion and reflection among medical students from all over Brazil, in 2008. Among the themes, she addressed the institutional assessment and recalled the controversy at the Enade, held in 2007, when most of the students turned in the test in blank, as they did not consider the assessment methodology to be effective.

Another point presented by Bruna was the precariousness of university hospitals and the possibility of some privatization in the area. Finally, the director general of DENEM addressed the licensing assessment for the performance of medical professionals, currently carried out only in São Paulo, by Cremesp. According to Ballarotti, "the MEC (Ministry of Education) has been issuing the diploma as a Bachelor of Medicine, and not as a Doctor. This is a worrying point, as it shows the possibility of officializing an examination by the Order (of Doctors of Brazil)."

Then, it was Sérgio Rego (ENSP)'s turn to present an overview of the works registered in COBEM, the criteria for their selection and publication in the Revista Brasileira de Educação Médica. According to the president of the Scientific Committee of COBEM, the level of papers was high and "we will have to choose the best papers to publish in the Journal, as unfortunately there is no room for everyone", he justifies.

To end the panel, Maria Luisa Carvalho Soliani made an assessment of the number of works registered and of these, how many were related to the themes of humanization in different scenarios of learning, doctor-patient relationship, communication and mental health of medical students. For Soliani, it is still necessary to discuss these issues that are directly linked to the training of physicians for the XNUMXst century.

"It is in the rescue of the doctor-patient relationship that humanization of this professional is sought. Every medical movement today, in Brazil and in the world, is in the sense of placing this relationship at the center of training, using the medical clinic for this", he declares.

opening ceremony

Art and Medicine. The theme guided the opening ceremony that escaped the conventional table of authorities, and took on an innovative format, valuing the use of art in the process of patient care, as well as in medical training. The Minister of Education, Fernando Hadda, the Secretary of Labor Management and Health Education, Francisco Eduardo Campos, who represented the Minister of Health, Madalena Pacífico, President of the European Association of Medical Education and director of the Faculty of Medicine of Lisbon, in addition to the State Secretary of Health, Jorge Solla, on the occasion representing Governor Jaques Wagner, in addition to other authorities.

The artistic presentations had the participation of doctors and professors of medicine and had, as a backdrop, the trajectory of the history of medical education in Brazil, from 1808 to the present day. To tell the story, Don João VI and Carlota Joaquina, duly represented by actors, interacted with the public, authorities and medical artists.

On the occasion, important achievements in the health sector in Brazil and in the world were also celebrated, such as the 20 years of the Unified Health Service (SUS) and the 30 years of the Alma Alta Conference, when a global standard for care was defined of health. 

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